Be sure you have read the article "Public Writing for Social Change" by Ashley Holmes before completing this assignment.

Web Link: https://writingspaces.org/past-volumes/public-writing-for-social-change/Links to an external site.

Although you will be writing a traditional argumentative research essay for this course rather than the more public genres discussed in "Public Writing for Social Change", Holmes' article brings up several important points. First, you must consider your exigency for your topic. As defined in the essay, "The exigence is the sense of urgency that demands or invites a rhetorical response" (Holmes 204). Holmes goes on to say, "It is important to establish a public exigence for your issue...To help situate your issue with an exigence, you might put yourself in the shoes of a skeptical reader and ask: why this issue? And, why now?" (204). The second important point Holmes brings up is developing a narrowly defined audience. As noted in the article, "There is really no such thing as the general public" (Holmes 205). You need to come up with a specific, target audience that you are writing to in this essay. In 2-3 thorough paragraphs, I want you to respond to the following questions:

Exigency

What is your exigence for the topic of the bill you're writing about? Why does it matter, and why does it matter right now? Try to situate the issue within recent events political, social, environmental, or economic events. In other words, what's been going on in Virginia, the United States, and the world that makes the topic timely?

Audience

Who is your target audience for this essay? Remember, you need to be as specific as possible. The general public is NOT an acceptable answer. Are you writing to a group of people or a single person? What do they already know about the issue? Have they been engaged with the issue at all? What do you think they need to know? What are their attitudes, beliefs or values? How might you be able to find common ground with this audience?