Prominent Americans wrote essays and gave speeches to support their positions. You will now follow their example by writing and editing your own persuasive argument either for or against ratifying the Constitution in your state. You will find it helpful to complete this Activity on Persuasive Writing before you begin.
Steps
Choose whether to argue as a Federalist or as an Anti-Federalist. Review the lesson to make sure you understand their main points.
Using quotes from the Federalist Papers, write an opinion article for a newspaper, or create a speech podcast to convince people in your state to agree with your position. Include the following in your speech or article:
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introductory paragraph that clearly states your position as a Federalist or Anti-Federalist
at least two paragraphs to explain the meaning of at least two quotes from the Federalist Papers. If you would like to explore more of theFederalist Papers and find your own quotes, these sites will be helpful.
American Studies at the University of Virginia
The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
The Law Center at the University of Oklahoma
at least one paragraph to explain why you agree or disagree with the quotes
strong concluding paragraph that summarizes your position and persuades others to support you
Edit your work before submitting. Be sure your article or speech has an introduction, a separate paragraph for each point you make, and a strong conclusion. If you choose to make a podcast, be sure you are in character when you perform your speech.
There are many 21st century tools available for creating and submitting your work in the online environment. For more information on tools your school uses, contact your instructor.
This assessment requires a TurnItIn.com originality report. Please visit the message board for tutorial on using TurnItIn.com. Failure to include the originality report with this work will result in a score of a 1 on this assessment.