Ok, folks. Warm up your keyboards and stretch your mousing muscles. Let’s Do The Thing.
What we consistently hear back is that this is the Scary Round of the Super Challenge. And we get it! Most folks haven’t written what they think is a formal, persuasive essay since high school or college. But you have! Trust us, you have. Every time you argued with a stranger on the Internet and that comment got longer than you thought it would, you were writing a persuasive essay. Feel free to keep your natural, casual voice, or to adopt a more formal tone, whichever one you think fits your subject and your audience. Imagine your audience. Who are you talking to? Who are you writing for? Whose mind do you want to change?
See? You got this. Like it says in your email, a persuasive essay utilizes logic and reason to show that one idea or position is more legitimate than another. It attempts to persuade a reader to adopt the writer’s point of view on the topic. The argument must always use sound reasoning and solid evidence. It can do this by stating facts, giving logical reasons, using examples, and quoting experts. It can also utilize emotion effectively, but it should not depend on emotional appeal or require the reader to find the writer sympathetic in order to make its point. Our round two prompts are open-ended questions. We’ll be judging these essays on how thoroughly and convincingly the author answers the question. The judges don’t have to agree with the answer, but the answer will need to be supported by more than my mom’s old standby of “because I said so.”
If you’re still nervous, check out this post.
Now that that’s cleared up, let’s get to the topic assignments:
Group 1
What makes a good apology?
Remember, in order to answer this question you’ll probably need to address what “good” means, and to whom, and discuss bad apologies.
Group 2
Is punishment or atonement more meaningful to victims of a harmful act?
That is, should the person who harmed them be punished, or should they try to make amends? Is there a difference? Does it depend on the type of act, or on the type of person? How much, if at all, does intent matter in your decision?
Wait, wait, there’s more!
Don’t post your essay anywhere on the Internet until after our judges are done and you get your feedback! But if you want to talk up the competition or live-tweet your writing process, use the hashtag #YWsuper. Just remember not to include identifying details about which essay is yours!
Your essays are due Sunday at 10pm US Eastern Time. Remember to check the rules for formatting, including all those fiddly details like title page, font, and filename. Don’t get disqualified on a technicality! We know it seems really useless at times, but all those rules have a purpose, from helping get your file where it needs to be to making sure you’re read anonymously and fairly.
Email your questions to superchallenge@yeahwrite.me—we will not be reviewing other email addresses or social media for your questions over the weekend and we want to make sure you get the answers you need!
We hope you have as much fun with the prompts as we had picking them out. Good luck, and good writing!
Round Two Ends In:
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About the author:
Rowan submitted exactly one piece of microfiction to YeahWrite before being consumed by the editorial darkside. She spent some time working hard as our Submissions Editor before becoming YeahWrite’s Managing Editor in 2016. She was a BlogHer Voice of the Year in 2017 for her work on intersectional feminism, but she suggests you find and follow WOC instead. In real life she’s been at various times an attorney, aerialist, professional knitter, artist, graphic designer (yes, they’re different things), editor, secretary, tailor, and martial artist. It bothers her vaguely that the preceding list isn’t alphabetized, but the Oxford comma makes up for it. She lives in Portlandia with a menagerie which includes at least one other human. She tells lies at textwall and uncomfortable truths at CrossKnit.
