_ Assignment: In the last few years, there has been an intensified interest in something called Fake News, especially with the increased popularity of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. In this assignment, you will write an investigative essay examining different aspects of Fake News. As a result, you will have to use several rhetorical modes to organize your essay, not just the classification mode that you used in previous essays. You may have personal experience with the way social media platforms work. Your experience should help you understand the reading you do, but it should not be used in your essay–unless you can claim to be some kind of expert in this topic.
_ Ten Required Articles for Essay 4: Links to the 10 required articles that you must read and cover.
_ Organizing the Essay: This is a complex essay with a lot of detailed information, so the organization of the essay is important. You should make the sequence of sentences and paragraphs easy for a reader to follow. You might think of the body of the essay in three parts (though not necessarily three paragraphs, since a part could be several paragraphs long).
First, you could introduce and define Fake News, both abstractly and concretely, using case studies and common illustrations.
Second, you might discuss the problem of Fake News–how widespread it is, where and when it occurs, who is doing it (or what is doing it, so you can include computerized “bots”), and what impact it has, especially on American politics and the American people. You might again include case studies, as well as research analyses.
Third, you might discuss solutions to the problem, focusing on fact-checking websites and individual strategies to evaluate online information.
Finally, you might conclude your essay with a summary evaluation of Fake News. You might assert the main issues and problems that you feel are raised by the knowledge you gained from the required reading. You should also look ahead to the future of Fake News: what could happen if it’s not solved and recommend effective solutions to solve the problem. You are welcome to give your own view of Fake News, as long as it is supported by information in the reading. Keep in mind that you are writing an investigative essay, not an argumentative essay.
Such a conclusion could give your essay greater focus and an overriding sense of purpose. In fact, you might find a potential thesis statement for your introductory paragraph by looking at the conclusion.
You may also come up with your own essay organization and rhetorical form.
_ Quotations, Citations, Works Cited: For each quotation, you include in your essay, you must also include a citation of its source, using the MLA format (or another format). You must also include a list of Works Cited at the end of the essay. You should include information from all these articles in your essay. While you may do extra research, you are not required to do so. A large part of your essay should be based on the 10 articles.
