Essential Question:

To what extent does the media influence our thoughts and actions?

Directions:

Your task is going to be to pick an issue/current event that interests you. Then you will explore how a specific news event related to that issue is covered by media outlets with different biases. Then you are going to compose a letter to the editor of one of the publications, discussing the effectiveness of their coverage and the effect that you believe it might have on its audience.

In order to do this, follow these steps (Use this document to house your work for all pre-writing steps):

STEP 1

Pick an issue that you are interested in reading about. See our class brainstorm below of potential issues to help you decide. Then pick a specific news event related to this topic.

STEP 2

Narrow your focus to a specific news event related to the current event you chose, by exploring AllSides. Then, find two related articles on your specific news event - one from a media outlet with a liberal bias and one from a media outlet with a conservative bias.

Use this chart and AllSides - a website designed to bring you news articles from all sides of the issue to help you find your sources..

STEP 3

Analyze both sources. Note what choices each author made and how it might influence the way their audience understands the issue. After this, evaluate the credibility of the source - using our Credibility Considerations to help guide you.

STEP 4

Write a letter to the editor for either publication that published the articles you read . Your task will be to argue to that publication whether you feel like their article was responsible and fair in their treatment of the subject at hand? Why or why not? And how you see this affecting the audience.

Here is what else you need to know...

Rhetorical Situation:

• Speaker: You are as someone who cares about the way information is provided to people

• Audience: You are writing to the editor of the publication and their readers

• Subject: The fair and ethical reporting of the news

• Purpose: You are writing to either urge them to consider revising the way they report the news, or to encourage them to keep reporting the news in the manner they are.

• Genre: A letter to the editor

• Context: You can assume everyone knows that media outlets have a certain amount of bias, but do not assume they know why they should care about the way the news is reported on this issue.

Tips for success:

This assignment is an argument, so your writing must have the “parts” of an argument. Use the argument rubric that we collaborative made as your guide.

It must be no shorter than one 1 1/2 pages, typed.

STEP 5

Work in your writing groups to revise your arguments by following this workshopping protocol:

1. Decide on an order for the presenters and an order for the reporters/recorders

2. Whoever is the first presenter shares their screen, so that your group can see your draft.

3. Presenter read your draft out loud. This is a non-negotiable. Your groupmates will follow along on the screen.

4. When you are finished, the recorder will share their screen of a blank rubric that they will fill out, based on the group's discussion.

5. The group reporter will lead a group discussion using the rubric as a guide and the group members will provide feedback on each point of the rubric.

6. When you are finished discussing, then share the rubric with the presenter so that they can have access to it as they revise.

7. Then you will all switch roles and repeat this process until every group member has had their draft workshopped. Each group member should play each role at least once.

STEP 6

When you have received and reviewed your feedback, your task will be to draft meaningful revisions and work to make your argument better than it was when you started. After you have finished revising, please complete the following:

Mark the revisions you made to your draft (these are the changes you made between your first and second drafts, hopefully as a result of your peer workshop) by bolding the changed text. Remember I am grading you based on growth and I already have a copy of your first draft. Bolding with help me find evidence of your growth.

Using the highlight tool on Google Docs, please highlight each element of your argumentative essay the following color (see the attached rubric to help you identify these parts):

• Claim: green

• Data/Evidence: yellow

• Warrants/Commentary: red

• Rebuttal/Response: blue

• Voice (examples of where you made specific word choices, created sentence structure, used metaphors or other figurative language to create a mood/tone): Orange

• Significance: Purple

*** It is possible that a portion of what you write may be more than one thing - for example, voice and commentary. If this is the case, please highlight the whole portion of commentary blue, but the specific phrases within the commentary that offer voice in orange. I will figure out what you mean.

For your organization, please explain your organization strategy at the end, why you made the organization choices you did, and how you think it helps your essay.

When you are finished, please submit your final draft to Google Classroom.