Arguing to Assert
Disasters have been in the news quite a bit lately: hurricanes in the South, earthquakes abroad, and forest fires in B. C. and Washington. Humanity, it seems, will never be free of disasters of one type or another–indeed, it sometimes seems as if they are becoming more common (this is not a paper on global warming, but if you want to talk about global warming at some point that may bolster your case). Yet if we cannot eliminate disasters, we can at least prepare for them more efficiently and provide more effective means by which the might of the United States can be used to aid recovery efforts.
Since our class theme involves American law, I would like you to consider the laws we currently have on the books regarding disaster preparedness and relief; secondly, I would like you to offer suggestions on how we might improve those laws or implement better ones. For example, should we be more rigorous in enforcing earthquake-proof building codes in certain parts of the U. S. (including here)? Should we be more strict in zoning where people may live if they live on or near rivers that flood regularly? Should we pour more money into FEMA, which is the federal agency for disaster relief? Should we revisit how easy or how difficult it is to call out the National Guard? Should we focus, instead, on state law and better preparedness at the state level? Whatever questions attract you, build your paper around those questions–and if you can ask better ones, use yours and ignore my own. However, whatever your argument, you must use the six-step method of organization to organize the paper. That means, for example, providing a Narratio step starting with your second paragraph. One thing I will be looking for in your Narratio is a brief summary of the history of FEMA, which is currently under the Department of Homeland Security. As per six-step method guidelines, your Partitio step will follow that one and provide the reader with a thesis statement. Note: only hint at the thesis before your Partitio step–don’t give it away too early!
Write a four to seven page paper, typed and double-spaced. Research is a requirement for this assignment, and you must use a minimum of six sources to support your argument. Document them according to the APA style; use other online sources with caution.
* Adopt a confident tone.
Use the third person. The third person is privileged in academic discourse
Practice using the six-step method of organization
The six-step method comes to us from classical antiquity (Greece and Rome circa two thousand years ago), so some textbooks simply call it the “classical” method. I find that to be a little too imprecise, though, as classical rhetors also used other techniques such as Two Reasons and the Nestorian method of organization. Anyway, the six-step method always begins by trying to grab the reader’s attention. This is called the exordium, and it gives us the English word “exhort.” How can you grab your reader’s attention? You can tell an anecdote, a tiny little story; you can offer up an arresting statistic; or you can begin with a powerful quote, to name a few strategies. Often, the anecdote begun here is left on a “cliffhanger,” with the ending revealed at essay’s end. That’s step one, and it should be one short paragraph. Step two is called Narratio, and it gives us the English word “narration”. You are narrating the story of how we got here, giving the reader, in essence, the history of the problem you are addressing. If you’re writing about wildfires in the West, you would want to include a history of the forest service, the origin of attempts at total fire prevention, the origin of fire codes, or what have you. This step should take anywhere from one to three paragraphs, so don’t get carried away with the history! If you pull it off, readers will trust you by the end of this step because they’ll see you’ve done your homework. Step three, Partitio, partitions the argument into pieces. Here’s where you present your thesis statement and your “essay map” for the main points you want to make. I recommend one short, simple paragraph for this step. Step four, Confirmation, allows you to provide confirmation or proof that your views are best. This should actually be your longest step because you need to elucidate reasons and back them up with evidence. Sometimes students have trouble figuring out how to develop their arguments, but it always helps to do some reading. Find various arguments online or in print and see how the rhetors build a case. Steps five and six wind the essay down towards its end. Step five, Refutatio, seeks to cover any chinks in your armor; here you must refute opposing objections or acknowledge a point scored against you. Step six, Peroratio, gives us the English word “peroration,” and it usually involves an impassioned ending and a call for action. How to inject passion or emotion? It’s not difficult if you’re willing to go there. It’s my understanding that a boy and his grandmother went missing during a recent round of Oregon fires; they were later found, dead, the boy’s dog in his lap. You could start to tell their story at the beginning of your essay, leave it on a cliffhanger, then hit the reader with the gut punch at the end while making a call for action. Do you see how that might work? Let me know if you have any questions about this method of organization or about this assignment more generally.
