(Solution) ENGL147N Week 6 Assignment: What Does the Opossum Say? Invent a Scenario Involving a Genre of Argument

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

  • Lesson
  • One presentation medium such as Prezi, narrated PowerPoint, video, screen capture, or another with which you are familiar and comfortable. Check out the sample presentation for this assignment!Play media comment.

Your Week 6 assignment is a brief and fun one. It allows you to think “outside the box” about your issue and stance.

The title of the assignment is a bit silly and intriguing, but the idea is that you will consider the impact of your issue, of your supporting arguments and the opposing viewpoints in your paper, on an animal that lives nearby, like an opossum who hangs out by the trash bins behind a hospital. For example, if your argument’s goal (say, a change in the definition of “regular” and “hazardous” refuse), leads to a change in the content of trash bins and therefore to a change in what the opossum is exposed to/ingests, that’s something you may not have considered to this point. So, via this activity, that opossum can be given a “voice” to express the impact on its life.

This is not just a fun little children’s game, though; the intent is to push your brain and expand your understanding of impact, while also demonstrating your understanding of argument genres as discussed in this week’s textbook readings and lesson.

You will create a presentation, using a mode of your choice. You may choose narrated PowerPoint, or another medium like Prezi, or even make your own video with visuals, a screen capture if you are skilled in that- it is entirely up to you and what you’d like to try out. The sky is the limit here. In this presentation you will:

State your thesis

  • Identify a nearby animal that may be impacted by your topic and note the ways in which the animal might be impacted.
  • Then, give your animal a voice. What does it say about the issue? Let your animal share its thoughts on your stance and on an opposing stance.
  • Next, respond to the animal by using one of the argument genres discussed in the textbook and the lesson. For example, would some definition help with clarity for the animal? Can you find common values-based ground? Perhaps the animal raises a problem; how can you address solutions? For example, maybe the “stay at home” order handed down in 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic managed to cut pollution so much that certain animals returned to their habitats.
  • Finally, you will discuss how and if a resolution could be reached and how the exercise helped you to see your topic and essay in new ways.

Presentation Requirements

Depending on the medium you use, you will create the equivalent of a “slide” for each of the following (Some presentation tools, or video, might not be actual “slides”):

  • Identify your thesis, the animal, and why you chose it.
  • Using your animal’s hypothetical “words,” state how your thesis or one of your main supporting points will impact this animal and why.
  • Respond to your animal by thoroughly addressing these concerns via an argument genre. Name the genre you are using.
  • Wrap up your conversation with the animal by noting whether a solution is possible and why or why not.
  • Discuss how this exercise expanded your understanding of your topic.

Length and Content Parameters

  • The equivalent of four rich “slides” addressing the verbal content written above.
  • Text and voice for all four “slides.” You may narrate in your own voice or have fun with “animal character” voices!
  • At least two visuals representing your animal. You may use only your own original, owned images in the form of drawings and/or photos taken by you. If you have to draw, don’t worry; part of the fun is being silly. If you end up with stick figure of a squirrel holding a nut, for example, that’s more “you” than a stock photo of a squirrel from online (which is not allowed). Be as creative as you’d like!
  • No sources. This little presentation is just a conversation between your animal and you and represents your ability to reason and to consider a “special” point of view.

Solution:

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