The multivoiced argument (MVA) explores the many perspectives of an argument by using multiple genres written from different points of view—it invigorates teaching and energizes student writers by engaging them in informed role-playing, rigorous research, and sophisticated analysis. We hope that the following samples and materials will help you motivate students to take risks and think critically and imaginatively, while teaching them to infuse their argumentative essays with research.
Two Capstone Multivoiced Arguments
This section contains two sample MVAs, "The Feminine Ideal: Women in the Media" by Jen and "Gilead Revisited: A Contemporary Tale of Censorship in America" by Melanie, and the "Rationale" each student wrote in which she explained the choices she made while composing her MVA. Due to space restrictions in the book we were not able to include the full MVA projects, but readers will find the complete projects here. We describe both students' goals and processes in writing these projects in Chapter 2 in our book Multiple Genres, Multiple Voices. Though these projects are longer and more complex than the average MVA, we chose to include them because they clearly illustrate the strengths of this approach to argumentative writing. We also refer to these two projects in Chapter 4 where we explain how to evaluate the MVA.
- Jen's Cover (image)
- Jen's "The Feminine Ideal: Women in the Media"
Disordered Media, Incorporated
Diary Entry 1
The Ideal of Female Beauty
Diary Entry 2
Warning Signs
Diary Entry 3
Diary Entry 4
Interview Excerpt
Diary Entry 5
Diary Entry 6
Media Influence, Eating Disorders, and Adolescents
Letter to Editor
The Parental Detection
Self-Esteem Builders: Methods to Improve Our Students' Self-Image
A Teacher's Perspective: Recognizing Symptoms in the Classroom
Diary Entry 7
Routes for Change: Utilizing the Media
Recommendation: A Proposal for Change
Notes
Works Cited
- Pure Essence (image)
- Beauty is Only Skin Deep with Anorexia (image)
- Beauty is Only Skin Deep with Bulimia (image)
- Eating Order Brochure (Jen included a folded brochure in an envelope for her reader to open)
- Jen's "Rationale"
- Melanie's "Gilead Revisited: A Contemporary Tale of Censorship in America" E-Mail Message from Mollie Albright to Sarah Walker
"All About Me!"
E-Mail Message from Mollie Albright to Sarah Walker
"Hey You!"
"Going Beyond Literature: Using Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale to Discuss Social and Political Issues in the Language Arts Classroom"
by Allison Johnson
Ms. Johnson's Creative Assignment Sheet for The Handmaid's Tale
E-Mail Message from Mollie Albright to Sarah Walker
"Your Reading Pleasure"
Mollie's Creative Assignment
"Penalty for Perversion"
"Two Kinds of Freedom"
E-Mail Message from Mollie Albright to Sarah Walker
"Big Problem"
Elmhurst Public Library form for reconsideration of a work
Letter from Reverend Albright to Ms. Johnson
Letter from Ms. Johnson to Reverend Albright
Letters to the Editor
The Elmhurst Epistle
Letters to the Editor
"One Step Closer to Gilead: The Religious Right in America Today"
by Bianca Montgomery
Letter from the Director of the Elmhurst Library to Rev. Albright
E-Mail Message from Mollie Albright to Sarah Walker
"New School"
References
Bibliography
- Melanie's "Rationale"
Two Shorter Multivoiced Arguments
Many teachers cannot devote the time required to teach an MVA that is as long and involved as the capstone projects. We want you to see Gina's paper, "Genetic Modification Awareness," which demonstrates the MVA on a much smaller scale. In her "Rationale" Gina explains how she designed her project, and the Toulmin scheme that follows outlines her argument. We also include another shorter MVA assignment, the paired-genre project. See the sample assignment sheet for this paired-genre project, one that could be adapted for any writing or literature course and Kim's paired-genre project on Frankenstein. We discuss this paired-genre assignment in Chapter 3 of our book.
For the fictional organization, Genetic Modification Awareness Project, Gina uses one primary genre, a newsletter, as the vehicle for presenting information about genetically altered foods. Her newsletter includes a letter from the editor that presents the position of the organization, a letter from a consumer who is against labeling GM foods, advertisements, a cartoon, and an interview.
Gina's initial research question was, "How can I make consumers aware of genetic modification in foods?" She views her audience as average grocery shoppers who buy packaged and prepared foods without thinking of the health effects or where the ingredients come from. Because currently foods do not require such labels, most consumers have no idea that their food contains genetically modified components. The articles in the newsletter educate the audience by presenting information from different points of view.
Kim's two-part project begins with a critical essay on an aspect of Frankenstein; here she supports a significant argument about the novel that Victor, on the one hand, tries to be a mother but, on the other hand, wants to eliminate sexual intimacy with women. She includes two required outside sources in this discussion. In her companion "creative" piece, the diary entry, she writes in Victor's voice, seeing through his eyes.
Kim could have used any genre she wanted—journals, letters, poems, monologues—and choose to include an outside source in this second g
