Freedom of Speech

(Based on Ch. 10 & Ch. 27, Everything’s an Argument with Readings, 8th ed.)
REQUIREMENTS:
Write a 3-4 page argument essay (with rough and final drafts) EVALUATION (see TOPIC OPTIONS, below, for topic
choices). [For more information on how to construct a “Evaluations” essay, consult pages 224-245 of your textbook and
pages 2-3 of this document.]
Please remember to counter-argue by addressing possible readers’ objections and/or alternative judgments at least
once as you support your position (discussed under “Evidence for the Claim” on page 244 of your textbook). [Note: This
strategy is also called “addressing or responding to the opposition” and “understanding conditions of rebuttal” (discussed
on page 154 of your textbook).]
Please also remember to incorporate a relevant and meaningful reference to your chapter 27 article at least once
within both your rough and final drafts.
Note: Make sure to sufficiently develop your own views on your topic/position—not simply repeating (or
summarizing) your chosen author’s views—thank you!
Your essay format should conform to the MLA guidelines that have been specified in class (typed, double-spaced, size 12
Times New Roman font, etc.). For a sample MLA formatted first page, please see the “MLA DOCUMENTATION”
folder via Canvas’s “Files” tab.
NOTE: You are NOT required to use outside research for this essay; however, with your ROUGH and FINAL drafts,
you should include a WORK(S) CITED page listing the publication information for at least one of the textbook
articles, noted below. You should also include Works Cited entries for all other research sources if you choose to
include outside research. For a sample Works Cited page citing an article from our course textbook, please see our
“MLA DOCUMENTATION” folder via Canvas’s “Files” tab.
TOTAL POINTS POSSIBLE: 130
(Note: Up to 30 points will be deducted for a partial, late, or missing rough draft.
ROUGH DRAFT DUE DATE:
(at least 2 1/2 pages, properly formatted)
Tuesday, September 8, 2020: TYPED ROUGH DRAFT of Essay #1
(via Canvas submission Note: To avoid a grade penalty, please make sure to also submit your
by 11:59 p.m.) rough draft to Turnitin (via Canvas) by 11:59 p.m. on this date.
PEER REVIEWS DUE DATE:
Thursday, September 10, 2020: ONLINE Peer Reviews of Essay #1 Rough Draft (for TWO classmates)
(Canvas submission (After the instructor verifies all Canvas submissions early on
by 11:59 p.m.) Wednesday, July 1, 2020, students will be “auto-matched” by Canvas
with two classmates’ rough drafts, which should be evaluated and
submitted per the NEW instructions on the corresponding Canvas link
(which includes peer responses via our E#1 Peer Review Guide Sheet.)
FINAL DRAFT DUE DATE:
(at least 3-4 pages, properly formatted)
Thursday, September 17, 2020: TYPED FINAL DRAFT of Essay #1
(via Canvas submission Note: To avoid a grade penalty, please make sure to also submit your
by 11:59 p.m.) rough draft to Turnitin (via Canvas) by 11:59 p.m. on this date.
Writing an “Evaluations” Essay (continued) Page 2
TOPICS OPTIONS:
For your paper, please write an Evaluations essay by focusing on your assessment of topic/issue related to FREE
SPEECH. In doing so, you should reference at least ONE of our chapter 27 articles in some relevant, meaningful way
as you develop your argument for BOTH your rough and final drafts (see list below):
–“Safe Spaces, Brave Spaces” by John Palfrey (731-38)
–“Free Speech on Campus: What Students Think about First Amendment Issues” by Gallup/Knight Fo. (741-44)
–“Shutting Up” by Bob Schwartz (746-49)
–“Why a Moratorium on Microaggressions is Needed” by Scott O. Lilienfeld (756-63)
–“Activist Athletes” by Sarah Brown (765-70)
–“Balancing Classroom Civility and Free Speech” by Catherine Nolan-Ferrell (772-81)
WRITING AN “EVAULATIONS” ESSAY
PLEASE NOTE: The steps below express a compilation of selected materials from several editions of
The textbook The St Martin’s Guide to Writing*
1. Explore the subject. To explore the subject, you need to reflect on what you know about it, determining
the type of research you will need to do, and consider how you will evaluate the subject.
