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activity Changing the World
With a partner or in a small group, brainstorm a list of times when significant change
occurred, such as the Civil Rights Movement in the United States in the 1950s and 60s.
Conduct brief research as needed to add to your list. Then, choose one of these events
or movements to discuss with your partner or group. Consider who promoted the
change, who was trying to prevent it, and what finally caused the change to come about.
Again, conduct additional research to add to your background knowledge as needed.
Changing the World

Texts in Conversation

Throughout this chapter, you will read about a number of people who have tried — or are still
trying — to bring about meaningful change across a wide range of topics. As you read, keep
track of some of their different approaches to creating change, make connections among
them, and respond to them with your own reactions. At the end of the chapter, you’ll have
an opportunity to write your own pieces about change, using the texts you read as evidence
and inspiration. You can use a graphic organizer like the following, if it would help you:

Author/ How does the author Quotation(s) that illustrate the Your reaction and/or
title advocate for change? author’s ideas about change connections to other texts

Understanding Personal Experience
skill workshop As we discussed in Chapter 3 , many different types of evidence can help you prove a
in Argument

point or make your case. You certainly can and should use facts, statistics, data, and
quotations from experts. Overlooked sometimes, however, is the role that your own
personal experience with an issue can play in developing and supporting your argument.
If, for instance, you are writing about why school should start later in the day, your own
experience getting up for your first period class would likely provide relevant and highly
effective support. This workshop will focus on examining how personal experience can be
used to develop and support an argument, and also on recognizing its limitations. In addi-
tion to analyzing the use of personal experience in the argument put forward in a speech
by Malala Yousafzai, you will write your own brief argument that includes an effective use
of personal experience as evidence to support a claim.
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Copyright © Bedford/St. Martin’s. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
Distributed by BFW Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.

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