University of Virginia Crafting Arguments for Audiences Viral Tweet Discussion

Discussion: 1

For this discussion board, you will practice crafting arguments for public audiences and think about how audience and genre shift the ways you can make effective arguments.

1. Write a tweet that could appear on Twitter that makes a persuasive claim about your current topic/research question. You do not need to actually post on Twitter (although you can), but you should follow the rules for constructing a tweet. This part of your post should appear as it would on Twitter, including any hashtags, images, etc.

2. Compare how you present this argument on Twitter versus how you plan on presenting it in your Advocacy Letter, thinking about:

Genre conventions of each genre (tweets, advocacy letters) and how they allow you to write in particular ways and keep you from writing in other ways.

The audiences and changes made for different audiences

The purpose and changes made for different purposes

The type of language used

How sources are used

How the topic/content is presented through the appeals

Interaction between text and images/videos if applicable

3. What does this comparison help you understand about writing to public audiences? How does it help you make more effective choices when writing the advocacy letter?

Discussion: 2

Your mission this week is to play devil’s advocate with each other first by offering a claim based on your topic/research question and support for that claim and then by responding with counterclaims, rebuttals, and/or concessions to at least one classmate’s claim. This work builds on your understanding of counterarguments as you will have to anticipate them and respond to them in the Advocacy Letter and allows you to practice making effective claims.

In your primary post, make a claim (return to Week 11’s discussion of claims if needed) and provide brief explanation, evidence, examples, etc. to support that claim. This claim should be related to your topic/research question for the Advocacy Letter, although it doesn’t have to be exactly what your Advocacy Letter is focused on.

In your secondary post, craft a counterargument to a classmate’s claim by providing different examples or evidence, crafting a rebuttal, and/or making a concession if needed. For the purposes of this assignment, you do not necessarily have to agree with the counterarguments you present; your job is simply to explain other perspectives thoughtfully and critically.

These activities will help you consider how to make counterarguments in your Advocacy Letter and show you some of the counterarguments someone might make against your own claims that you may need to consider in your Advocacy Letter (if you audience would have similar perspectives as your classmate).