It has become a common feeling, I believe, as we have watched our heroes falling over the years, that our own small stone of activism, which might not seem to measure up to the rugged boulders of heroism we have so admired, is a paltry offering toward the building of an edifice of hope. Many who believe this choose to withhold their offerings out of shame. This is the tragedy of our world. For we can do nothing substantial toward changing our course on the planet, a destructive one, without rousing ourselves, individual by individual, and bringing our small, imperfect stones to the pile.

—Alice Walker

Introduction

The activism project consists of three parts: one is to write an argumentative essay targeting an academic audience in support of the campaign; the second is to design the print, electronic, and/or visual materials that support an activist campaign for a mass audience; and the third is to prepare a presentation on your topic for a live audience. Much persuasive writing (in fact, one of the the most challenging persuasive writing) can be considered as an activist project–writing designed to achieve social change. This assignment is intended to allow you the opportunity to imagine and participate in social change, to offer your own “small stone” to our world.

Topic

Your assignment is to invent an activist campaign and argue in support of your cause in a 5-7 page essay. My hope is that your choice of activism will spring from your own interests, but social justice topics seem to work best and are best supported by our readings and examples. In any case, avoid the obvious (smoking, abortion, three strikes law, legalizing marijuana, steroids, stem cell research, and so on). You may be inspired by the texts we read, or you may already have some ideas about how you can contribute to a more just and equitable world. Thus, the following examples are intended only to demonstrate the range of what might be available, not to limit your choices in any way. You might think of organizing a letter-writing campaign to protest a social injustice either locally, nationally, or globally; you might become involved in an event to honor Women’s History Month in March; you might advocate support for a community-based organization which works on problems of literacy, homelessness, immigration issues, domestic violence, local or overseas working conditions; you might organize a public presentation to introduce others to some of the authors we are reading or the issues they raise; you might encourage participation in a public protest (war, government spending, animal rights)—and so on. You may choose to work individually or you may form a group with some of your classmates. Note that this is a three-part project, involving designing campaign materials, making a presentation and writing an argumentative essay; all parts are equally important.

Part 1: Argumentative Essay (5-7 pages) (200 points)

Your argumentative essay should be done individually, written for and academic audience, well-researched with at least 6 outside sources (see “Key Features” below), and in MLA format, providing the specific documentation and supporting evidence that your campaign materials may have discussed only superficially. Your goal is to convince your readers that they need to take action and that apathy, ignorance, and other points of view are wrong.

Part 2: Campaign Materials (At least two contributions per person) (50 points)

You must also submit some graphic or printed materials which would form the basis of your campaign; for example, you might create media (a flyer, pamphlet, poster, newspaper article, or TV/radio commercial spot, news feature, website, or other more creative argumentative strategy) that argues the issue and challenges the audience to action. You might also consider staging some dramatic event or spectacle (street theater, political rally, picketing) that would draw attention to your cause, in which case you might write a brief description of the plan for the event and create the promotional materials you would use to encourage attendance. Both quality and quantity are important here, so consider the audience to which you want to appeal, and the variety of appeals that you might make. Above all, be creative and convincing! You might try using an infographic design site, like canva.com or infogram.com.

Part 3: Presentation (3-5 minutes) (50 points)

For a live audience, design a presentation that communicates your message using storytelling or interactive presentation strategies. You can film yourself and upload the file or audio recording, or write out the speech you would give during your presentation (which should not simply be a summary of your research paper, but instead be an interactive activity or one that uses storytelling or an example to illustrate your point), or design a PowerPoint with your recorded narration–or some combination of those approaches.

Key Features for Argumentative Essay:

1. 1. An introduction that gives needed background information about the topic and appeals to your audience.
   2. A thesis statement that takes a clear position on the issue that you’ve chosen: tell readers what you want them to do and why.
   3. Clear reasons and sufficient evidence to support the claim in your thesis. This evidence can come from personal experience, fieldwork, articles from the textbook, or library/Internet research. It is best to have a mix of different types of evidence.
   4. Quotes or paraphrases from at least four articles from a library source, such as Proquest or EBSCO. At least two should be from academic journal articles.
   5. Quotes or paraphrases from at least two reliable Internet sources.
   6. Appropriate organization and paragraphing, including use of clear topic sentences. The paragraphs should be in a logical order and use transitions to show links between ideas.
   7. At least one example of counterargument – one or more objections to your own argument that are fairly represented and then refuted.
   8. A conclusion that provides closure to the essay and considers the implications of the argument.
   9. Consistent, correct use of MLA style.
   10. Observance of the conventions of standard written English.

