Op-ed

1. Op-ed

2. WNB: Opinion • Where do people publish opinion pieces? • Where have you seen opinion pieces—in magazines? On television? On youtube? • What about blogs, twitter as outlets for personal expression. • What purpose do they serve? What do they promote?

3. What is an Op-ed • Op-eds have an interesting or surprising viewpoint about an issue or problem impacting the community, nation, or world right now. They aim both to inform and take a clear stand on an issue, and often to spur the reader to action. • Op-eds are typically 600-800 words. • Op-eds, short for opposite the editorial page or opinion editorial, are distinct from editorials because they are not written by someone on the publication’s editorial review board-they are often freelance or from a guest author

4. Editorial vs. Op-ed How do you describe the editorial page? • The editorial page contains several elements, including, as the name suggests, the editorials - the opinions or positions of the newspaper on major issues of local or national public policy, such as pending legislation or social or political issues. • The page also carries the daily political cartoon - the opinion of the cartoonist - and the letters to the editor - the opinions of our readers. The page also lists the names and titles of the paper's senior executives and editors. What's the "op-ed" page? • "Op-ed" is short for "opposite editorial," meaning the page is physically opposite the editorial page. This page carries opinion columns about major news events and current topics. These columns may or may not be written by staff and carry a range of opinions within political or social spectrums. • Sometimes the newspapers publish syndicated columnists from other newspapers; sometimes articles from local individuals - business, political, educational, or other leaders in the community.

5. Writing an Op-ed • If written effectively and persuasively, op-eds have the power to change people’s minds and spur them to action. • Require the author to consider the most effective arguments (creating a balance of logos, ethos, pathos, and kairos)

6. Writing an Op-ed • Refute counterarguments to strengthen the argument. • Opinions must be supported with substantive evidence • Research requires selecting credible sources, sifting information to find the most effective evidence, and fluidly incorporating that evidence into the argument.

7. An op-ed writer must… • Make debatable claims about an issue or a problem, which they back up with facts. Opinions alone are not enough to make an argument. • Provide evidence to support his/her opinion and convince the audience. • Distinguish fact from opinion. • Identify issues and their related problems.

8. Key Concepts: Reading an Op-ed • Choice/ Viability of a topic • Creating a debatable claim • Appeals (pathos, ethos, logos, kairos, etc…) • Audience and purpose • Evidence/Warrants • Counterargument • Rebuttal

9. Elements of an Op-ed Concrete Elements • Introduction • Debatable claim • Evidence Abstract • Strong voice, passion about the issue, effective word choice Both the abstract and concrete elements of an op-ed or any piece of writing are important!

10. Structure of an Op-ed Writers of op-eds adhere to certain conventions when crafting their pieces. • Op-eds often begin with a lede (an introduction) • Progress to a thesis that states the debatable claim, and develop the argument in ensuing paragraphs using a variety of types of evidence. • The piece wraps up with a counterargument and/or a call to action. The writer must also make clear why the issue or problem is immediately pressing and/or relevant.

12. Your opinion…on an Op-ed! • Are opinion pieces important in our society? • Is this freedom of expression and publication common to all countries in the world? • Consider areas of the world where personal freedoms/freedom of expression are limited or non-existent.

13. Elements of an Argument

14. Components of an Argumentative Essay • Claim • Data • Warrant • Counterclaim • Rebuttal

15. Claim • Another term for your thesis • The overall thesis the writer will argue • The backbone of the paper • Without this sentence, there is no argument • Example: “Why I Lived With My Garbage for a Year” I believe that "waste" is actually a resource that can be used rather than discarded. Saving my trash allowed me to recycle or "repurpose" it into resources I value. I'm an artist, and I plan to use my glass bottles to create garden dividers, glass mugs, and wind chimes. My aluminum cans can be melted and used to make sculptures.

16. Data • Evidence gathered to support the claim (thesis) • Information that you use to prove that your opinion is correct and justified Example: • Report from a Credible Organization: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average American produces 4.3 pounds of garbage a day, 30 pounds a week, and about 1,600 pounds a year. • First-hand Experience: In 2010, I produced 215 pounds of trash, slightly more than half a pound a day.

17. Warrant • Explanation of why or how the data supports the claim • Without explaining your evidence, there is no bridge between the facts and your argument Example: • Analysis: Though I won't be saving all my trash again this year, my experience has permanently changed my consumption habits. • Evidence: Every trip to the grocery store is now an expedition. I bring reusable bags for produce, jars and containers to collect food from the bulk section, and cloth bags to carry it all back on my bicycle. I never leave home without my reusable mug. And I avoid consuming drinks from glass bottles; aluminum cans weigh less and therefore require less energy to recycle. • Conclusion of Analysis: In short, I'll never again be able to buy anything without pausing to ask myself: Is this really something I need? Is there a way to get it that involves less waste? And how can I reuse or repurpose the packaging?

18. Counterclaim • A claim that negates or disagrees with the claim • Also known as the counterargument Example: • Just as I washed my dishes, I scrubbed my soda cans, potato chip bags, and juice bottles with soap and water and hung them on my dish rack to dry. "Doesn't your trash stink?" people often asked. As long as I washed and dried everything, it didn't smell.

19. Rebuttal • Evidence that negates or disagrees with counterclaim • A way of proving that although the counterclaim exists, your argument is still superior Example: • Just as I washed my dishes, I scrubbed my soda cans, potato chip bags, and juice bottles with soap and water and hung them on my dish rack to dry. "Doesn't your trash stink?" people often asked. As long as I washed and dried everything, it didn't smell.

