op-ed prewrite

Op-ed Prewriting

· After reading a fair amount of articles from the Fort Worth Star Telegram I noticed that the op-ed’s were fairly argumentative. Most people did not agree on what the editor was writing about. The letters were addressing either the author or the original audience of the article. The unique thing about most of the letters I read where a lot of them used facts to support their argument. I didn’t expect people to do the research necessary to support their side but they did.
· The specific issue that I am going to focus on in my op-ed is the issue of having liquor stores open on Sundays to produce more tax revenue for the state. More specifically the pro’s or cons (haven’t decided yet) of passing this bill. My choice for the topic will be how this would affect the state specifically. Whether or not it would have a positive or a negative effect on Texas.
· Since I am leaning on supporting the advantages of having liquor stores open on Sundays I will support the bill in my paper. This bill is a good way for Texan’s to show their support for lower taxes through alternate measures. No one wants to pay high taxes and with more creative ideas like having liquor stores open on Sundays lowers everyone’s taxes and lets people who need liquor able to buy it on one more day of the week.
· I think all the rhetorical appeals will work pretty well in my argument. I think that ethos will be the most effective because having liquor stores open on Sunday’s has been a very emotional argument since the early days of the 20th century. It seems like everyone has an opinion on whether or not to serve liquor on the Sabbath. Especially since Texas is part of the “Bible belt” it ought to make things interesting when people’s emotions get riled up. On top of the emotional response from liquor on Sundays I think logos will work equally well because the underlying fact for the bill is for high tax revenue for the state of Texas. Using valid facts to support the argument that having liquor stores open on Sundays will increase our tax revenue, while lowering private household taxes should be a good way to sway people into my way of thinking. Using pathos is another good way to support my argument because there are a lot of credible people out there that have opinions on the issue and using their knowledge and more importantly their title will be beneficial in a good argument.
· As I mentioned above, using peoples strong emotions about this subject will be a good starting point. When people get emotional about a subject it is much easier to talk them into supporting your opinion if they aren’t vehemently opposed to it. Using facts that play on people’s emotions will be a good way to lure the reader into my way of thinking on the subject. Evidence in others experience will also be a good persuasion builder. Personal experience will be another although I don’t have much personal experience with liquor stores I do have general alcohol experience.
· Lastly, I need to research hard facts about the subject. Getting quotes from political leaders supporting my side and getting facts the shed decent light on my side are good uses of resources.