About This Guide
Welcome to the English 110 Course Research Guide!
The purpose of this guide is to provide information and resources for navigating the assignments in the ENG 110 course at the Pleasantville Campus: the Genre Analysis and the Editorial Essay. Descriptions of the assignments are below.
Use the navigation on the left side to find support for completing these assignments.
Genre Analysis
Assignment Description Summary
The Genre Analysis assignment is designed to help you gain familiarity with the opinion editorial genre, also known as an op-ed. An op-ed is a text that expresses a writer’s opinion on a specific topic, issue, or current event. They are typically found in newspapers, magazines, and across digital platforms, such as Ted Talks and blogs. A compelling op-ed makes a clear argument to a specific audience by articulating the writer’s connection to and perspective on the topic, providing specific, relevant examples, and including quality sources.
Writing a genre analysis requires you to break from your previous writing instruction or natural inclination to construct an argumentative essay in which you agree or disagree with the authors or use the texts to present and support your own position on a selected topic. The objective of this assignment is to identify the conventions, structure, and purpose of an op-ed as they relate to a specific audience. Your goal is to explain not what the authors are writing about, but rather how they are writing about that topic.
Research Goals:
- Select a topic that interests you.
- Collect three examples of the op-ed genre on this topic.
- Select editorials from three different publications.
(See your syllabus for the full assignment with guiding questions and paper outline.)
Editorial Essay
Assignment Description Summary:
Using the conventions learned in Unit 2, you will write a nuanced opinion editorial on a current issue of which you are passionate. The writing should relate to your own experiences and interests on topics such as politics, social justice, environmental concern, education, or any other area of contemporary public interest other than what you wrote about for Unit 2.
Research Goals:
- Select a timely and relevant topic that interests you.
- Conduct research.
- Incorporate relevant examples, facts, and statistics to support your argument.
- Use evidence, examples, and your voice to support your position.
(See your syllabus for the full assignment with guiding questions and paper outline.)