Choosing a Form Under Time Pressure
For a Creating texts SAC, students must write a piece that presents a perspective on whether local libraries should extend opening hours. The audience is the library's volunteer committee, who are mostly retired residents and sceptical of change. The required length is 400-600 words. Tomas has drafted a 520-word opinion column with a combative headline and several rhetorical questions aimed at the council. He has also sketched a 300-word proposal format with headings, cost estimates, and a polite closing. He has 25 minutes left. His teacher reminds the class that the task rewards 'control of the chosen form and its conventions' and 'consistent positioning of the intended audience'. Tomas likes the column because it is already long enough.
1. Which draft should Tomas develop, and what reasoning should guide him?
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He should develop the proposal, despite its shorter length. The decisive criteria are form conventions and audience positioning, not word count. The audience is a volunteer committee of retired residents who are sceptical of change; a combative column with an aggressive headline and rhetorical questions aimed at the council positions them as opponents to be shamed, which is inconsistent with persuading them. A proposal with headings, cost estimates, and a respectful closing matches the committee's decision-making context and treats them as collaborators. The 300-word draft is not a problem because 25 minutes is enough to expand it toward 400 by adding a section on volunteer rostering and one on trial periods. Tomas should not choose the column merely because it already meets the length; a 520-word piece that alienates its readers fails the audience criterion that the column's length cannot compensate for.
2. How should Tomas expand the proposal to reach the 400-600 range without padding?
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He should add content the form demands rather than restating what is there. A proposal to a committee needs an implementation sequence, so a short section describing a three-month trial on two evenings, with a review point, adds substance and suits the form. He can also address the committee's likely objection about volunteer fatigue by proposing that paid staff cover the extended hours, which strengthens his audience positioning. Each addition should do work: a cost estimate needs a stated basis, and a closing should name a specific next step such as a vote at the next meeting. He should avoid generic praise of libraries and avoid repeating his rationale in the conclusion. Expanding from 300 to roughly 450 words through implementation detail, an objection handled, and a concrete request will read as a complete proposal rather than a stretched one.