1. Opinion Writing (JOUR 73103)
Fall 2016, Monday, 9:30 a.m.-12:20 a.m.
Room 444
Prof. Peter Beinart
Peter.Beinart@journalism.cuny.edu (preferable form of contact)
Phone: 646 758 7856
Office Hours: Friday, 9-12 a.m.
Course Description
Opinion writing is about making arguments well. In this course we’ll read several of the best American
columnists of the last half-century, and several of the best writing today. The goal will be to understand how
different opinion writers construct their arguments: Where do they get their information? How do they
introduce their topics? How do ideological assumptions influence their work? How do they grab and hold
readers’ attention? How do they develop a distinctive voice? We’ll focus on the same questions in the writing
done in the class: What makes an argument clear? What makes it convincing? What makes it provocative?
Columnists and editors may join us to discuss their work.
This is a writing intensive class. You may, if you choose, substitute a video, slide show or podcast for one of the
op-eds specified below.
Outcomes
By the end of the class, students should be able to:
Summarize the argument of their op-ed in one sentence
Write an op-ed that is timely, adds something fresh to a preexisting debate, and is well-supported by evidence
Understand the difference between an op-ed and a news story or news analysis
Analyze an op-ed column for its timeliness, the quality of its argument, the quality of its evidence and the
quality of its writing
Understand the role of a first sentence in an op-ed
Write clearly, concisely and forcefully, with particular attention to choice of verbs, sentence length, simplicity
of language and use of metaphor
Assigned Reading
If a website is not attached, the readings can be found on e-reserve.
(http://researchguides.journalism.cuny.edu/er.php?course_id=23492) The password is ow2016. Students should
bring the reading with them—along with any notes they have taken—to class.
The New York Times op-eds we will discuss each week will come from the hardcopy of the paper. You can
read them on line, but make sure you know which ones were in the paper that day, so you know which ones we
will be discussing. (Here’s a link that helps find them:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html#opinion)
When we discuss a columnist for whom I have not assigned specific articles, the student presenter will be
responsible for choosing four recent columns, emailing them to the class by 9 p.m. on the night before class,
and then discussing them in their presentation.
Within reason, students will be able to choose which columnists they present in class.
2. Students are also encouraged to read opinion writing beyond that assigned in class: In learning how to write
opinion well, there is no substitute for reading the opinion writing of others. The more you read, the better your
own work will be. Good opinion writing can be found in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Politico,
The Wall Street Journal, Vox, the Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Slate, The New Republic, The Nation,
National Review, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Daily Beast and The Atlantic.
Class Participation
We will read and critique each others’ work. Class participation is essential and will be considered in grading.
Honesty
Students who make up sources, quotes or descriptions or who plagiarize the work of others (including lifting
from the internet without attribution) will fail the class.
Deadlines
Your op-eds and op-ed ideas are due via email to me by 9 p.m. the night before class. If you are ill or have a
pressing conflict, you must email me as soon as you know you will be missing class or cannot complete an
assignment. Missing a deadline without a valid reason will significantly lower your grade. (See Grading below)
Op-eds
Submit your op-eds and op-ed ideas via email to me by 9 p.m. the night before class. Put your name, the date
and the word count at the top of all op-eds. For op-eds, use 12 Point Times Roman. Double Space. All op-eds
should be between 700 and 800 words. Periodically during the course of the year, your op-eds will be
distributed to your classmates and used for in-class discussion. The subject of the op-eds will be for you to
choose.
Grading
Your writing will account for 75 percent of your grade. Your in class discussion will account for the other 25
percent.
Your grade will be lowered if:
You miss two or more classes or are persistently late.
Your op-eds include frequent misspellings or grammatical or punctuation mistakes.
You miss deadlines. You will lose a grade for every day an assignment is late (An A will drop to an A- and an
A- to a B+ and so on).
You are one day late if your op-ed has not been submitted by via email to me by 9 p.m. the night before class,
two days late if it has not been submitted by 9 p.m. the following night and so on.
