Assignment Details
Value: 25% (additional 5% for Draft/Peer Review)
Due Date: Draft—Jun 10
Final—June 19
Length: 1500 words (does not count the references list)
Instructions
Write a 1,500 word argumentative essay in which you communicate and defend a thesis about a specific topic you have begun researching over the first four weeks of the term.
While your essay is based on your own opinion about a topic, the strength of your essay will depend on your ability to anticipate objections/questions from critical readers and address them by collecting and integrating supporting evidence from other texts. As always, I expect your argument to be thorough, well-reasoned, and concise. Don’t waste space with empty words.
Your analysis should have a strong, clear structure. As a guide, consider our standard conceptualization of essay format:
· Introduction paragraph containing (among other things) a clear thesis
· Body paragraphs discussing one aspect of the argument to support your thesis
· Conclusion paragraph that reminds readers of the thesis and major supporting ideas
Your essay must be formatted according to APA 7th edition guidelines, and you must cite both quotations and paraphrasing in APA style, which includes a References list.
Research
You must incorporate information from a minimum of five reliable and appropriate sources in your essay,
at least one of which
must be a scholarly article from the Camosun library database. Texts providing only general information (eg. dictionaries, encyclopedias, wikis) are not appropriate sources. Web resources from reliable sources (eg. American Medical Association, Statistics Canada) can be valuable, but extreme caution should be used when defining “reliable”. If you’re in doubt, discuss with other students and/or contact me.
Academic Honesty
Remember, plagiarism is a very serious offence. All borrowed material must be cited using APA style, and any paraphrasing must be significantly re-worded from the original material.
I expect you to limit the length of your quotations (all under 40 words long).
Essay Draft: Process and Grading
1. On Wednesday, June 10, before 12:00pm (noon), you will submit a draft of your research essay to the Essay Draft Drop Box on our D2L page. Your draft should be
· a complete essay that may lack the polish of a final draft
· fully cited in APA style, including in-text citations and a references list
· formatted in APA style (see sample on D2L)
· submitted without your name on it (don’t include it on the title page)
2. I will email you another student’s draft by 5:00pm the same day, and you will use the Peer Review Guide to give feedback on the student’s essay. The review process should only take 60 minutes max (that’s how long I give my students when we do this in class).
3. You will submit your feedback to the Peer Review Drop Box on D2L before Thursday, June 11, at 5:00pm.
The draft will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Failing to submit a complete draft or complete the peer review on time will result in a grade of 0 (a loss of 5% of your overall grade in the course).
Final Copy: Process and Grading
1. Submit the final copy of your research essay to the Final Essay Drop Box on June 19 before 11:59pm. It must be formatted and cited according to APA 7th edition guidelines.
The final essay will be graded according to the Research Essay rubric posted on D2L.
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