What is something important that most people are wrong about? To help you, you might consider something important that most people are wrong about in one of the following areas:
• ChapGPT/AI
• Business
• Education
• Politics
• Culture
• Current events
• International events
• Your major field of study; etc.
Now write an editorial or article that would be appropriate for The Atlantic of approximately 1,500-2,500 words where you identify something important that most people are wrong about. It is up to you to show that most people are wrong about (or ignorant of) this thing, and that this thing is important to think correctly about, and that you have thought more clearly about this thing than most other people.
Note: To do this assignment well, you should at the least browse through past issues of this periodical ( to get a sense of what topics it publishes on, and what kind of audience it is trying to cater to; and especially what has been published previously on your topic. Note that you will get only one free article; then you must either look through past issues via the USC database (which requires a .usc.edu login), or go physically to an actual library [!!] to look at past issues, or buy a subscriiption.
Be creative! If you observe closely, and think hard about it, you can probably notice all kinds of things that large numbers of people believe (or better yet, simply assume to be true, without ever having really thought much about it) that are nevertheless either false, very problematic, or which have significant, negative, unintended consequences.
Write your editorial with the audience of The Atlantic in mind, and revise it for Persuasion (i.e., logos/ethos/pathos) & Clarity.
Assignment Guidelines
• For written guidelines as to the style of business writing in general, please see the SEC’s The Plain English Handbook.
• For examples of satisfactory editorials, please browse past copies of The Atlantic [link is to the USC library catalogue/online access to The Atlantic; you must log in to your .usc.edu account to access. Or: search the Library website “Catalogue” for “The Atlantic”.]
• Quantity and quality of research, quality of writing (both grammar and rhetoric), quality of explanation/ argumentation (logic), and quality of content all matter.
• All articles should include a bibliography of sources used, and all references and citations should be in MLA style.
• You should include in your bibliography a short paragraph explaining how you used ChatGPT or any other AI tool in completing this assignment.
• All articles should include at least one strong visual chart, graph, or other illustration, that helps make an important point in your article more effective.
• Articles should be clearly divided into appropriate parts, all of which should be labeled with headings and sub-headings as appropriate.
• Articles should be formatted in columns, with pull quotes or other professional article features that make it look much more like a professional article than a college paper.
Deliverables:
• A 1,500-2,500 word editorial [you can make it longer, though, if you’d like], as described above