Schedule and Assignments
As guests agree to join us, I’ll assign reading of their work and rearrange the schedule. I may also change or
augment the readings as I learn your interests and to accommodate events in the news.
Week 1: Monday, Aug 29
3. Assignments due:
Read George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language,” 1946
(http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm)
Read Walter Lippmann, “Books and Things,” The New Republic, August 7, 1915 (emailed)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of the previous Saturday’s New York Times.
(http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html#opinion)
Monday, Sept 5: No Class, Labor Day
Week 2: Monday, Sept 12
Assignments due:
One op-ed idea, summarized in one sentence, in writing (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Saturday’s New York Times
Read the following columns (on e-reserve):
Murray Kempton, “Name Your Weapons,” America Comes of Middle Age: Columns 1950-1962 (Boston: Little
Brown and Company, 1963), 353-4
Murray Kempton, “Daughter of the Furies,” America Comes of Middle Age: Columns 1950-1962 , 21-3
Murray Kempton, “The Saddest Story,” America Comes of Middle Age: Columns 1950-1962, 27-8
Murray Kempton, “Joseph Puts a Nickel In,” America Comes of Middle Age: Columns 1950-1962 , 87-8
Murray Kempton, “The Wrong Man,” America Comes of Middle Age: Columns 1950-1962, 167-9
Week 3: Monday, Sept 19
Assignments due:
1st
draft of op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read four columns by Ta-Nehisi Coates on http://www.theatlantic.com/ta-nehisi-coates/ (to be emailed by
presenter by 9 p.m. Sunday)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Saturday’s New York Times
Week 4: Monday, Sept 26
Assignments due:
2nd draft of op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Friday’s New York Times
Read the following columns (on e-reserve):
Mike Royko, “Ghetto Burial for a GI Hero,” (March 19, 1968), One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko,
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 23-5
Mike Royko,” If this Isn’t Danger, What Is?” (Oct 17, 1985), One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko, 180-2
Mike Royko, “Sorry Reggie, You Struck Out,” (Feb 11, 1986), One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko,
189-90
Mike Royko, “How This City Really ‘Works,’ (May 31, 1974), One More Time: The Best of Mike Royko, 81-4
Mike Royko, “Complete Apology for Overrating the Irish Thirst,” (March 15, 1966), One More Time: The Best
of Mike Royko, 9-11
4. Week 5: Thursday, Oct 6
Assignments due:
One op-ed idea, summarized in one sentence (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Friday’s New York Times
Read the following columns (emailed):
George Will, “The Short Life and Long Dying of Infant Doe,” The Morning After (New York; The Free Press,
1986), (April 22, 1982), 194-7
George Will, “The Cold War as a Misunderstanding,” The Morning After (New York; The Free Press, 1986),
(April 10, 1985), 349-50
George Will, “The Genius of Winchester, Kansas,” The Morning After (New York; The Free Press, 1986),
(April 7, 1983), 42-4
George Will, “A Need for Simple Arithmetic,” The Morning After (New York; The Free Press, 1986), (Jan 17,
1983), 202-5
George Will, “Bearbaiting and Boxing,” The Morning After (New York; The Free Press, 1986), (Nov 21,
1982), 149-50
Monday, Oct 10: No Class
Week 6: Friday, Oct 21
Assignments due:
1st draft of op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Friday’s New York Times
Read four columns by Jamelle Bouie at http://www.slate.com/authors.jamelle_bouie.html (to be emailed by
presenter by 9 p.m. Sunday)
Monday, Oct 24: No Class
Week 7: Mon, Oct 31
Clay Risen from 11:20-12:30
Assignments due:
2nd
draft of op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Thursday’s New York Times
Read the following columns (on e-reserve):
