This assignment is your opportunity to reach a public audience through one of the following public genres:
    Presentation (page 202)
    News Article (page 215)
    Editorial or Op-Ed (page 225)
    Advertisement (page 232)
    Wikipedia Entry (page 239)
    Photo Essay (page 245)
    Graphic Memoir (page 251)
    Fairy Tale (page 266)
You can choose the genre, and you will need to student the rhetorical situation and genre expectations for your chosen genre in Chapter 9, where you will find helpful analysis of the genre and a roadmap for creating a composition of your own in that genre.
What is my topic?
That is up to you. Your topic should be relevant to a public audience, considering we are working in public genres. The genre should be appropriate to the topic (as well as to the audience and purpose) you choose. If you dont have anything to write about, post a question in the Class Caf, and we can help.
What are the requirements?
Since there are eight different genres to choose from, there are eight different sets of requirements. In addition to the rhetorical situation and genre expectations and conventions for your genre of choice that are explained in Chapter 9, you must meet the following requirements:
    Presentation: Compose a 5- to 7-minute TEDTalk-style presentation with three or more visuals to a public audience. Submit the script and visuals as your final draft. EXTRA CREDIT: Record and submit a video of your speech with your visuals behind or beside you in the screenyou must be on the screen the whole time. Watch and study a few TEDTalks to see how this genre works.
    News Article: Compose a 700- to 800-word news article on a local topic. Write for your community or your campus. News articles are purely objective informative stories of facts and events. Read your local newspapers or community newsletters for ideas.
    Editorial or Op-Ed: Compose a 750- to 1000-word argument about a current debate going in your community. The purpose here is to persuade, not to inform or to complain. Read editorials and op-eds for ideas. Pick a topic that is personal to you.
    Advertisement: Compose a series of three print advertisements for a product of your choicethese three ads must share the same slogan and general theme (like the classic Got Milk? ads.) Each ad must effectively target its audience and persuade them to purchase the product. A TWIST: Instead of selling something, you can create a series of Public Service Announcements, which seek to inform the public about a problem or persuade the public to stop or change a behavior or adopt a new one. In short, a public service ad does not sell anything: it aims to serve the public.
    Wikipedia Entry: Compose a 1200- to 1500-word Wikipedia entry for a topic that doesnt currently have an entry on Wikipedia or for a current entry that is sorely lacking in content. You should pick a topic that you know well, and you should link the facts to reputable web sources your readers can search for themselves. Study other Wikipedia entries to see how they are organized and developed.
    Photo Essay: Compose a photo essay with no less than 15 photos, each with helpful captions, that work to tell a story that evokes sympathy from and/or persuades the target audience.
    Graphic Memoir: Compose a graphic memoir with no less than 12 detailed frames (with text and hand-drawn or computer-generated images). A graphic memoir will tell ONE story from your life, not your entire life story. Think of this as a short but significant chapter in your life, not your whole life. The story should have a plota storyline with meaningful conflict that reaches some resolution in the end.
    Fairy Tale: Compose a 1000- to 1200-word fairy tale in which a generic character defined by one trait (old man, poor woman, silly boy, vain girl, etc) experiences something that teaches a lesson. Consider all the genre elements discussed in Chapter 9.