An Open Letter as Collaborative Rhetoric

Write an open letter employing collaborative rhetoric addressed to a specific person, either someone you know, someone you have heard deliver a speech, or
the author of an article that has disturbed you. As you generate ideas for your letter, take stock of what you know about your own feelings and values on the
issue on which you and your audience disagree. Think about your audience and summarize the person’s views in a what that your audience would find
satisfactory. Demonstrate nonjudgmental listening as you adopt a learning stance. As you explore what your audience values and believes in, also explore
how your own values differ. Where do you agree with your audience? Under what conditions would you find your audience’s values acceptable? How might
the And Stance serve you? (see pp. 202-204) Follow the suggestions in the Guidelines for Practicing Collaborative Rhetoric in your open letter. Can you
envision a synthesis of views, or depending on the distance between your views and your audience’s, your goal may be simply to put your different
perspectives into conversation, to encourage mutual listening, and to open up a discussion. (see sample essay on pp. 205-208)
Imagine that your letter will be printed in a newspaper, so keep in mind that a larger audience beyond the person addressed in the letter will read it. Choose a
subject that you can expand on (must include a minimum of three source correctly formatted using both in-text citations and a Works Cited page). You may
want to use this as a portion of your research paper.