Reference no: EM133579570
Assignment
Part I: Response Writing for Traditional Media
Choose one of the pre-existing texts below to respond to in a text drafted for traditional media. You can respond to the same text that you responded to in the New Media Response assignment, but you must draft a response from scratch. This week, draft a Letter to the Editor of the publication that originally printed your chosen article in which you respond. In other words, if your chosen text originally appeared in the LA Times, then you are writing a letter to the Editor of the LA Times.
Review "Writing Letters to the Editor" in Module Readings and Resources.
Texts for Response (choose one)
1) "Editorial: How Can Kids Learn Without Homework and Rigid Deadlines? Quite Well, It Turns Out" by Los Angeles Times Editorial Board for the Los Angeles Times (opens in new window): Frame your response around whether or not you agree with the editorial board's stance on homework and deadlines. Would it be better if we relaxed homework expectations for kids? Should this be implemented across all levels of education? Or is this dangerous?
2) You must refer to your chosen text in your response. You're responding to it. Choose a handful of specific points made in the original text you wish to respond to. Quote the original and offer your take.
3) Think about how texts written for traditional media acknowledge sources. You must acknowledge any sources you use in your writing according to expectations for traditional media. This includes your chosen text and any other source material you incorporate.
4) Submissions should be around 350 words and in the appropriate letter format.
Part II: Thinking and Writing About Academic Style
Before writing your journal, choose one group of texts to view from the below options. Watch and read through the material carefully, making notes as you go of the obvious differences in how the texts differ in their approach to similar topics.
In a brief journal, compare and contrast the three texts in your chosen group. Do not discuss your feelings on the subject matter of the texts. Instead, offer a brief rhetorical analysis of each. You may address the following prompts in your response:
1) How would you describe the tone of each?
2) How would you describe the bias of each?
3) Who is the intended audience? How do you know?
4) What research did the writer/ speaker do to understand the topic? Describe the research process as it is articulated in the texts (this may be implied and not explicitly reported).
5) Identify the specific ways in which the academic approach to research and writing differs from the other forms of popular media.