College Writing

College Writing Study Guide convinced by your argument, how does the world change? The format of a proposal easily lends itself to this kind of conclusion. Additionally, when we reviewed the kinds of organizational frameworks, including the Five-Para- graph Essay, the Five - Part Essay, the Rogerian argument, etc., we discussed how the different kinds of thinking associated with each organizational structure can expand how you argue for solutions. That applies here as well, though the middle-ground that Rogerian arguments accept might not be appropriate for proposals, which often demand more assertive claims. Putting together the pre-writing lessons with the organizational lessons, let’s do an outline for the prompt discussed in the Achieve lectures. We’ll be using the Five- Paragraph Essay organizational structure with some elements of Aristotelian argument in the outline. Recall that the prompt asks us to argue how to spend funding to renovate a vacant building. 1. Thesis – The abandoned movie theater on the corner of Green River and Powell Ave. should be renovated into an art house theater for local �ilmmakers and students of �ilm. a. Supporting Point 1 – The local community has limited artistic outlets, and our isolated geography keeps us from everything but the most commercialized �ilms. i. Illustration for Supporting Point 1 like facts or statistics – We are over two hours away from the nearest art house movie theater. Renovating this one would provide a more geographically convenient avenue for our local young �ilmmakers to exhibit their work and be inspired by the rare �ilms that they can’t see at the corporate theaters. ii. Another kind of illustration for Supporting Point 1 like a description of the point in action – The yearly recurring �ilm festival, organized by a few devoted fans on a shoestring budget, demonstrates that there is an appetite for these kinds of movies. b. Supporting Point 2 – Our community is attempting to increase its cultural pro�ile, and an art house movie theater would serve this purpose. i. Illustration for Supporting Point 2 – The downtown renovations were aimed at improving the artistic lifeblood of the city, but they focused on arts and crafts, not �ilm. This left �ilmmakers without a means of expressing themselves and without the support that the city was giving to other artists. c. Supporting Point 3 (the refutation) – Selling the building to a private retail �irm would not serve the same social good. i. What does the opposition believe – By selling the building to Wal-Mart, the city can make money off of the sale and from the tax revenues that a retail establish- ment like Wal-Mart can generate.

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Achieve

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