Suggested steps to get started

1. 1. Alone or in a group, select a topic that has some significance to you—the issue that you argue for and campaign for should interest you and have some personal relevance for best results. You’ll want to frame your argument as a solution to a problem with a specific action as a remedy.
   2. Begin your research. Once you have a good sense of the issues involved with your topic, make a chart that lists the pros and cons of your topic (make sure to have at least four entries under each column). These are your key reasons—and the opposing arguments that require refutation.
   3. After completing the chart, look over your two lists and decide which side makes a stronger argument – that will become your position. Write a tentative thesis based on your ideas so far.
   4. Develop reasons to support your argument. Think of your reasons as responses to someone questioning you about why you believe in your thesis statement and why that person should get involved (your reasons may come from your chart in #2 above but you may also want to include more). Make sure to list at least four reasons.
   5. List at least three pieces of supporting evidence for each of your reasons. Your support should be specific evidence that proves your reasons are valid. Your support may come from fieldwork, from Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) or Proquest, from the Internet, or from your own experiences. It is best to have a mixture of several different types of support. Remember: academic journal articles provide depth and strong credibility for background information or cause-effect relationships; newspaper articles and websites, generally, provide brief but up-up-date descriptions of current events; opinion pieces from experts provide expert testimony or solutions; blogs, social media posts, podcasts, interviews with people affected by an issue, and other primary sources provide eyewitness accounts, testimonials, urgency, and a personal angle;
   6. List at least three possible objections to your argument (you may find it helpful to look at the chart you created for #3 above) and then your responses to these objections. You will probably not use all three in your essay, but this will give you some ideas to choose from.
   7. Create an outline of your essay, listing the topic sentence and evidence/examples for each paragraph that will appear in the essay. See the essay outline below.
   8. Look for opportunities to intentionally include logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos.Combining these elements helps prove that your argument is true, credible & ethical, and concerning enough to matter.
   9. Remember to present your reasons and evidence using a logic model, such asinductive or deductive. Use the Toulmin logic model to present evidence and quotes.
   10. As you begin to create your campaign materials, identify who your intended audience is, what the main points of your campaign are, what types of appeals might secure your audience’s support, how best to reach that audience through print, visual, and electronic media. List these ideas. What would get the right people’s attention? Where would you find those people?
   11. When designing the graphic materials for the campaign, determine what graphics or visual appeals will convey your message with the highest impact. Consider using shock value in both content (the wording) and visual support (the pictures) to get your audience’s attention as well as providing brief supporting information or reasons in bullet point form.
   12. You might search through Google “Images” or visit the Los Angeles Public Library’s collection of photos (http://www.lapl.org/) to find useful photos or graphics for use in your promotional materials and presentation.

Sample Outline for Essay #4

Problem Solving (Proposal) Model

I. Introduction:

Begin with a creative hook to generate reader interest and concern; briefly provide any relevant background information (for instance: history, special concerns, specific problems that need to be addressed or which have plagued our community for a long time and which your proposal addresses); describe the current situation; provide overview of your argument; state thesis (What exactly do you want readers to do and why?).

II. Define the Problem

What is the problem? Use cause-effect reasoning to show the true causes and effects of the problem. (i.e. What are the issues associated with mass deportation, mass incarceration, the school-to-prison pipeline, or access to higher education, etc.?).

III. Establish the need for a solution:

Describe the community, focusing on the urgency of the ongoing problems that the community has, especially those that your proposal will seek to solve; identify your primary goals and outcomes for the community.

IV. Address the perspectives of people concerned:

Describe the needs that those concerned (such as citizens, government officials, police, homeless people, workers, bosses, users of a website, students, patients, prisoners) might have. Who is affected by the issue, how are they affected, and what might their concerns be?

V. Describe your plan (whether it is an action, “solution,” or strategy of resistance):

State in as much detail as necessary what you are proposing to address concerns.

VI. Explain the benefits of your solution:

Show how your solution will meet the needs and concerns identified in section IV (above) and address or solve the problem described in sections I and II. Argue convincingly in favor of your proposal. Use cause-effect reasoning to show that your proposed solution will address the causes of the problem.

VII. Acknowledge drawbacks, costs, or other objections to your solution and refute them:

Explain to those who might disagree with your proposal why your proposal will be effective and respond to potential objections.

VIII. Counterargue alternative solutions

Summarize any alternative solutions that you think could have been applied to this issue but which you have rejected in favor of your better proposal. Explain why your solution or action is the best choice of the alternative ways to move forward or progress toward change.

IX.. Conclusion:

Avoid summary. Consider, instead, one or more of these options: Describe an implementation plan, or issue a call to action urging your readers to support your solution. Re-emphasize the importance of the solution that you are proposing. Issue a heightened appeal for support. Look towards the future if action is taken. Consider including a conventional device (like your creative hook at the beginning) to frame your essay’s ending (i.e. if you began with an anecdote, end with another anecdote).