Page 97 - 2021-bfw-shea-all-2e

If, for instance, your question is “Why do some school districts receive more funding than
others?” you can think about the facilities and class sizes at your own school, and you
can ask your family members or friends about the schools they have attended. writing workshop

Gathering Information activity
Choose one of the questions that you wrote for the activity on page 80 and write three to
five examples from your own experiences, or those of people you know that could give
you information about your question. While these personal experiences might eventually
be used as evidence, at this point, you are still at the information-gathering stage. Feel
free to ask friends, classmates, and relatives, or to conduct surveys to learn more about
experiences others have had with the question you’ve selected. If you cannot identify
personal examples that might illustrate elements of your question, consider choosing a
different topic that is more directly related to your experience and interests.

Investigating the Issue

Personal experience is a good place to start an argument. It gets you invested in the
issue. Nevertheless, personal experience is not enough to give you the complete
picture. You need to encounter multiple perspectives on the issue, look into the
details of the situation, and investigate every angle possible. You need to go from
having an opinion to having an informed opinion.
Begin by seeking answers to your questions. Who might have expertise on the
issue you’ve chosen to write about? Scientists? Psychologists? Politicians?
It’s likely that your investigation will uncover just as many new questions as it
does answers. Learn to embrace that complexity. Understanding that every issue is
complicated and that issues almost never have a clear answer will prevent you from
writing an argument that is closed-minded, unreasonable, and not persuasive to
anyone who doesn’t already agree with you.

Investigating the Issue activity
Returning to the question you developed in response to the activity on page 80, begin
conducting research to identify the following:
1. Who are three to five experts in the fields to which your question relates? These will
be people who are referenced in many articles or in the bibliographies of multiple
Wikipedia pages.
2. About what aspects of your topic might reasonable people disagree?
3. What are two or three interesting or surprising facts or research study results related
to your question?

81
81
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.

sheaall2e_24428_ch05_002_095.indd 81 09/07/20 5:30 PM