ICS 139w: Critical Writing
— ASSIGNMENT 4: PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE, ADOPTION, OR ANALYSIS —

Assignment Prompt

For this assignment, you will write a document that identifies, explains, and defends some argument concerning the system or topic you wrote about in Assignment 2. Your paper should form some thesis, and then support that thesis. Your thesis/argument can take one of a number of forms:

an argument why a change to be made to the system, likely addressed to the designers of the system.
an argument why the system should be adopted, likely addressed to potential users of the system.
an argument why a complex interpretation or analysis of the system is true, likely addressed to other analysts.
some other argument (check with the instructor!).

Note that if you put forth a concrete argument in Assignment 2 (such as why a system should be adopted), you need to make a distinctly different argument in this paper.

Your paper should include an explanation of the "problem" you are arguing about—explaining the context of something that needs to be changed, the situation in which the system could be used, or the justification for (significance of) your analytical argument. Your paper should include a clear and specific thesis statement, and use evidence and examples to back up that thesis. Do not simply list changes that should be made or reasons a system should be used. You should also focus on a specific audience for your argument: your goal should be to produce a proposal that you could actually show to someone to argue your point.

In making this argument, make sure that your position is supportable. Arguing for large-scale changes to entrenched systems may not be feasible without careful considerations of the stakeholders. Try to consider why a particular change or adoption has not occurred, and acknowledge or refute that as necessary. Convince the reader that what you argue is true!

This assignment should be 4-5 pages in length, not including any images or figures.

Deadlines

A draft of this assignment for peer editing is due in class on Mon 08/22.

A final, polished version of the assignment is due Tues 08/23 at 11:59pm to the EEE Dropbox.

Scoring Rubric

Scoring will be based on The Upper Division Writing Rubric. An assignment specific rubric can be found below:

5pt - Critical Thinking and Analysis

2pt - Has a clear, identifiable, significant thesis or claim
1pt - Uses strong reasoning to support the thesis
1pt - Includes insightful discussions of the reasons or thesis
1pt - Is tailored to a specific audience

5pt - Evidence and Examples

2pt - Uses evidence and examples to back up claims
2pt - Uses citations appropriately and correctly
1pt - Addresses or acknowledges counter-examples

5pt - Organization and Structure

2pt - Argument follows from a series of understandable connections
1pt - Arguments, reasons, and evidence are appropriately divided into paragraphs, sections, and sentences
1pt - Each sentence follows from the previous
1pt - Does not overly retread or repeat previous claims or writing

5pt - Writing, Grammar, and Language

3pt - Is free of grammatical errors and shows evidence of proofreading
1pt - Uses words, terms, and rhetorical devices appropriately
1pt - The writing has effective style: easy flow, rhythm, and cadence

ICS 139w: Critical Writing — ASSIGNMENT 4: PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE, ADOPTION, OR ANALYSIS —