Op-Ed Prewriting

Unit Three Op-Ed Workshop
4/6/09

• Read several op-eds from your chosen venue. What are the general tone and assumed audience in this venue? What is interesting or unique about these pieces?
The Fort Worth Star Telegram writes not just for Fort Worth, but it contains stories related to Arlington, Dallas, and other places surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is assumed that the audience is concerned with not just Fort Worth, but all the areas nearby. The venue also writes about things related to Texas as a whole, and includes key issues for the United States. I think it is interesting how the newspaper talks about a large geographical area, despite the fact that it is labeled to be the newspaper of Fort Worth. There is the Dallas Morning News, but the Fort Worth Star Telegram still chooses to address issues in the surrounding areas, since they are all kind of related and because many people probably commute to the nearby areas for work.
• Decide one specific, identifiable issue or question for your focus. It needs to be related to your overall topic for this unit, but try to target a specific aspect of that topic. Describe your choice of specific topic.
I want to focus on how beneficial it would be to put dashboard cameras in all police cars. I think it protects all innocent parties, keeps law authority accountable for their actions, and can help prevent corruption while promoting justice.
• Choose a specific course of action or approach to be taken to addressing that issue or question. Don’t just say that a policy or situation is bad. Tell your readers what should be done about it.
I think that the city of Fort Worth should require all police cars to have dashboard cameras. This would most likely require some sort of bill to be passed and probably some tax money to make it possible. I would encourage people to support the bill, which would essentially be taking a step to make their city better.
• Determine what rhetorical appeals will be most effective for your audience (ethos, pathos, logos, style). Discuss what appeals you will use.
For logos I could talk about how the cameras in the past had proved helpful in he-said-she-said situations that otherwise would have been determined in a more biased manner. I would also talk about how much they cost, and how practical they are. I could discuss specific cases or examples of when they had made a difference, always helping the innocent party, which sometimes was the police officer and sometimes was the accused. I could talk about whether they are legally legitimate in court as evidence. I could use pathos by talking about how anyone living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area could, hypothetically, be pulled over, and could, hypothetically, be accused unfairly. I would ask the audience to consider what would happen in a situation that was the officer’s word against their own, who was more likely to receive the benefit of the doubt? If all cars had dash-cams, officers would be required to do the right thing all the time, because the cameras would hold them accountable for their actions.
• Write about what will best support your points for the rhetorical situation (facts, hard evidence, personal experience, anecdotes, referring to other authorities, etc.).
I think facts and specific examples with best support my points. I think if I can use examples to show the need for concern, it will make my argument make sense. I also think that if I can find specific examples of how practical and beneficial the cameras would be, it will help strengthen my argument. I am going to rely mostly on facts and examples to support my points for the rhetorical situation.
• Is there any research that you need to do?
I still need to find a could more examples of when dash-cams in the Dallas/Fort Worth area helped determine the outcome of a dispute that otherwise might have turned out differently. I also need to research what specific actions would need to take place to make this happened. I would need to find out how much it would cost to put more dash-cams in police cars and I would need to find out what actions people could take (like if the needed to write to some government officials, etc. )