Constructing an Argument situation of his project while researching and writing, and he will aso have to con- ‘ments you have had or will have ft lements of how to cor lege. Sam knows that there are a number Of issues related to political s he uct acon nt based on the date he finds. As you fead the research scenario, * how Samisthetorcalstuation and writing, developing a researched argument in response to this assignment? > out for his cole LUkewise, there are a variety of ways he could approach an argument on the Ject he chooses, a Supreme Court Sam will have to consider the rheto res eens EC een een Cee Ce ene Coane cecuneey considering Creat IEEE Eee ere aSam isa college student, taking his first class for his political science major. Sam wants to goto law school when he finishes his undergraduate degree, Sams professor for the course has assigned an end- of-semester paper that must present an argument about legal issue that has been discussed in class and has been heard by the courts. The only guideline is that the topic should deal with something controversial and curtent, an issue that has been inthe news within the last 10 years. Students must take a position on the court decsion and argue for & their positon using thelr knowledge of legal precedence. Sams audience i his profesor. Sam decides to write a report on a court case that is of particular interest to him, but he's in the awkward position of reporting on a topic to someone who already knows quite abit about tn hs textbook, he read about a Supreme Court case from 2005 that dealt with whether or not college campuses could ban military recruiters, He thought he might be intrested in learning more about it because he had two connections tothe case: he sof egal draft age and the con- troversy took pace ona law school campus. T c What are the various elements ofthe rhetorical situation inthis research sce- Ee nario? How do they impact one another? & Where could Sam look fr specific information about the case hei researching, c and where might he look for information on related court cases? a In what ways could Sam develop his argument, and where should he start? — What kinds of strategies might help Sam organize the ideas and information he e has gathered? : Have you ever been assigned a paper and you felt you had lots of information but didn't quite know how to organize it all and where to start writing a draft? ~ What did you do?weaauing 1 Sam faces another challenge—when he first sts down to write a daft, he finds himself srimarily summarizing the background information for the case and the things that dif ferent people have sid about the case and the decision. He writes about three pages when he decides to visit the campus writing center to see if he is on the right track At the writing center, a tutor reads what he wrote, and she points out that he wasn't really*arguing’for a position on the case but was“reporting" what others had seid. Sam heeded to figure out one legal iste to focus on, his postion on it, and how to defend it He was spending too much time summarizing his research instead of using itto defend his position. The tutor suggested he reconsider his goal in writing the paper to make sure that he was actually accomplishing it. Table 9.1 gives some examples of activities that generally fal in either the report: ing or the arguing category Sam realized that he was probably writing alot of summary because he was learning about the case himself, but he probably didn't need to include all of the summary in his final draft because his audience (his professor) was already familiar with the specifics of the case. He needed to refocus his writing on the purpose of the assignment, but the 5 writing he had already finished was helping him understand some of the controversial issues surrounding the case. The tutor suggested that Sam consider some of this writ ing to be part of his invention; he should keep all of it for later reference, but he might not include it alli his final draft. Many of us need to revisit the rhetorical situation of our writing when we begin interpreting our research and drafting. Sam realized that the preliminary writing and summarizing he had done was useful because it helped him to identity and understand the controversy surrounding hisissue, At that point in his writing, though, he needed to refocus and pick one aspect of the controversy to defend in an argument. Sam should also realize, though (as you might realize when you complete the "Reflects It Report che was ing or Arguing?" activity), that when summarizing and reporting on a topi presenting a version (or an interpretation} of what he had read and learned: therefore, rable 4.1 = eas Tpegring nmnariting \ntergreting aA Pavaghrosing macinding eersnading