Unit 2: Common Ground

Context

Being able to find common ground is an important skill, and this assignment will have you exploring two points of view on a topic to further develop your ability to find common ground as you work to improve your written and oral communication skills.

Assignment Directions

You have been asked by the council of your local community to create a presentation on a topic of interest to your community. This presentation will have you explore two sides of an issue important in that community in order to find common ground, which will lead to a bridge between the two sides where a compromise can be reached.

You will need to interview at least two people who fall on opposite sides of your selected topic.

A good oral presentation starts with good writing, and in your presentation, you will have the following sections1:

1. Introduction: Introduce the issue under scrutiny in a non-confrontational way. Be sure to outline the main sides of the debate. Though there are always more than two sides to a debate, Rogerian arguments put two in stark opposition to one another. Crucially, be sure to indicate the overall purpose of the presentation: to come to a compromise about the issue at hand. If this intent is not stated upfront, the reader may be confused or even suspect manipulation on the part of the writer, i.e., that the writer is massaging the audience just to win a fight. Be advised that the Rogerian method uses an inductive reasoning structure, so do not include your thesis in your introduction. You will build toward the thesis and then include it in your conclusion. Once again, state the intent to compromise, but do not yet state what the compromise is.

2. Side A: Carefully map out the main claim and reasoning for one side of the argument first.

3. Side B: Carefully go over the other side of the argument. When mapping out this sides claim and support, be sure that it parallels that of Side A. In other words, make sure not to raise entirely new categories of support, or there can be no way to come to a compromise. Make sure to maintain a non-confrontational tone; for example, avoid appearing arrogant, sarcastic, or smug.

4. The Bridge: A solid common ground (or Rogerian) argument acknowledges the desires of each side and tries to accommodate both. In this part, point out the ways in which the two sides agree or can find common ground between the two sides. There should be at least one point of agreement. This can be an acknowledgment of one part of the oppositions agreement that the other side also supports or admittance to a shared set of values even if the two sides come to different ideas when employing those values. This phase of the essay is crucial for two reasons: finding common ground (1) shows the audience the two views are not necessarily at complete odds, that they share more than they seem, and (2) sets up the compromise to come, making it easier to digest for all parties. Thus, this section builds a bridge from the two initial isolated and opposite views to a compromise that both sides can reasonably support.

5. The Compromise: Now is the time to finally announce your compromise, which is your thesis. The compromise is what the presentation has been building towards all along, so explain it carefully and demonstrate its logic of it. For example, if debating about whether to use racial profiling, a compromise might be based on both sides desire for a safer society. That shared value can then lead to a new claim, one that disarms the original dispute or set of disputes.

Requirements

A successful presentation will have:

Length: 12001500-word script

Slides to accompany the script

A strong sense of your purpose and audience

Appropriate evidence from your interviews

A coherent organizational structure that supports your focus

Please review the rubric on the syllabus prior to starting any assignment, and you should periodically refer to it as you work on an assignment to help ensure that you are meeting the necessary requirements.

Audience

Members of your community.

Purpose

To convince members of your community to consider the common ground and compromise presented.

Guidelines

Select your interview candidates carefully. Dont just use the first two that come to mind. These individuals will be the source for the evidence that you will use in your presentation, so you want to make sure you select individuals who can clearly articulate their reasons for their position.

Write a script/outline for your presentation. Cover the material at a reasonably measured pace for an accurate estimate of the necessary material (the presentation needs to be 10 minutes in length). Make sure you indicate what material goes to what slide in your script. Use PowerPoint to create slides for your presentation. Please see the website linked here for suggestions on how to design effective PowerPoint slides.

Submission: upload your presentation and script (the presentation should be a PowerPoint file, and your script should be as a PDF with your name in the upper left corner). MISSING EITHER FILE WILL RESULT IN A ZERO FOR THE ASSIGNMENT.

Outcomes (Why Are You Writing This)

1. To read and analyze the thoughts and ideas of others as subjects worthy of exploration, reflection, and analysis;

2. To establish clear connections between seemingly isolated events and/or ideas from others;

3. To present your thoughts to your readers in a coherent and engaging way;

4. To write with a clear sense of purpose (a reader should be able to tell why you are writing and what you want them to understand as a result of reading your work); and

5. To become a critical reader of the ideas and events of others and your own writing.