With the end being so close, I want you to get started on your final piece of work for class. What will this be? Your final will be to:

  • Write and present orally a speech that uses rhetorical devices and strategies to address an issue of your choosing. Support your position on the issue with research. Be sure to acknowledge competing views.
  • You will need to submit a written copy of your speech in addition to giving the speech orally. (We will discuss how you can submit the speech orally in the last week of class.)
  • I would like you to start working on your speech by planning our your writing and gathering your research. Read the lesson to get started with this.

Planning

For any piece of writing you complete, you should be completing some planning. Planning gets you to think about what you are going to write before you actually start writing. 

It is important to plan because:

  • It helps you organize your thoughts
  • Encourages you to come up with new ideas
  • It helps to record your thoughts so you don't forget
  • It lets you make sure you have all the information you need

How you plan is up to you. Every person has their own form of planning that they like to do. Planning can be an outline, a flow chart, a spider diagram, mind map, lists, or sticky notes.

Research

The next assignment asks you to collect and turn in the research for your paper that you are going to use. In a previous lesson, you learned how to decide if a source of information is credible. When you turn in your sources, you will need to make sure that they are credible.

Do you know where you are going to start collecting information? Watch the video below for some helpful tips on starting to collect information.