Let’s Talk About Election 2020 wants to hear from students about issues that matter to them. But issues we care about can’t be separated from who we are, where we come from and what we value. That’s why we’re asking students to submit a commentary.
What is a commentary? It’s a lot like an op-ed you’d see in the newspaper, but for a broadcast audience. A commentary asks writers to make a claim or take a stand using both personal experience or opinion and evidence-based analysis. Because it draws on personal experience and accessible language to connect to an audience, persuasive commentary differs from more formal genres of literary or scientific commentary.
You’re probably already making connections between persuasive commentary and other types of writing. This type of commentary has lots in common with personal narrative, op-ed writing, civically engaged writing and elements of persuasive and argumentative writing.
As with any writing genre, a writer’s authentic voice is vital. But in persuasive commentary, the writer crafts her story with her own experience and a public audience in mind. It might help to think of persuasive commentary as one perspective in an ongoing conversation about an issue.
Annotate the infographic, "The Components of Commentary" and the examples of persuasive commentary collected below.
In your annotations, respond to the following questions:
In 2010, New York City teen, Kalief Browder was arrested for stealing a backpack. He couldn’t pay his $3,000 bail. Therefore, he spent 3 years in prison. Unfortunately, he committed suicide before he was released. Browder’s story isn’t unique. Thousands of low-income people across the country are sitting in jail because they can’t pay their bail. On the other hand, if arrested, higher-income individuals can afford to pay bail. Knowing this, the bail system should be eradicated across America to dismantle the two-tier justice system.
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As you may know today, many marine life animals are killed by oil, pollution, and many other things that should not be in the ocean. Do you know how this is caused??
As many as 250,000 animals are found being neglected each year, as each year passes more cases are being discovered. These animals are constantly suffering unjustly. When people think about animals rights they focus on the testing being done on animals, animals being neglected are being overlooked although they are suffering just as much as the animals being tested on.
My Video is on systematic oppression, According to www.urbandictionary.com Systematic oppression is Oppression that occurs at the institutional level, such as in government policy-making, within educational institutions and throughout the health care system. While one-on-one experiences of discrimination might stand out more in our minds, systemic oppression is even farther-reaching because it is coded.
Americans owe about 1 trillion dollars on their student loans, that is a huge number and is completely ridiculous. How is it that in order to succeed in life and really make something of yourself you have to live with this weight on your shoulders. On top of that, the average amount of years that it takes for someone to pay off their student debt is 21.1 years, and that is not even a guarantee, it will most likely take longer than that. The main reason for all of this debt is due to the fact that tuition has more than doubled since the 1980’s.
Health is something everyone is familiar with. When we think of health, we think about our condition right now, our habits and our illnesses. Medical care is what helps us when we have problems with these circumstances. Unfortunately, not everyone has it for them or their families....
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In the faded photo, I’m not even two years old. Clad in a 70s brown and tan sweater, I stand shivering in the Merced River on my first trip to Yosemite National Park.......
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Having grown up in Oakland, California, a place that calls itself home to thousands of immigrants from around the world, I believe America needs to be kinder and more welcoming to the millions of people who are trying to come to our shores to create a better life for themselves and their families....
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The phone would ring, and I would let the call go to the answering machine. ...