Posted: February 26th, 2015

Letter To The Editor

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

Letter To The Editor
Start by finding an article (news story, or whatever) written by a person, in which that person makes an 
argument that exhibits a failure of critical thinking. The argument must appear in the print mass media, 
be in English, and be published sometime between the first day of class and the due date of the 
assignment. (Articles published both in print and on the Internet are also acceptable, even if you only
have access to the online format.) Please pay attention to the date: assignments based on materials 
published outside of the permitted time period will not be accepted.
Having found a bad argument, write a response (up to one page in length, double-spaced, 12-point 
font, normal margins, no cover page or binders) in which you explain the problem. Your response 
should take the form of a letter to the editor. You do not have to use the technical jargon developed in 
class: you are encouraged, in fact, to write your letter as if you actually intended to mail it to the 
appropriate person. You need not deal with every single problem you found in the person’s whole 
essay, letter, or whatnot. Just pick out a problematic argument made by the author, one that exhibits a 
failure of critical thinking, and use your letter to point out the problem. Put your mailing address at the 
top and your name at the bottom, and otherwise treat the assignment as if you were really writing a 
letter to the editor. Finally, submit your letter and a copy of the article to which you are responding with 
the date attached.
Before you start your assignment, here are some tips, which you may find helpful. Be sure that it is the 
author of the article who actually makes the argument you criticise! Do not write about a bad argument 
quoted in an article but not actually endorsed by the article’s author. Failure to comply with this 
requirement will result in a grade of D or F (depending on how obvious it was that the argument was 
not the author’s own), so please do pay attention to this point.
Some people have a hard time finding arguments in the mass print media. If that sounds like you, you 
might start by looking in newspapers or magazines. Columns by columnists, editorials, and letters to 
the editor are usually good bets, though some magazines and newspapers are better than others. 
Macleans, in my experience, rarely contains arguments made by the authors of the stories, though 
often others’ arguments are quoted (so watch out!). Sports Illustrated is a source, which has worked 
for some students in the past. When it comes to newspapers, the Winnipeg Free Press has proven to 
be a good source in the past, and the Globe and Mail has also been used. It is usually possible to gain 
access to a free online version of a newspaper if you are already a subscriber. You may also check 
online news services to get opinion pieces. If this is the case, copy and paste the article, and include it 
with your letter. If you do this, make sure you properly reference the article. If you use a paper article, 
you will need to get the articles scanned and then you can include it in your final document for 
submission. Please note that if you scan an article it must be pasted into a Word document. 
Instructions on how to do this can be accessed in your course site.
When you actually sit down to write your response, you will naturally find yourself writing a fairly hostile 
letter. After all, you are criticising someone else’s reasoning! Even so, as a matter of good style and 
good manners, avoid insulting the person to whom you address your letter. Try to write in a style, which 
is firm but polite. This won’t affect your grade, but it is good practice.
For this assignment, you are allowed to get help with spelling and grammar, but NOT with content: 
everyone must do this assignment on his or her own. Shared work will be treated as plagiarism, and 
dealt with severely. Be sensible here: don’t show work to a friend to “give an idea” for what to do. If the 
friend borrows your work, you will both be dealt with as plagiarists, and no one wants that.