Mod. 3 | Persuasive Web Article – Assignment Sheet

In this major project, you will put your research from the previous module into action! After spending so much time investigating your research questions, you have built knowledge and credibility. Now that you have spent some time finding the best and most relevant research about your topic and have begun to think about how your sources “speak to” each other, you will use this knowledge to argue a particular position for a specific audience. In this module, you will learn how to communicate your informed perspective, shaping your material to suit your purpose and the needs of your audience. 

Your work in this project will give you experience doing something that many, if not all of you will do in the future (if you aren’t already doing it now!):  crafting digital content for publication on the web.  By learning to read and compose within multiple genres and to make design and style choices with various audiences and situations in mind, you are learning to be flexible, modern writers.  In the 21st century, developing skills to create in a variety of media is crucial for the job market, and learning to adapt your writing for different audiences and contexts is THE way to demonstrate mastery of the art of rhetoric.

Task: Write a persuasive web article that makes an argument about your topic to a specific audience, using the research you’ve gathered.

Audience: You’ll want to select an audience that makes sense for your particular research topic, the research you have conducted, and the stance you are taking. For example, if your web article is arguing for policy change relevant to a particular topic, then your specific audience should be a group who has the ability to impact policy. Or, if you believe that your topic requires action from a specific demographic, such as people your age, you should keep that audience in mind. 

Purpose: Your persuasive web article has three goals: 1) inform your specific audience on important background context and information they need to understand your topic, 2) take a stance on the topic/issue you’ve researched, and 3) persuade your audience to agree with your stance. You’ll also want to use research effectively enough that you are convincing your secondary audience, your teacher, that you are making this argument based on the research that you have done. 

Genre: A web article is a broad genre of text that encompasses many different purposes, audiences and platforms. For example, a newspaper article, a blog, and a magazine article all qualify as example web articles. One thing they have in common is that they are usually persuasive, and they synthesize sources to present the argument to writers. In other words, the writers of these texts don’t organize the writing by discussing one source, then the next, then the next. Instead, the writers decide what they want to argue and they use the information they’ve gathered to support their conclusions. You might look at Example 1Links to an external site. or Example 2Links to an external site. or Example 3Links to an external site.. I’m also including this student example 

and another student example.

• Because there are many “correct ways” to write a web article, the web article you write for this project can take any shape you want as long as  it can be distributed digitally, and it includes digital links and visuals components. For example, you might choose to create your project on a website such as Wix.com, a blog such as WordPress.com, Google Sites, Canva, a Word Document, or a PDF. It will be your responsibility in this project to make the best decisions about what kind of article you want to write–but you will have to keep your audience and purpose in mind when making these decisions.

• Your web article should be at least 1000 words long and will be created as a digital text (also called a web text). A web text or digital text is a text that is meant to be consumed by a public audience on the internet (rather than in print form) and so it’s designed very differently than a traditional essay. 

• You may also consult Chicago Bridge – How to Write a Web ArticleLinks to an external site. which gives some advice to writers. There’s also 9 Simple Tips for Writing Persuasive Web ContentLinks to an external site.. Importantly, the advice in these sources is not universally true of all web articles, because–again–your choices will be informed by your audience and purpose. However, these sources do help give you a sense of some of the decisions you might make while composing. 

What makes a web article different from composing a traditional essay?

• Visual rhetoric: Because web readers have short attention spans, web articles are accessible and entertaining. The genre most often includes photographs or illustrations to draw readers in and catch their interest. Because of that, this assignment requires at least one visual element besides your text. You can choose if those will be photos, illustrations, charts, graphs. When deciding what visual element(s) to include, be sure to keep your specific audience and purpose in mind.

• Page design:  Web articles are designed for on-screen reading, so as you plan your article, you’ll put together a plan for your page layout, use of color and formatting. These things are important since they establish your ethos as a writer and help your audience read more easily. As you plan your article, think carefully about your audience’s reading experience. This means considering page layout, use of color throughout the article, and formatting. When you are creating a web text, you not only have more opportunities to think about page design–effective page design is an important part of the genre. 

• Hyperlink Citation: In web sources, like online reports and articles, sources are referenced through hyperlinks. I recommend that you review this resource, created by FIU’s Digital Writing Studio: Digital Writing and CitationLinks to an external site.. The entire video is incredibly useful for this project, but you can see the section on hyperlinking starting around 6:55. You can also scroll down and read the section on web articles. You can also see two real world examples of hyperlink citation by viewing Example 1Links to an external site. and Example 2Links to an external site..

• Additional Sources: Importantly, for this project, you will choose which sources from your previous project helps you to inform your audience, and you will conduct further research to fill in any gaps in your knowledge as you write. Early in the unit, you’ll be expected to turn in a list of at least three new sources that you will use for this project. In total, you are required to use at least 8 sources, including some that you submit for instructor review in this unit.