2. Analyze potential readers. Write several sentences analyzing your readers, with the following questions
in mind:
• What are my readers likely to know about my subject? Will I be introducing the subject to them,
or will they already be familiar with it, and if so, how expect on the subject are they likely to be?
• How are my readers likely to judge my subject? What about it will they like, and what will they
dislike?
• What reasons might they give for their judgment?
• On what standards is their judgment likely to be based? Do I share these standards, or at least
recognize their appropriateness?
3. Test your choice. Pause now to decide whether you have chosen a subject about which you can make a
convincing evaluative argument. Reread your invention notes to see whether you know enough about
your subject or can get the information you need by research the subject. Also consider whether you
feel confident in your judgment.
4. Develop your argument.
List reasons. Write down every reason you can think of to convince readers of your judgment. Try
stating your reasons as part of a tentative thesis statement with because or that clauses, like this: “My
judgment is X because . . .” or “A reason I like (or dislike) X is that . . . “Then look over your list to
consider which reasons you regard the most important and which would be most convincing to your
readers, given the standards on which they ordinarily base their evaluations of subjects of this kind. Put
an asterisk by the reasons likely to be convincing for your readers.
Writing an “Evaluations” Essay (continued) Page 3
4. Develop your argument (continued).
Find support. Make notes about how to support your most promising reasons. To develop an
evaluation for your presentation, you will need to generate support based on your own close analysis of
your chosen issue. You will also need to find textual evidence—quotation, summary, or paraphrase—
associated with supporting authorities, statistics, or anecdotes from a source addressing your chosen
issue.
Draw comparisons. Write for five or ten minutes, trying to support one or more of your reasons with an
argument based on comparisons and contrasts to related subjects. Remember that comparisons and
contrasts are often used to establish a writer’s credibility by demonstrating not only that the writer is
knowledgeable but also that the argument is based on standards that readers would agree are appropriate
for judging that kind of subject.
Anticipate readers’ alternative judgments and objections. Assuming your readers might evaluate the
subject differently or that they might have objections or questions about your argument, write for five to
ten minutes trying out a counterargument.
5. Formulate a tentative thesis statement. Think about how you should state your judgment—how
emphatic you should make it, whether you should qualify it, and whether you should include in your
thesis a forecast of your reasons and support. As you draft your own tentative thesis statement, pay
attention to the language you use. It should be clear and unambiguous, emphatic but appropriately
qualified.
6. Outline—OPTIONAL for this assignment. An evaluation contains as many as four basic parts:
1. A presentation of the subject
2. A judgment of the subject
3. A presentation of the reasons and support
4. A consideration of readers’ objections and alternative judgments
These parts can be organized in various ways, including as noted below:
Presentation of the subject
Thesis statement (judgment)
First reason and support
Anticipation and refutation of objection
Second reason and support
Anticipation and accommodation of objection
Conclusion
OR Establish shared standard
Acknowledge alternative judgment
State thesis (judgment) that subject fails to meet shared standard
First reason and support showing how subject falls short of standard
Second reason and support (etc.)
Conclusion
Writing an “Evaluations” Essay (continued) Page 4
6. Outline—OPTIONAL for this assignment (continued).
Your outline will of course reflect your own writing situation. Once you have a working outline, you
should not hesitate to change it as necessary while drafting and revising. For instance, you might find it
more effective to hold back on presenting your own solution until you have dismissed other possible
solutions. Or you might find a better way to order the reasons for adopting your proposal. The purpose
of an outline is to identify the basic features of your evaluation and to help you organize them
effectively, not to lock you into a particular structure.
Drafting
Writing the Opening Sentences
To engage your readers’ interest from the start, consider the following opening strategies:
• Offer an anecdote
• Begin with a comparison your readers are likely to be familiar with
• Offer a surprising or provocative statement
However, as one source notes, “Don’t agonize over the first sentences because you are likely to discover the best
way to begin only after you have written a rough draft” (Axelrod & Cooper, The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, 12th ed., page 322).
*Selected materials from The St Martin’s Guide to Writing by Risa Axelrod and Charles Cooepr, Bedford-St.Martin’s, pgs. 422-40.