For the next step in our final project series, you’ll be composing an Op-Ed Article focused on the civic issue you’ve chosen to focus on for your final project, following the genre guidelines of an op-ed. The topic of your op-ed will be the same as your Community Issue Brief, but the specific focus or argument angle is up to you since this is an opinion-based genre. This genre is a fairly common journalistic type of article, and many activists use them to advocate in a public forum about their issues of choice. (This is also a common writing assignment in advanced journalism classes.)
What is an op-ed?
An op-ed, or opinion editorial, is a narrative essay that presents the writer’s opinion or thoughts about an issue. Op-eds can raise awareness about a particular topic or aim to persuade others, and can position the writer as an expert on a subject. Op-eds are most commonly published in daily newspapers. Different newspapers have different word count requirements, but an average word count is around 750-800 words. Some op-eds are written by newspaper editorial staff, but many are submitted by the publication’s readers, including well-known individuals, celebrities, and politicians.
- Here are some excellent tips from The Op-Ed Project, including some basic structure guidelines
- Duke University’s Communicator Toolkit also offers some great advice
- Harvard University’s school of government has some practical advice as well
- Here are the guidelines for submitting an op-ed to the Washington Post, with links to examples
- Need an example of an op-ed?
Assignment Requirements
- Should be 750-850 words (no more than 1200 words)
- Should have a clear, specific point throughout the piece focused on your civic engagement topic
- Point should relate to something timely (something that has recently impacted the news cycle that would make this op-ed publishable)
- Your viewpoint and opinion about the issue should be clearly defined in the piece
- Should connect to some over-arching theme (a “so what” factor; why should readers care?)
- Include references to reliable research – not just your personal opinion and experience (although personal experience and opinion are important parts of this genre as well)
Due Dates
1st Draft: Thursday, April 6th
2nd Draft: Thursday, April 13th
Final Revisions: Thursday, April 27th
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