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.

April 6th op-ed blog

The reason op-ed is ineffective in the way it covers my topic is because it is only my point of view. I cannot use persuasion from other people's point of view to persuade my audience. An Op-ed is supposed to be a specific point of view argument and with this style it is hard to bring in outside elements, especially facts. It seems to me like an Op-ed is more opinionated then factual. This is also an advantage because when people read an op-ed they have in mind that it is an opinionated statement so you can use your opinion and some ethos to persuade the reader. Most writings are supposed to be so factual and not have the writers opinion anywhere in them. Having the ability to input your opinion can be very beneficial.

Article

I have chosen to write about the new bill introduced to Texas law makers that would allow Texas liquor stores to be open on Sundays. The article writes a lot about the history of the laws for liquor stores as well as what this means for stores if the bill is passed. the main reason the state is doing this is because it would boost state tax revenue immensely. The state would profit, people would profit, and liquor stores would profit, why not do it?

letter to the editor

I am writing a letter to the editor about an article that talks about the new bill introduced to the Texas Government to let Liquor stores be open on Sundays. For quite a few years now liquor stores could not be open on Sundays or past 9 pm at night on any day. Texas is considered part of the Bible belt and this is where the law originally stems from. Letting liquor stores be open on Sunday's would be very controversial because in many ways Texans still have an old fashioned feel to the ways of the past. Tradition is highly coveted in Texas and letting liquor stores be open on Sundays would ruin many traditions and "degrade the Holy day." Whether or not this actually happens is up to the Texan Government.

Authors Note

Author's note is on my final draft.

how my rhetorical case study has developed from the previous drafts

I have added quite a bit more analysis. Before I had just had a bunch of history but now I am adding more analysis about the articles specifically. I have also cut quite a bit of the history section out and am focusing more on the analysis of the article instead of the content in the article.

I have also neatened some things up and added an intro. I am still working on the conclusion and on sighting my sources.

It is coming along nicely.

How rhetorical analysis affects local community

The financial crisis GM is currently in affects everyone, even people here in the DFW community.  Not only is there a huge General Motor's plant in Arlington, but the auto industry provides a lot of third party jobs in the metroplex as well.  If General Motor's decides to cut back on production or discontinue any of it's large SUV's, which are made in the Arlington plant, then there would be a lot of jobs lost.  Unemployment would rise and the metroplex would be directly affected by the auto crisis.  

The DFW area also is home to many companies that GM contracts to supply parts to them.  Companies like Delphi, which supplies all of Chevrolet's power steering columns.  If GM were to cut back production or go bankrupt companies like this could also go out of business and there would be more unemployment spread throughout the area.  

GM is headquartered in Detroit, Michigan but their financial crisis has affect all across the nation, even here in the TCU community.