Assignment Prompt: “In Defense Of” Essay

“In Defense Of” Overview

You will write an “In Defense Of” Essay. Your topic needs to be a simple pleasure (inspired by Barbara Holland’s Endangered Pleasures), a physical thing or physical action that you love but that, in our current culture, is otherwise thought of as mundane, unnecessary, boring, irrelevant, forgotten, or generally in need of praise (basically, you know there are certain people who don’t care about the topic or who criticize it). The essay needs to be about 2100 words (about 6-7 pages, double spaced, in TNR font).

Imitation

Your essay should be an imitation of Barbara Holland’s Endangered Pleasures, which means:

1) that your argument should not just describe your topic / inform your audience about your topic but persuade them to think about it in a new way (We will discuss Holland's claims in class.)

2) that you should pay close attention to the style of your writing as you develop your argument. (We will cover elements of Holland's style in class.)

Appealing to Multiple Audiences

You need to consider three different audiences at once: 1) your peers 2) Dr. Lance and 3) a skeptical reader. Make sure you consider that your defense is needed, meaning that you’ve identified and explained a specific context (aka problem) in which the thing / action you are defending is not enjoyed, sought after, praised, etc. (basically, remember that the question of our class is “how does a writer shift a paradigm?”). You need to prove to your audience that it is worthwhile, relevant, enjoyable, necessary, rewarding, etc.

Drafting the “In Defense Of” Essay

You will develop this essay in a minimum of 3 drafts, each practicing / using the specific set of skills / objectives we discuss in class (and identify in Holland’s essays).

Draft 1—1200 words (due Tuesday of week 7) – make sure that you identify the context, aka the problem(s), that keep your different audiences from enjoying / appreciating your topic; defend and describe your topic as specifically as you can, keeping in mind the goal of your claims / description: to let your audience experience your topic in a new way and to get them / keep them engaged (or interested, excited, etc.).

Draft 2—Full Length (due in week 8) – continue to develop (revise) your specific audience / problem and identify the claims / appeals / descriptions that will best persuade that audience.

Draft 3 (due at the end of week 9) – pay close attention to the choices you’re making (stylistic and argumentative) in order to engage and convince your audien