Now it's time to discuss the topic you've chosen to focus on for the remainder of this project! In this assignment, you'll use a guided prompt to write notes that will help you better understand ways to approach the persuasive essay. When following the guide, remember to use instructor feedback from Week 1 when discussing your topic. If you're still unsure if the topic is fulfilling the minimum requirements of the project, here's a quick reminder: 1) it has two logical sides to the issue, 2) it is researchable, and 3) it is related to your career or degree. If you have questions or concerns, please be sure to contact your instructor as soon as possible. You can email or use the General Questions board found in your learning environment.
Constructing Your Writing Notes
The questions below will ask you to consider how the following critical elements relate to your topic:
argument*
key points*
audience*
goal*
potential resources*
evidence*
This process will allow you to develop a potential structure for effectively persuading readers to agree with your argument. This plan will be helpful in keeping your thought process on track when you begin writing and revising your essay. Each response should be one fully developed paragraph in length (5-8 sentences).
As you work on the Writing Notes, remember to refer to the assignment guidelines and rubric (click here) to make sure you're fulfilling each aspect of the assignment. You can also download/print the rubric.
1. Your argument is the main point that you are trying to make in your essay. It should clearly state your opinion on your topic. Describe the argument to be addressed in your persuasive essay and include how the argument is derived from your major, the major you are considering pursuing, or your field of work.
GMOs are economically viable and as such should be adopted by all countries to increase food production
2. Key points are pieces of evidence that support an author's main argument. What are three possible key points for your selected topic? How do they support your main argument?
Point 1: Agricultural biotechnology creates thousands of well-paying jobs since its R&D began in the 1970s. In addition, GMO farming entails intensive production thereby recruiting thousands of people for the production;
Point 2: Increases crop production value due to the high quality seeds and crops thereby increasing food available.
Point 3: GMOs reduce costs of production due to less fertilizer and pesticide use thereby increasing income of farmers
3. Your audience is the people you are addressing in your essay. Who is the audience that will be reading your essay? What potential challenges will you have supporting your argument with this demographic?
The audience will be policy makers; these include those who construct legislations regarding economic viability and techniques that can influence economic growth
Potential challenge of this particular audience is the fact that some of them will pose questions regarding the obvious potential risks of GMOs including extinction of indigenous species and development of resistant weeds and pests.
4. Your goal is the end result that you wish to achieve in writing this essay. What goal do you hope to accomplish with this essay? What will this essay need to be successful?
My main goal is to convince policy makers that GMO can indeed help to address the current global food shortage including a rise in the economic growth as less input will guarantee high returns.
In order to convince my audience, I will have to use logic and facts as well as fallacy of authority (ethos) to make the points believable
5. Potential resources are pieces of evidence that could be used to support your argument. List potential resources that could be used as supporting evidence for your argument, and provide a brief description of each and how they will reinforce your argument.
Key resources that I will use to support my essay include peer reviewed sources, particularly journals. These will include:
Burachik, M. (2010). Experience from use of GMOs in Argentinian agriculture, economy and environment. New biotechnology, 27(5), 588-592.
This article explores the use of GMO crops in Argentina since 1991 and how this has become a tactic of food abundance. The author notes that through available technology, GMO has increased the country’s overall production including economic growth.
Christou, P., Buiatti, M., & Pastore, G. (2013). The application of GMOs in agriculture and in food production for a better nutrition: two different scientific points of view. Genes and Nutrition, 2013, vol. 8, núm. 3, p. 255–270.
The document is a presented debate on the potential benefits and challenges of GMOs. It addresses the views of opposing individuals in which one addresses how GMOs have qualitatively and quantitatively improved production while the other refutes, suggesting that GMOs bring harm to agriculture.
Moschini, G. (2001). Biotech--Who Wins? Economic Benefits and Costs of Biotechnology Innovations in Agriculture. The Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy, 2(1), 93.
This journal addresses the possible beneficiaries of GMOs. In particular, it highlights how GMOs could help improve production but ONLY if proper regulations are followed.
6. Using the resources you identified above, align specific key points of your argument with your supporting resources to begin to establish an effective essay structure.
Point 1: Agricultural biotechnology creates thousands of well-paying jobs since its R&D began in the 1970s. In addition, GMO farming entails intensive production thereby recruiting thousands of people for the production. It has been proven that GMOs result in the production of large vast of land; this would require human and technical skills to manage the production process.
Point 2: Increases crop production value due to the high quality seeds and crops thereby increasing food available. The GMO crops and seeds are drought resistant and are able to survive in low nutrient or harsh climatic conditions.
Point 3: GMOs reduce costs of production due to less fertilizer and pesticide use thereby increasing income of farmers. Because of the high quality nature of GMOs, they will require less pesticide or fertilizer to enhance production.
7. Based on your argument, determine strategic places where integrating evidence would be most effective and provide rationale for each.
Evidence will be included in the third sentence of every argument paragraph to support the points paused. This is illustrated below:
Point 1: Agricultural biotechnology creates thousands of well-paying jobs since its R&D began in the 1970s. In addition, GMO farming entails intensive production thereby recruiting thousands of people for the production. (supporting sentence)
Evidence: the release of GTS has contributed to the creation of almost a million jobs (whole economy-wide), representing 36% of the total increase in employment over the 1996–2006 period (Burachik¸2010)
Point 2: Increases crop production value due to the high quality seeds and crops thereby increasing food available. (supporting sentence).
Evidence: Emerging output-trait GMOs are potentially less controversial than some earlier GMOs and may bring more benefits to all participants in the agri-food sector (Moschini, 2001)
Evidence: Only six countries were involved in this; Argentina, with the planting of 370,000 ha of GTS, was one of them. The area planted with GM crops has grown since then by more than 50 times (2008/2009 planting data) (Burachik¸ 2010)
Point 3: GMOs reduce costs of production due to less fertilizer and pesticide use thereby increasing income of farmers. (supporting sentence). …………………………
Evidence: In Brazil, farmers were expelled with the use of force and the big soy producers from Argentina along with Japanese and German jobbers control 76 % of Paraguay soybean producers, thus further reducing revenues and jobs (Moschini, 2001).
Evidence: pest-resistant GM crops expressing Bt proteins are environmentally beneficial because there is no need to spray broad-spectrum pesticides onto the plants, thus reducing the use of fuel and avoiding environmental contamination with chemical pollutants (Christou, Buiatti, & Pastore)
