paired with “As a Child in Haiti, I Was Taught to Despise My Language and Myself”

Inviting students to critically respond to an opinion piece by developing their own op-eds on related topics, this discussion and writing assignment presents an opportunity to practice making claims with supporting evidence and reasoning.

Introduction

JS: In many of my first-year writing courses, I’ve struggled to finesse the transition between personal narrative and analytical argument-based writing. One of my goals in teaching is that students develop a confident sense of their own thinking, which I believe is predicated on them knowing they have a place in the classroom community to draw on the full range of their experiences and resources. Personal narratives are an excellent way for students to bring in their expertise and introduce themselves on their own terms. Cultivating an awareness of perspective like this is crucial to developing arguments later on. Yet, when we do focus on the analysis of evidence, I also want students to think beyond their own experience; reasoning means asking questions, making connections, and recognizing the limits of a single perspective. This approach to argumentation doesn’t deny personal experience but does suggest this experience be integrated into a critical awareness of perspective—as reader, thinker, and writer.

To underscore the value of perspective and to bridge toward more conventional academic writing, I have found that the op-ed genre is particularly helpful and fun. This kind of writing intentionally blends personal narrative with research and advocacy. An op-ed also highlights how to assert a position that is supported by evidence and to communicate this argument effectively for a chosen audience. As my co-author Elise Takehana helpfully reminded me, the op-ed is also valuable for engaging students to think about a shared “now-ness” as they work to develop a focus issue and perspective that communicates something meaningful to an audience they are connected to.

The activity below includes a discussion of an example argument before scaffolding the steps of developing and writing an op-ed. In its most condensed form, this activity could take place over a long class meeting with research and writing outside of class, or it could be expanded over a couple weeks of class.

After close-reading the conclusion of Michel DeGraff’s essay for a sharper view of his argument, the discussion works backwards to identify core issues. This step itself is illustrative of how arguments address debates and big, open-ended questions. From here, students can brainstorm their own connections to these core issues through their experiences and observations in their own local contexts and communities (whether that’s a shared context of the college/university or beyond). Emphasizing the importance of considering an audience around an issue, students are encouraged to join a conversation that is already taking place and to develop their thinking in response. With research and then writing, students are asked to practice engaging with claims, evidence, and reasoning as core skills for academic writing that prioritizes analysis. In the past, I have expanded this lesson further and provided time in class to have informal practice debates which presents another opportunity for students to experiment with how their thinking is structured and how they would like to communicate to an audience.

Guide

Close Read: Closing Statements

At the end of his opinion piece, “As a Child in Haiti, I Was Taught to Despise My Language and Myself,” Michael DeGraff carves out a clear debate and takes a position based on current events in Haiti (dated October 2022). In these final paragraphs, he writes:

Financial remedies for these overwhelming historic injustices still seem like a distant prospect, but in terms of cultural remedies, Haitians at last have some hope. Haiti’s minister of education, Nesmy Manigat, recently announced that Kreyòl should serve as a language of instruction throughout primary and secondary education. French would be taught as a second language in the early grades, then used as an additional language of instruction soon after. Mr. Manigat is also advocating the teaching of English and Spanish starting in middle school. The new direction is meant to valorize students’ language and identity, healing them from the colonial wounds of the past and equipping them for academic success and further education.

These curricular changes are necessary, though not sufficient. Haitian officials also need to ensure that teaching and course materials at all levels include student-centered, active-learning pedagogy, to nurture generations of Haitian children and instill solidarity and pride through a language that honors their history, their identity and their prospect as a nation.

Unshackling Haitian minds and society from centuries of linguistic discrimination is the first step to help Haiti overcome the disastrous consequences of its colonial and neocolonial history.

Take time to close-read these final paragraphs and identify the sentences that make claims. As a reminder, a claim is an assertion, offering more than a description of fact to take a position.

• Within the sentences you’ve identified, zoom in closer on the parts of the sentences that show you the writer is making an assertion. How do you know it’s a claim and not a description?
• Looking now for meaning, what is the sequence of claims DeGraff is making? Make a list using the terms he uses that are most important to unlocking his argument.

Now that you have an outline of DeGraff’s argument, what can you distill as the core issue(s) or debate? In some sense, you are looking at DeGraff’s “closing statements” in a debate in which the speaker/writer sums up his position and makes a pointed response to the core issue. If you come up with a few core issues, how do they relate to each other? Can you map their connections to uncover further layers of his argument?

Pre-Write: Researching for Debate

Using the brainstorm of DeGraff’s core issues, take some time as a group to brainstorm how these issues relate to your local contexts and communities, and/or lead to related issues that you see around you now. A branching spider web or bubble diagram works great for this kind of thinking.

To prepare your own op-ed, start by finding your core issue and thinking about the context and audience that are important to you:

• What experience(s) do you bring to this debate?
• From what other vantage points are you approaching this issue?
• Which community do you want to write within? Who needs to know about this issue?
• Have there been any current events or illustrative examples that amplify the issue? Typically op-eds address something that feels very “now,” so what comes to mind for you and your immediate contexts?
• What research do you need to do to dig deeper?

At this point, use your library resources and/or general web browsing to find at least 3 reliable, substantive sources to incorporate into your essay. Take some time to read and understand the facts and perspectives presented. What information is presented and whose voices are you able to hear? Depending on your focus, these sources may need to reflect your local context or they may provide some connections or frameworks that help you develop and support a position.

After some initial planning and research, have a conversation with classmates to share what you’ve learned from your research. Take turns asking questions to develop a sharp focus for your essay, pathways for further research, as well as your overall position based on what you’ve gathered for evidence.

Write: Op-Ed Arguments

For an op-ed, your evidence may be a combination of your own experiences and observations and research, particularly as you work to make your argument resonate with your audience—that said, make sure your position is based on evidence that you will present in writing and explain with reasoning.

As you compose your essay, aim to include the following:

• A focused topic and clear, well-defined point of view or position.
• A strong voice that speaks directly to an intended audience.
• Clear organization that demonstrates the steps of your thinking and shapes your essay—like DeGraff, consider how to craft a compelling opening and closing to emphasize your argument.
• Direct engagement with a perspective that is not your own.
• Evidence from different sources to support your position.