The assignment for the last unit of the course will involve you in developing a speech and writing a paper about a particular issue related to the class’s topical focus (critical thinking, civility, and public discourse). (e.g., Should hate speech be banned on campus? Should music lyrics be censored? Should political "soft money" ads be regulated? Are new technologies improving communication?) Once the group formulates its issue, you will need to do library and Internet research. The reading you do in this last section of the class, then, will be individualized and related to the issue you and the other students in your group have chosen. Group members are encouraged to share reading resources with each other. An important criterion for assessing presentations and papers will be the quality and quantity of sources. For the presentation, satisfactory performance requires no fewer than 5 sources; for the paper, no fewer than 10.

You will give a 7-minute speech (range = 6-8 minutes) presenting your standpoint on your group’s issue. The issue will be framed as a question that you and the other presenters will address. You will be responsible for describing and giving good reasons for the position you take. Following the day’s presentations, there will be a question/answer and discussion period involving the entire class.

On the day of the presentation, a full-sentence outline (1-2 pages) and a list of references is due. Speeches should take account of good public speaking principles, be attentive to time limits, and, most importantly, display that you have thought critically and carefully about the position you advance.

As an audience member for other standpoint presentations, you are expected to think critically about the issue of the day, ask critical questions, and participate in the class discussion. What questions do the presentations raise for you? What comments do you have? In participating, you are especially encouraged to apply the critical thinking questions we have been emphasizing throughout the course. Everyone is expected to participate in at least 2 sessions (in addition to their own group’s session). Participation will also include serving as the panel chair for the day’s presentations.

The standpoint paper is to be a written, more fully developed essay about the issue on which you presented. You are encouraged to take account of any useful ideas that came up in other presentations or in the discussion period to refine your argument. The paper should be 10-12 double-spaced typed pages with no less than 10 references. References should be in APA format. The paper should develop a clear claim that is well supported. In general, a strong analysis identifies other positions on the issue, and displays strong sense critical thinking (remember the critical questions from Brown and Keeley!) while making clear why you see the position you advocate as the most reasonable. Papers should be well written, giving attention to word choice, sentence structure, and organization as well as and punctuation and spelling.