Summarize what the op-ed is about. Identify and explain what the speaker is talking about at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the text. This should be clear, concise, and objective. Your paraphrase should be sufficient enough so that someone who has not read the op-ed will be able to understand the analysis that’s about to occur in the rest of the essay.

Read article: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/where-is-seattles-plan-to-address-crime-and-prioritize-public-safety/

Instructions (there is no need to answer all of the questions. The questions are just for a guildline. Please write all five paragraphs though. Use text evidence when necessary. Only source you should have is the article) :

1. Paragraph on Summary: Summarize what the op-ed is about. Identify and explain what the speaker is talking about at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the text. This should be clear, concise, and objective. Your paraphrase should be sufficient enough so that someone who has not read the op-ed will be able to understand the analysis that’s about to occur in the rest of the essay.
2. Thesis (as a separate paragraph): (Speaker’s first and last name), in his/her (type of text) (Title of Text), (strong verb) (subject of the piece). (Speaker’s last name)’s purpose is to (describe speaker’s purpose for his/her primary audience). He/she accomplishes this by using (list tone and the dominant rhetorical choices/appeals).
a. Example: Laurence Steinberg, in his Op-Ed “Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16,” lays out the arguments in favor of lowering the voting age to 16 in the United States. His purpose is to convince apprehensive adults that 16-year-olds are cognitively capable of making informed voting decisions and that lowering the voting age would have a positive effect on democracy in America as a whole. He accomplishes this by using a matter-of-fact tone, a catalogue of counterarguments (with careful refutations), and detailed scientific research.
3. Paragraph on Speaker/Purpose/Audience: Who is the speaker? What do you know about them? What gives them ethos? Who is the author’s intended (primary) audience? How do you know? Is there a secondary, less obvious audience? How does the speaker appeal specifically to the audience? What is the speaker’s purpose in writing this piece? How do you know? How does the audience influence this purpose? What action is the speaker trying to elicit from his audience (use a power verb)? Does the speaker achieve their purpose? Why or why not?
4. Paragraph on Context/Exigence: What specific event inspired the speaker to write this Op-ed? How does this text fit into a greater, generational conversation? What larger social, technological, historical, cultural, or political trends have influenced this topic and the conversations around this topic? How have these trends influenced this piece?
5. Paragraph on Choices/Appeals/Tone/Structure: Describe the tone of the piece using at least one carefully chosen adjective with evidence. Explain how that tone is established within the op-ed. Does the tone shift? How and why? What do you notice about the diction? Formal? Informal? Is the proper diction for the audience? What do you notice about the syntax? Extended? Brief? How is the speaker appealing to Ethos/Pathos/Logos? What rhetorical decisions were made and how did they affect the audience? How is the piece structured? Know the audience and the purpose, why did the speaker structure it this way? What is the rhetorical focus in each section/part of the text? Are the tonal shifts connected to the shifts in rhetorical focus? How does the tone and structure of the op-ed connect to audience and purpose?

Last Completed Projects