Issue Analysis 5-7 page Discovery Draft: Feb 11th Rough Draft: Feb 24th Final: March 4th Our world is riddled with issues, from climate change to Covid. In the past two years we’ve witnessed and experienced problems that will define the trajectory of our lives, yet there are conflicts about these problems and whether are not they constitute “social problems.” Opportunities for analyzing issues, problems, or situations are found in every discipline and work environment. As citizens, it is part of our duty to recognize and understand these problems and point to the structures that create them. This paper will aid you in articulating and defining a problem. A primary objective will be discussing how and why it became a problem. Here is your opportunity to write about something that enrages or troubles you! Pick your passion and inform your audience. Writing about an issue can lead to greater understanding of the problem and may lead to building solutions. ***Having trouble solidifying a topic? Check out our topic bank!**** Click Here for Sample Topics! For this essay, you will write an analytical essay (using source material) that examines, explains, and analyzes an issue –with multiple, possibly conflicting perspectives. Peel back the layer of the problem. You should engage the objective and subjective elements (as presented in our reading) our analysis will be sophisticated, in that it does not just see two sides of an issue, but sees multiple parts of a larger situation, while carefully examining or analyzing each part. You will also look at the rhetoric surrounding the problem to generate and sustain your analysis. Pay close attention to Social Problem Chapters 1 & 2.You may want to consider how the items below shape the problem and responses to it. social structure social consutructions social stractification culture Writing Sequence Discovery Draft • Your discovery draft is a space for you to think critically about your topic and explore what you know, don't know, and need to know to develop your essay. Think of it is a pre-essay! • Your rough draft fleshes out the points of your discovery draft and incorporates instructor feedback. These draft will undergo peer review and round of intstructor feedback. This draft should include source material Rough Draft and a working thesis Final Draft • Your final draft should be a polished 5-7 essay that is revised based on feedback. It should should demonstrate your understand and interpretation of the social problem and the source material you cited. This paper should contain no less than four sources (but you may need more to address multiple angles of the issue). Rubric is availabe on Canvas. Questions you may consider: • • • • • • • What’s at stake? Who are the stakeholders? What is the root cause of the issue? How does this [long-standing problem] impact people in the present moment? What rhetoric is tied to the problem? What policies are in place? What solutions can be put forth? Note that you are not limited to these questions. We will cover more ideas in class. The Basics • • • • Include an interesting, relevant title that prepares the reader for your analytical approach to the subject • Essay must be a minimum of 5 pages (works cited does not count as a page) • Use Times New Roman, 12-point font with 1” margins. • Include Works Cited page written in MLA style including a minimum of 4 sources. Be sure that your sources are balanced (i.e., they are not all the same type) Organizational Tips: Many students struggle with organizing the issue analysis. Here’s a sample approach. We will go over other approaches in class (Ex: Problem-solution) I. An introduction to the topic. This is where you would discuss the scope of problem. For example, you might discuss legislation or technological advances that led to the controversy that your paper will discuss. You might talk about the history of the specific field where your debate / controversy lies. II. An introduction to the controversy. Why do people have differing opinions about the issue? Where does the problem arise? What sorts of points are commonly agreed upon? What parts of the issue do people disagree about? III. Specific viewpoints from authors or stakeholders. Try to think of your sources on a spectrum and possibly lay them out as such. In your research, you would need to find articles (both scholarly and mainstream press) that support any claim you make and build a framework in your essay that not only analyzes the views of various stakeholders or perspectives or sub-issues within the larger issue but also examines the justifications made by these groups. Notice how the various groups argue. Can you analyze the arguments rhetorically? Ideally, your analysis will be sophisticated, in that it does not just see two sides of an issue, but sees multiple parts of a larger situation, while carefully examining or analyzing each part. i. An example: If you have a source that believes we should ban the use of all tobacco products everywhere, then discuss that source first. Then, when you’re moving to the second source, you might say: “While Smith does not believe that tobacco products should be banned, he believes that the legislators should have stricter regulations about tobacco use in public spaces.” Then, you would continue to discuss the source in depth before moving on to the third source and so on. IV. Once you’ve discussed the various sources and the layers of the problem, you will then reiterate the highlights of your paper and discuss the controversy while also possibly calling for more research to find better solutions to the problem. In the tobacco example, those solutions might be either helping people quit or finding ways to allow people to use tobacco while also protecting those who wish to minimize their exposure to the carcinogens in secondhand smoke.
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