20. Conclusion • A call to action for your readers informing them what they can do about your problem/issue • A closing paragraph that circles back to the intro. Example • I just graduated, and I plan to get involved in the "zero waste" movement, which is gaining momentum in California and across the nation. Several cities, like my hometown of Palo Alto, California, and universities, such as UC Davis, have pledged to find alternatives to placing trash in landfills.

21. Elements of an Argument

22. WNB: Good Habits? It has been said that “good” habits improve our physical, emotional, and/or financial health. • Do you agree with the statement above? Answer in complete sentences. • Name one of your good habits and briefly describe why it is good….then….take the opposite position. Take that good habit you were just writing about and explain why it is actually a bad habit.

23. Components of an Argumentative Essay • Claim • Data • Warrant • Counterclaim • Rebuttal

24. Claim • Another term for your thesis • The overall thesis the writer will argue • The backbone of the paper • Without this sentence, there is no argument • Example: “Why I Lived With My Garbage for a Year” I believe that "waste" is actually a resource that can be used rather than discarded. Saving my trash allowed me to recycle or "repurpose" it into resources I value. I'm an artist, and I plan to use my glass bottles to create garden dividers, glass mugs, and wind chimes. My aluminum cans can be melted and used to make sculptures.

25. Claim: Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” Being hungry will change you into someone you don’t like or someone that is completely unlike who you really are. Snickers will return you to your normal self and satisfy your hunger. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxlOWVVQWE

26. Data • Evidence gathered to support the claim (thesis) • Information that you use to prove that your opinion is correct and justified Example: • Report from a Credible Organization: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the average American produces 4.3 pounds of garbage a day, 30 pounds a week, and about 1,600 pounds a year. • First-hand Experience: In 2010, I produced 215 pounds of trash, slightly more than half a pound a day.

27. Data: Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” Anecdotal evidence is used in the form of a story/scenario. (A variety of different snickers commercials have been created to connect to different audiences) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxlOWVVQWE

28. Warrant • Explanation of why or how the data supports the claim • Without explaining your evidence, there is no bridge between the facts and your argument Example: • Analysis: Though I won't be saving all my trash again this year, my experience has permanently changed my consumption habits. • Evidence: Every trip to the grocery store is now an expedition. I bring reusable bags for produce, jars and containers to collect food from the bulk section, and cloth bags to carry it all back on my bicycle. I never leave home without my reusable mug. And I avoid consuming drinks from glass bottles; aluminum cans weigh less and therefore require less energy to recycle. • Conclusion of Analysis: In short, I'll never again be able to buy anything without pausing to ask myself: Is this really something I need? Is there a way to get it that involves less waste? And how can I reuse or repurpose the packaging?

29. Warrant: Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” Anecdotal evidence is used in the form of a story/scenario. (A variety of different snickers commercials have been created to connect to different audiences) This evidence supports the claim that being hungry changes you completely, but eating a snickers makes you you again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxlOWVVQWE

30. Counterclaim • A claim that negates or disagrees with the claim • Also known as the counterargument Example: • Just as I washed my dishes, I scrubbed my soda cans, potato chip bags, and juice bottles with soap and water and hung them on my dish rack to dry. "Doesn't your trash stink?" people often asked. As long as I washed and dried everything, it didn't smell.

31. Counter-Claim: Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” In some advertisements the counter-claim is more obvious (two companies/products are directly compared to one another). In other ads the counter-claim is assumed. Counter-Claim: Other foods/candy bars might satisfy your hunger, but not as much or as well as Snickers…and nothing but a snickers will return you to your true self. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxlOWVVQWE

32. Rebuttal • Evidence that negates or disagrees with counterclaim • A way of proving that although the counterclaim exists, your argument is still superior Example: • Just as I washed my dishes, I scrubbed my soda cans, potato chip bags, and juice bottles with soap and water and hung them on my dish rack to dry. "Doesn't your trash stink?" people often asked. As long as I washed and dried everything, it didn't smell.

33. Rebuttal: Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” In some advertisements the counter-claim is more obvious (two companies/products are directly compared to one another). In other ads the counter-claim is assumed. Rebuttal: Other foods/candy bars might satisfy your hunger, but not as much or as well as Snickers…and nothing but a snickers will return you to your true self. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxlOWVVQWE

34. Conclusion • A call to action for your readers informing them what they can do about your problem/issue • A closing paragraph that circles back to the intro. Example • I just graduated, and I plan to get involved in the "zero waste" movement, which is gaining momentum in California and across the nation. Several cities, like my hometown of Palo Alto, California, and universities, such as UC Davis, have pledged to find alternatives to placing trash in landfills.

35. Conclusion: Snickers “You’re not you when you’re hungry” All advertisements in some way or another call the consumer to action. Only Snickers will fully satisfy your hunger and return you to your normal self. Therefore you should only buy and eat Snickers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DxlOWVVQWE

36. Your Turn • Take a look at the following advertisement and determine how each part of an argument is expressed. • Claim • Data • Warrant • Counterclaim • Rebuttal • Conclusion

37. Samsung: The Next Big Thing • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLtysG4O0ak Identify each element • Claim • Data • Warrant • Counterclaim • Rebuttal • Conclusion

38. Claim • You can go on great journeys and adventures in a Volkswagen, all you have to do is turn it on.

39. Volkswagon: “The Force” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R55e-uHQna0