Katha Pollitt, “School Prayer? By All Means,” Subject to Debate (New York: The Modern Library, 2011),
28-30
Katha Pollitt, “Deadbeat Dads: A Modest Proposal, Subject to Debate, 35-38
Katha Pollitt, “We Are All Marcia Clark,” Subject to Debate, 42-4
Katha Pollitt, “Go Figure,” Subject to Debate, 168-71
Katha Pollitt, “Poverty: Fudging the Numbers,” Subject to Debate, 238-41
Week 8: Friday, Nov 4:
5. Assignments due:
One op-ed idea, summarized in one sentence (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read four columns by Glenn Greenwald at https://theintercept.com/staff/glenn-greenwald/ (to be emailed by
presenter by 9 p.m. Sunday)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Thursday’s New York Times
Week 8: Mon, Nov 7
Assignments due:
1st draft of op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Thursday’s New York Times
Read the following columns (on e-reserve):
Michael Kinsley, “The Myth of Books,” (New Republic, June 17, 1985), The Curse of the Giant Muffins (NY:
Summit Books, 1987), 160-3
Michael Kinsley, “William Shawn and the Temple of Facts, “ (The New Republic, July 16, 1984,) The Curse of
the Giant Muffins, 99-105
Michael Kinsley, “A Gaffe is When a Politician Tells the Truth,” (The New Republic, June 18, 1984), The
Curse of the Giant Muffins, 272-5
Michael Kinsley, “Decisions, Decisions,” (The New Republic, Dec 26, 1983), The Curse of the Giant Muffins,
203-5
Michael Kinsley, “The Conservative History of Civil Rights,” (Wall Street Journal, June 20, 1985), The Curse
of the Giant Muffins 242-5
Michael Kinsley, “Buying the Farm,” (The New Republic, Dec 10, 1984), The Curse of the Giant Muffins,
278-281
Week 9: Mon, Nov 14
Assignments due:
2nd draft of op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read four columns by Megan McArdle at
http://www.bloomberg.com/view/contributors/AQjVOcPejrY/megan-mcardle (to be emailed by presenter by 9
p.m., night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Wednesday’s New York Times
Week 10: Mon, Nov 21
Assignments due:
One unpopular/controversial op-ed idea, summarized in one sentence (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Wednesday’s New York Times
Read the following columns (on e-reserve):
Anna Quindlen, “The Abortion Account,” Thinking Out Loud (New York: Random House, 1993), 219-221
Anna Quindlen, “Men at Work,” Thinking Out Loud, 100-2
Anna Quindlen, “The Nuns’ Story,” Thinking Out Loud, 225-7
Anna Quindlen, “The Abortion Orphans,” Thinking Out Loud, 237-9
Anna Quindlen, “Babes in Toyland,” Thinking Out Loud, 109-11
Week 11: Mon, Nov 28
6. Assignments due:
1st draft of unpopular/controversial op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read four columns by David Frum at http://www.theatlantic.com/david-frum/ (to be emailed by presenter by 9
p.m. Sunday)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Wednesday’s New York Times
Week 12: Mon, Dec 5
Assignments due:
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Tuesday’s New York Times
Read four columns by Mehdi Hasan at http://www.aljazeera.com/profile/mehdi-hasan.html (to be emailed by
presenter by 9 p.m. Sunday)
Week 13: Mon, Dec 12
Assignments due:
2nd draft of unpopular/controversial op-ed (due by 9 p.m. the night before class)
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Tuesday’s New York Times
Read the following columns (on e-reserve):
Michael Kelly, “Girth of a Nation,” Things Worth Fighting For (New York: Penguin, 2004), 5-6
Michael Kelly, “Three Things I’ve Learned Since Kindergarten,” Things Worth Fighting For, 7-9
Michael Kelly, “Imitation Activism,” Things Worth Fighting For, 40-41
Michael Kelly, “A Plea for Diversity,” Things Worth Fighting For, 82-84
Michael Kelly, “Truth Be Told,” Things Worth Fighting For, 149-151
Michael Kelly, “Class,” Things Worth Fighting For, 224-226
Week 14: Mon, Dec 19
Assignments due:
Read all the op-eds in the print version of that Tuesday’s New York Times
