Writing Project 4 Assignment Prompt

Purpose

The fourth and final writing project of WRIT 150 asks you to continue developing the skills we’ve discussed in our first three project and adds in an increased focus on developing your personal and academic style in writing an argument.

During this project, we will continue discussing methods for finding and engaging with source material in our writing. In addition, we’ll talk more about stylistic choices that can make your argument more engaging and centered to your reader’s needs.

Writing Project Four is the primary component of the Final Portfolio for WRIT 150, which serves as the culminating assignment of WRIT 150. In addition to Writing Project Four, you will be asked to complete a separate component—the Revision Project. Combined, the Final Portfolio should serve as proof that you have satisfied the requirements of WRIT 150: Writing and Critical Reasoning.

Readings

(listed alphabetically by author)

• Hanauer, Nick. “Better Schools Won’t Fix America.” The Atlantic, July 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/07/education-isnt-enough/590611/.

• Stedman, Kyle D. “Annoying Ways People Use Sources.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, vol. 2, Parlor Press, pp. 242–256, 2011, https://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces2/stedman--annoying-ways.pdf.

• Suh, Emily K., Jeanine L. Williams, and Sam Owens. “Raciolinguistic Justice in College Literacy and Learning: A Call for Reflexive Praxis.” College Reading and Learning Association, December 2021, https://www.crla.net/images/whitepaper/CRLA_2021_WhitePaper_Raciolinguistic_Justice_FA.pdf.

Premise

As your work in Writing Project Three has demonstrated, when we talk about issues (or problems) in education, it’s not unusual to talk about how we might address or solve those issues moving forward. It’s natural that we would want to solve problems rather than focusing solely on the issues, so this fourth and final writing assignment asks you to do just that.

While the work of the semester has tried to expand the work of writing beyond a traditional “academic essay,” there remain some features of research-based arguments that you may be expected to engage with during your tenure as a student.

However, one genre of writing that you may encounter outside of the classroom that shares in many of the same genre features you could be asked to write as a student is that of the white paper. While these documents were originally associated with government reporting, they have taken on a more modern purpose of reporting relevant research around an issue or problem and making recommendations for how to solve it.

Because we’re building off the important research you started in understanding your selected education issue in Writing Project Three, the white paper gives you a solid basis from which to turn your attention to how we might “solve” the issue that you explored in that project.

Writing Prompt

For Writing Project Four, you’re going to continue developing the work of your WP3 individual script (AKA your contributions to the team podcast) and add in a clear argument for how to solve this issue. As the white papers we’ll read demonstrate, a large portion of that solution-focused work is built around establishing the problem first, so it should be a hopefully smooth repurposing of talking about the issue to setting it up as a problem, and then finding a way to solve it.

In using the word “solve” or “solution,” I want to encourage you to approach this project with the acknowledgement that the big issues you discussed in the previous project might have complex solutions that are not written about within the page constraints we have. Which is to say, you do not have to solve the entire issue or problem in your white paper. Instead, make the argument about how we might address one small part of it through a specific approach.

You might choose to use formatting features such as headings and/or subheadings, along with other design elements to help organize your work in this white paper, but make sure that you don’t let those headers take away from developing a clear, conceptual argument with transitions between your ideas.

Prompt Question

In making the argument for Writing Project Four, you’ll be trying to provide an answer to the following question::

How will this solution be effective in addressing this education issue?

The question is designed to encourage you to not only answer “what” to do, but also why it will be effective. In fact, the practical considerations of your solution might be less important than the why (although you’ll still want to give some attention to how it can be done).

Continuing to develop your research skills, you will identify sources related to your chosen topic to inform your proposed solution. You may find that you use many of the sources you consulted in Writing Project Three, but you might need to find additional support specific to solving the problem/issue.

Audience and Significance

Typically, readers of white papers are those who might have some stake in pursuing the solutions that you suggest—they are typically familiar with the issue to some degree (perhaps they are connected to it in some way), but they want to see that you are basing your solution in relevant, credible research about the issue. You need to prove that you understand the problem as you also make a plausible argument for how to solve it (or at least a part of it).

While white papers can be purely text-driven (as the sample we will read together demonstrates) they can also make use of visual elements such as graphs, drawings, or other design choices to enhance their meaning and purpose. If you would like to add those elements, you are welcome, but not required to do so.

Outside Sources

For Writing Project Four, I want you to engage with at least 6 credible sources for your white paper. Those sources may be from credible publications accessible to the public and/or peer-reviewed research from the USC Libraries.

Citations and Documentation

You should use MLA documentation style—including in-text parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page with a list of all your sources used for this white paper.

Submission

When I conference with you for Writing Project Four, I will be referring to your final individual script submission from WP3, although you are encouraged to upload a newer version of that work to the Discussion Board for us to discuss during that time.

Full drafts of WP4 for peer review should be posted by Monday, November 28.

Final Drafts of WP4 are due by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, December 2 (the last day of classes).

Feedback and Grading

Your final draft of Writing Project Four will be graded by me and at least one other instructor in the Writing Program; if there is strong disagreement on the grade assigned between myself and the second reader, a third evaluator will grade the work as well.

We can discuss the WRIT 150 grading practices and rubric for WP4 more fully during this project cycle. The grade you receive on Writing Project Four will be calculated into the Final Portfolio grade, which offers you the opportunity to earn a grade above a B for the final course grade.

As I consider the overall Final Portfolio Grade, more weight will be given to your performance on Writing Project Four, but the grade assigned for the Portfolio will reflect your performance on all aspects of the portfolio—that is, your grade for the Revision Project will be part of that Final Grade.

As the final draft deadline nears for Writing Project Four, we will collectively determine and vote on the percentage distribution of WP4 and the revision project in determining the Final Portfolio grade. This weighting will reflect the majority vote result of the class.

Final Course Grades will be assigned based on the terms of the Grading Contract. That is, your grade for the Final Portfolio will determine your final course grade in relation to your standing with the grading contract (Final Portfolio Grade adjusted for any deductions based on the contract).

Calendar of Assignments/Activities