TOPIC:How big of a problem is it that we have such low voter turnout in the United States?
Do you have any suggestions about how me might increase voter turnout—partiularly for groups, like 18-25 year-olds, who have significantly lower levels of voter turnout?
GUIDELINES:
-REFER TO TEXTBOOK!
Remember that there are people in the audience who may disagree with you. Anticipate
their concerns and try to convince them that your argument is plausible. Writing the
essay as an op-ed piece will show that the argument that you are making is relevant for
the “real world” and that there are people who do not necessarily share your views so
they will need to be persuaded.
Link your argument to key course ideas [e.g., the democracy standard (popular
sovereignty, political liberty and political equality), constitutional provisions (and
inconsistencies), etc.]. Remember that your audience will NOT have read the textbook
or seen my lecture notes so you will need to explain to them these key terms and why
they matter.
I strongly encourage you to write your essay as if it were an opinion-editorial (op-ed) in a
newspaper, like The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, etc. (Feel
free to look at some actual editorials from these and other sources for ideas about the format,
style, etc.). That means that you are allowed to use “I” or “we” as part of your argument. You
CAN use “you”, but that tends to be a pretty powerful and often misused rhetorical tool so use
it sparingly if at all
Do NOT use generative AI to help you to write your essay. It is often very easy to spot
(even if you try to change some of the wording). It will often lead you astray. You will
start talking in detail about something that, while related to the topic, is not something
that we talked about in class and you clearly do not know anything about (not to be
mean or anything).
Posted inUncategorized
TOPIC:How big of a problem is it that we have such low voter turnout in the Unit
