Multimodal Project: “Room for Debate”
The Room for Debate section of the NYT is the model for this assignment. You will find it by going to HYPERLINK “https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/” https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/
Go to the link above and when you are there, click on some of the topics listed. You will see a similar format for each topic Room for Debate. There is the title, a short, 2 paragraph or so Introduction for the issue, and then the 6 short opinion pieces on the subject, each with a photo, brief bio and then the 400 word opinion. You will be using your research for this project- choosing 5 of your sources that add something to the debate on your issue, your view will be the 6 entry. Create a Room for Debate using your five sources and your view; using tables in Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Wix, Digication, etc., recreate the Room for Debate look.
Follow the qualities of the Room for Debate Follow, and be sure to use first person for each source. You are writing as your source, paraphrasing the author’s view in to a 400 or so word opinion piece. Since this is a remediation, feel free to be creative and put your own stamp on the Room for Debate genre!
Let your voice become your sixth source; imagine yourself joining the conversation. When you enter into the conversation, give your credentials and connection with the topic as well. Readers need to know why they should listen to you. Also, as the sixth voice, place your point within/after all five sources that came before you. Thus, all five other sources should be discussed in your part. The goal of your part in the discussion is to make your voice rise above the conversation and bring some clarity to it.
Choose five sources that you have used in your paper or that you feel voice a position on your issue. At least one must be scholarly. The others may be credible non-academic sources, such as newspapers like the NYT, well-regarded trade publications, The Atlantic, Harper’s, etc. The opinions in the sources should differ from each other—they should take different positions–to reveal the complexity of the debate and the ongoing conversation.
Summarize the articles in 5-10 sentences each, using direct quotes of words and/or phrases. You can use your précis to guide you in the writing of each person’s opinion piece.
Format for each entry
Begin with a brief bio. You can usually find this information easily from the original place you found this source, or thru Google.
Then using your précis, begin to write the 400 or so opinion piece-start with summary sentence(s) with the writer’s full name and a rhetorically active verb that both puts the article into some context—the type of journal or book in which it appears—and describes what the writer is doing with the text (“suggests that,” “argues that,” “implies that,” “urges that,” “claims that,” etc.). See P. 279 in St. Martin’s Handbook for a chart of active “Signal Verbs.”
Describe how the writer develops, structures, and supports the argument. This is usually done by comparing and contrasting, illustrating, defining, or putting the article into context.
Describe the writer’s purpose, followed by an “in order to” clause, which explains the intended effect on the audience.
Summarize how the writer weighs in on your topic. What’s her or his angle? I see this as being a paragraph or two.
Explain in 2-4 sentences how this source is useful for your understanding of the topic.
EXAMPLE PRE-WORK
DISCUSSION BOARD 1:
Read HYPERLINK “https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/10/17/should-more-americans-study-abroad” \t “_blank” Study Abroad Room for Debate
After reading the debate on studying abroad, in 3-5 sentences, explain how the Room for Debate system works to present a topic, any topic. Post.
Then in a new Thread, practice letting the debaters in this particular Room converse. Using the Classlist, take on a persona. The Classlist is not numbered, so count manually. Students 1-5, take on the Berdan/Goodman persona. Students 6-10, take on the Chin persona. Students 11-15, take on the Buff persona. Students 16-20, take on the Rosales persona. Students 21-23 take on the Miranda persona.
Do all of this by Thursday.
Post 3-5 sentences speaking as your persona. Respond to two other personas/responders using your assigned persona. Do this by Monday.
Your opinion does not come to play in this discussion.
DISCUSSION BOARD 2:
Now it is time to JOIN the debate. What can you add to the conversation? Choose one or more below:
Do you have a personal experience with this topic? How does your experience fit in the debate?
Did the debaters lead you to a unique understanding of this topic?
Did the debaters lead you to think of a completely different perspective?
Post 5-10 sentences presenting your part of the Study Abroad debate.
Then by Tuesday, comment on two of your class members’ posts. Your comments should focus on the value of the post to the Study Abroad Room for Debate. In other words, does the post truly add something new to the debate? How? Why?
