Essay Prompt 2

Here we go again. :-) I'm sick of looking this up repeatedly, and want it easily accessible.

The Multiple Lives of News Stories

Unit 2 Extended Essay


At least 1,500 words


Draft due Nov. 23

Revised draft due Dec. 7


Essay Rationale

In order to critically read and engage public discourse, we need to understand how that discourse circulates. The rhetorical moves in such circulation broadly reflect the rhetorical moves we make as writers working with any texts. This essay offers an occasion to investigate and, in your own way, take part in reading and writing the multiple lives of a news story that has attracted your interest.


Essay Prompt

Follow the multiple lives of a news story through the press and blogosphere. To do this, you may choose a story that you previously blogged about or you may choose an entirely new story. You are welcome and even encouraged to support your reading with academic research. Note how the story changes and is rewritten as it passes from site to site or source to source, and note the uses and limitations of each iteration. You will likely want to refer to the rhetorical moves discussed by Harris. Finally, end with your own addition to the life of the story, your own take on it based upon your experience, your interpretation, how you see the story in your personal life, or why you think the story matters. As in other essays for this course, feel free to draw upon any of the texts you have read or written throughout the semester.