In “Public Thinking,” Clive Thompson considers the role of social media, particularly blogging, in changing the way we create, share, and think about arguments in civic discourse. In this essay, you will be identifying important features of Thompson’s argument and evaluating the extent to which those features help him persuade his audience to accept the argument’s main claim. Your essay should be in the 3 – 4 page range and engage in the following work:

Describe Thompson’s argument, including what you see as his overall claim and the most important or interesting sub-claims leading up to that larger idea, explaining how those sub-claims relate to the overall claim. Analyze and evaluate the ways in which Thompson uses three different kinds of rhetorical strategies in order to persuade his reader to accept one of those specific claims.

Analyze the way in which Thompson uses two different techniques to develop and/or organize his text and evaluate the extent to which those methods help guide the reader’s understanding of the argument and persuade the reader to accept Thompson’s argument.
Criteria for Evaluation:
1. Describe Thompson’s project and argument, and what you see as his most important or interesting sub-claims, explaining how these sub-claims relate to the main claim.
2. Describe how Thompson organizes his text and how this influences what he has to say.
3. Analyze the ways in which he supports his claims, and the moves or strategies he employs to advance these claims.
4. Write the paper as if addressing a reader unfamiliar with Thompson’s text.
5. Comment on how this text is significant—what difference it might make to readers.
6. Use an effective structure that carefully guides the reader from one idea to the next, and be thoroughly edited so that sentences are readable and appropriate for an academic audience.