Project Two Outline

In the post below, I will be reviewing the section in Writing Public Lives about outlines as well as creating an outline for my rhetorical analysis of "Genetically Engineered Babies."

AnonMoos. "Texas Flag Map." 2001 via Wikipedia. Public Domain Dedication. 

Review of Writing Public Lives pages 122-125

For the introduction, the advice "focus on the text itself, rather than the issue" (Minnex, 122) came in handy when constructing my outline. I will be focusing on the strategies within the text, not the actual issue addressed. In addition, I must provide enough general background information for the reader in order to explain what genetic engineering is. When constructing my thesis, I kept in mind that a thesis should be the "main point" (Minnex, 122) of the entire essay. When creating an analytical claim, I kept in mind I must keep it "supportable" (Minnex, 123) with examples directly from the text. When U was first drafting my outline, I was going to do a paragraph for logos, ethos and pathos; however, after reading this section, I took the book's advice on "focusing on one or two strategies" (Minnex 124) to keep my information organized. I like the advice about "explaining why the strategies are useful" (Minnex, 125) because I have never considered explaining why the argument is effective or not. Therefore, in this essay, I will make sure to include how these strategies effectively present Parry's argument.

Introduction

• Background Information 
• Explain what genetic engineering is and what areas it applies to 
• Thesis
• By appealing to logic, Parry is able to construct an effective argument within each subheading of her article against the unethical nature of embryo alteration for "designer babies.""

Body 1- Credible Sources 

• Focus 
• Explain how Parry uses expert opinions to back up her argument 
• Textual Support
• "Lord Robert Winston, a professor of science and society and a fertility expert at Imperial College in London, focused on the uncertainty associated with the genetic underpinnings of traits"
• Explain how gene alteration is not a guaranteed success and we do not know consequences yet
• "Scientists have found at least 50 genes that account for only 2 to 3 percent of the variance in the samples"
• Explain the dangers of altering because of the possibility of failure
• Sheldon Krimsky, a philosopher at Tufts University, who argued in favor of a ban on the same for human babies. "But in the hundreds of thousands of trails that failed, we simply discarded the results of the unwanted crop or animal."
• Explain how this dehumanizes embryo 
• Conclusion
• Explain the unknown consequences and dangers ==> nothing is certain
• Compare to other areas of engineering and how they dispose of unsuccessful attempts and how unethical it is to discard of an embryo 

Body 2- Rhetorical Questions

• Focus
• Explain the Use of rhetorical questions
• Textual Support
• "Would this change mean empowering parents to give their children the best start possible?"
• Describe how Parry answers this with the opinion of experts and how "mother nature doesn't care"=> unfair to the child
• "Or would it mean designer babies who could face unforeseen genetic problems?"
• Explain mitochondrial transfer mentioned later 
• Talk about elimination of natural selection
• "Leading to eugenics?"
• Discuss how Parry mentions the Nazi Germany=> allusion makes us consider the potential danger in genetic engineering 
• Also explain what eugenics is 
• Logical argument w the use of pathos b/c we don't want another Holocaust
• Conclusion
• Explain how Parry logically answers her rhetorical questions
• Causes reader to consider
• Explain how answers are supported w/ expert opinion

Body 3- Organization

• Focus
• Focus on how Parry logically constructs her argument
• Textual Support/Conclusion
• Subheadings
• Mention each topic is broken up in subheadings to clearly organize her ideas
• Each subheading is new point in argument
• Repetition of words
• Discuss how she repeats "nature" and "ban" and "uncertain" 
• Explain how this makes the reader logically consider the unethical aspect of genetic engineering
• Logical Arrangement
• Explain the intro, supports and conclusion
• Discuss importance of logical flow and how it convinces reader 
• Conclusion
• Discuss how organization allows reader to follow Parry's train of thought
• Discuss importance of subheadings and how they effectively/visually explain Parry's stance

Conclusion

• Revisit the three strategies Parry implements (credible sources, rhetorical questions, organization) and their importance
• Explain how strategies logically represent Parry's stance 

Reflection:

Dylan's outline was well written. He has four body paragraphs, which I feel will make his analysis even stronger. However, he is including examples from all three rhetorical strategies, which I do not think will be beneficial to his essay. Instead, I suggested to focus on one or two strategies. Kelly's outline was very thorough. She has a lot of textual support which will make her analysis even stronger. In addition, her draft should be easy to write because of her thorough outline. Kelly has two paragraphs focusing on logical strategies and only one focusing on pathos; I suggested she add one more paragraph focusing on pathos strategies to keep her essay even and consistent.