WR 121 Fierman Letter Genre: Choosing Your Issue
Assignment and context
Before starting to write or research, you'll have to choose an issue. This page provides guidance on places to find a possible issue, and ways to take an interest and turn that interest into a researchable question.
See Danica's check -in assignment below. This document is also linked from your course D2L site:
Ideas for finding issue/topic ideas for letter or op-ed
If you are looking for topics to write your open letter or op-ed about, consider browsing these sources for current issues in the news:
- Google NewsBrowse "Top Stories" or use broad keywords, like racism, science, art, culture, etc. to get ideas.
- The OregonianBrowse stories or use google site: search to see local reporting on issues. See site: search box on this page for more info.
- Street RootsAddresses homelessness and poverty in Portland.
- Willamette WeekLocal news and politics.
- Oregon Policy DirectoryFind analysis and advocacy from all perspectives on Oregon public policy.
- WikipediaWikipedia can be a fine place to start with your topic to build some understanding and use the references that the Wikipedia articles site.
PCC and student issues
- OSPIRG Student CampaingsA list of campaigns from the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group. This is a national student advocacy group with state chapters.
- Inside HigherEdAn online news magazine focused on issues in higher education. Some articles are from the point of view of college staff, but you may find ideas for issues.
- PCC Board Meeting Agendas and MinutesGet a peek into what issues are on the minds of PCC board members, college administration and PCC employees by browsing meeting minutes.
- PCC Student LifeBrowse clubs, student events, student resources and more. Maybe these will inspire you to think about PCC-related issues?
- The Clarion - PPS Student NewspaperThe high school newspaper of Portland Public Schools. Browse for local issues.
Turning an interest into a researchable topic
Brainstorm Keywords for Searching
As you read about your topic, make a note of search terms that will be useful for finding articles on your topic. When you are searching Google or other search engines, you can use "natural language" searching - just type in your whole question and you may find exactly what you want. Database searching and advanced Google searching requires more precise use of search terms.
Watch the 2 minute video from Portland State University below for some useful tips.