Page 94, Activity #3

As an English major, I have written numerous papers that have required me to draw on outside sources as well as personal experience. One particular paper that stands out in my mind is an essay I wrote for my political science course last fall. For this assignment, I was required to read two essays by different authors about the question, “how democratic is America?”. I was then instructed to decide which of the two authors I agreed with, adopt that writer’s viewpoint, and write a persuasive essay arguing my opinion on American democracy. In composing the essay, I was required to include at least one outside source as well as one incident from my own personal experience that supported my stance on the issue.

I found this assignment somewhat difficult because I did not entirely agree with either writer. I found that my beliefs concurred with some of the points from both essays, yet also differed from other details of the two passages. I decided to pick out the essay whose details I most strongly agreed with and write from that perspective. After researching the role of democracy in American government, I realized that I had a vast number of resources to sort through. It was essential to select the source that best supported my argument in order to form a credible argument.

Once I had decided on which outside source I wanted to incorporate into my paper, I had to contemplate my own personal experiences and decide how they related to American government. This assignment was slightly less difficult because I was better able to organize my own thoughts then the immense amount of resources I encountered through my research.

After selecting my outside and personal sources, I was left with the task of composing my essay. Even though I had already planned how to incorporate my sources into my writing, actually putting the words on paper was still challenging. I decided to begin my essay by introducing the differing views of both writers. Therefore, I also had to integrate these two sources into my writing. I then delineated which perspective I would be adopting and how I intended to support my opinion.

Once my introduction was complete, the rest of my essay came much easier. I found that I built on the opinion of the writer while also including my own thoughts and beliefs. I feel that this was an important aspect of my paper because it added originality to my work. Although I adopted the viewpoint of another writer, I supported this view with unique and personal sources. Therefore, I was able achieve creativity while still maintaining a convincing and compelling argument.