Week 6 – Organizational Plan for Video Argument Presentation Assignment

Due on 05/07/2022

Week 6 – Organizational Plan for Video Argument Presentation Assignment

Please submit Parts 1 and 2 in the same Word document

Part 1 – Let’s start to organize your main ideas with some free writing. Let these questions guide you, but don’t feel limited to answering them all or to stop after you’ve answered them. Just write and see what happens.

Part 1 – Freewriting prompt:

· What is my topic?

· Why does this topic appeal to me?

· What is my stance on the topic?

· How can I use logos (facts, statistics, expert opinions) to persuade my audience?

· How can I use pathos (emotional appeals) to persuade them?

· How will I establish ethos (credibility) with my audience?

Part 2 – Planning

In terms of organizing your information, consider the following questions. You can make the answers as informal as you like; this planning step is mostly for your benefit, but you should answer and think about each of these questions. However, the more work you do here, the better your connection to your audience will become, simply because you are thinking of them as you work on your Video Argument Presentation.

Part 2 – Planning prompt:

· How can I hook my audience? What exciting sentence or two can I start with to make them interested in my topic?

· Why am I qualified to speak on this topic (ethos)?

· What background will a general audience need to understand my topic?

· What are the main points in my argument?

· How can I organize those points most effectively?

· What is the other side of the issue’s main argument against my side?

· How can I counter that argument? What are the main benefits to the opposition if they adopt your position?

· How can I end my presentation with a call to action? What do I want my audience to do or believe after they see my presentation?

EXAMPLE:

Part 1 – My topic is movie ratings, and this appeals to me because I’m a very squeamish movie goer. I don’t like a lot of violence or gratuitous sex on the screen, so I rely on movie ratings to keep me from having nightmares about body parts being strewn about! I also think back to when my kid was younger, and I wanted to be sure he wasn’t going off to see something that was going to keep us both awake all night! I can use logos by checking into some of the conservative film sites that don’t use spoilers but do let me know how bad the movies will be. They have stats and such and provide specific examples. I think the nightmare aspect is pathos. I’m not a big movie-goer, so I will have to establish ethos through finding good sources as I can’t say honestly that I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of films in my lifetime. I have my work cut out for me here.

Part 2 – My audience is probably more movie-savvy than I am. I can start the story of seeing a four or five year old being taken into the theater when I saw 1917 earlier this year. The little one had to be taken out rather quickly after the movie started. I kept hitting my husband’s arm and saying, “What are those people thinking, bringing that little boy to this movie! Didn’t they know it was rated R?” He kept hushing me….

I’m going to have to establish ethos by talking about how much research I’ve put into this project… I’ll keep thinking about this!

I want to lead up to my main point. I will start with an overview of movie ratings (super fast because everyone knows about them to some degree) and then dig into the specifics of some of the higher ratings so that my audience understand them the same way I do.

I want to persuade parents to do their research on film ratings so they can preserve the innocence of their children as long as possible. I can talk about the little kid at 1917 walking right by ushers, etc. Someone sold that family those tickets! That’s going to be pathos because I will get some research about how seeing a lot of violence can be bad for little ones.

Of course the First Amendment says we have freedom. I will counter that by saying that little kids need to be protected; they can’t drive themselves to the theaters or pay for their own tickets, so parents have that responsibility

I don’t have a big ticket call to action. I just want parents to pay more attention to what their kids are watching and be informed about what the movie ratings really mean. If I can get them to think more about the ratings, my job is complete.

(Do you see how I’m sort of talking to myself here? I’m noting things I need to work on as I go forward with my project over the weeks.)