english argument essay

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English 101 Outcomes Assessment Essay: Argument                            

To some people, argument means a heated disagreement between two people, but that isn’t the only kind of argument, nor is it necessarily the most productive type of argument. Academic arguments aren’t necessarily trying to find the “right answer.” In fact, academics like to choose topics where there isn’t one specific right answer. We choose topics that are messy, and our purpose is to come up with the best possible answer/solution/position. To prove our point, we use reason and support in an attempt to persuade people holding a broad range of opinions. We pull ideas from the work of others to help make our argument and present that argument in a logical manner, including counter arguments to show the depth of our understanding of the topic.

In preparation for this essay, you will read/view a series of texts and participate in class discussions about the assignment. You will then use information from the texts and discussions as well as your own observations, experiences, critical thinking, and writing skills to try to get your audience to agree with you or at least see your point.

Audience

You have an academic audience for this paper. That means you are trying to persuade teachers and students.

Introduction:

Americans tend to believe in progress, moving forward and improving quality of life through economic development, scientific innovation, social change, and technological advancements. For this essay, we are going to look at current discussions about progress in America, and its function in our culture.

Assignment:

Identify an idea about progress, then use the given sources, along with your experience and observation, to argue your stance on the idea.

For example, you could take a stance on one of these important questions:

· Do we need to define progress in new ways?

· Is it possible to sustain our recent rate of innovation and advancements?

· Would a shrinking middle class mean America is having problems making progress?

· How do we make decisions about what is more valuable when progress in one area creates problems in another?

The OA Essay must—

· Include a bibliography or works cited page in addition to at least four pages of text

· Include at least six in-text citations including summary, paraphrase, and direct quotation

· Cite at least two of the given sources. You should not do additional research for this assignment.

· You are encouraged to include personal experience in addition to the sources to support your argument; therefore, first-person pronouns are permitted.

General

· “The Quest for Imperfection” by Joel Friedrich http://www.theeuropean-magazine.com/joerg-friedrich--2/6875-the-ideology-of-progress (could also be considered for the Economy category)

· “Don’t Worry, Be Unhappy” by Timothy Noah http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2011/02/dontworry_be_unhappy.html (could also be considered for the Economy category)

· “Is ‘Progress’ Good for Humanity?” by Jeremy Caradonna https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/the-industrial-revolution-and-its-discontents/379781/

Technology

· “The Great Stagnation” by Tyler Cowen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_93CXTt2K7c

· “What Great Stagnation? Citi: ‘Good Reason to Believe Major Technological Advances Still Lie Ahead” by James Pethokoukis https://www.aei.org/publication/what-great-stagnation-citi-good-reason-to-believe-major-technological-advances-still-lie-ahead/

· “Digital Divides—Feeding America Presentation” by Lee Rainie http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/02/09/digital-divides-feeding-america/

· “Digital Readiness Gaps” by John B. Horrigan http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/09/20/digital-readiness-gaps/

· “Who is Getting Left Behind in the Internet Revolution?” by John Bohannon http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/who-getting-left-behind-internet-revolution (this could also be grouped with Economy and Class)

· “Robots May Make it Harder for Some Americans to Get Ahead” by Heesun Wee http://www.cnbc.com/2015/03/12/make-it-harder-for-some-americans-to-get-ahead.html

Economy and Class

· “’I’m Working Really Hard, but I’m Not Getting Ahead’: The New Middle Class Trap” by Jim Tankersley https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/im-working-really-hard-but-im-not-getting-ahead-the-new-middle-class-trap/262912/

· “Mobility, Measured” http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21595437-america-no-less-socially-mobile-it-was-generation-ago-mobility-measured

· “The American Middle Class is Losing Ground.” http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/the-american-middle-class-is-losing-ground/

· “This is Why the Middle Class Can’t Get Ahead” by Nick Hanauer http://www.pbs.org/newshour/making-sense/middle-class-cant-get-ahead/

· “Busted: America’s Poverty Myths #3: Rags to Riches” WNYC “On the Media”

http://www.wnyc.org/story/rags-riches (could also be grouped with social progress)

Social Progress

· “Social Progress” by Daniel Little http://understandingsociety.blogspot.com/2010/06/social-progress.html

· “The Risky Politics of Progress” by Jonathan Tepperman http://www.ted.com/talks/jonathan_tepperman_the_risky_politics_of_progress?language=en

· “What the Social Progress Index Can Reveal About Your Country” by Michael Green http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_green_what_the_social_progress_index_can_reveal_about_your_country?language=en

· Social Progress Index

http://www.socialprogressimperative.org/global-index/

Science & Medicine

· “Ten Great Public Health Achievements in the 20th Century” Centers for Disease Control

https://www.cdc.gov/about/history/tengpha.htm

· “Winnable Battles Final Report” Centers for Disease Control

https://www.cdc.gov/winnablebattles/report/docs/winnable-battles-final-report.pdf

· “Survey Finds that Americans Value Mental Health and Physical Health Equally” American Association for Suicide Prevention

https://afsp.org/survey-finds-that-americans-value-mental-health-and-physical-health-equally-2/

· “The Next Green Revolution” by Tim Folger

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/green-revolution/

· “Clean Air Act Overview” Environmental Protection Agency (each link jumps to a bulleted summary)

https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/progress-cleaning-air-and-improving-peoples-health#interstate

English 101 Outcomes Assessment Polices and Procedures

The OA Essay

This essay counts towards your course grade, but it also is the Outcomes Assessment (OA) essay. The CWI English Department uses the OA essay to assess student proficiency across sections. The process is explained in detail in the Outcomes Assessment Policy section of your course syllabus. This assignment serves as the Written Communication Signature Assignment for this course.

Writing the Essay

This essay must be exclusively your own work and an original essay for this assignment, not a former work tailored, recycled, or revised to meet this assignment. You will be taking the essay through the process that your instructor suggests, which may include prewriting assignments, drafts, revision, and peer workshops. All process materials must be submitted to your instructor on the day you submit the OA essay. In your essay, you should support your ideas by referring to the readings given, your own experience, observations, or acquired knowledge. You should not do additional research for this assignment.

Format

The essay must be a minimum of four pages, double-spaced, plus a bibliography. Use Times New Roman and font size 12; set all margins at 1 inch. Pages should be numbered. You must not have your name or your instructor’s name anywhere on the essay. Your instructor will assign a code, which should appear in the top line of your heading where you would normally type your name.

Sample heading for Outcomes Assessment Essay

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Letter-Number Code

English 101

Outcomes Assessment Essay

Spring 2017

Title of the Essay

How is the Outcomes Assessment essay graded?

Your instructor will grade your essay for the course. Your instructor will also assess your work in the course as a whole and rate it as proficient (P) or not proficient (NP) in terms of the course objectives.

At least one other English instructor will read and evaluate your Outcomes Assessment essay. This instructor will determine whether this specific essay demonstrates proficiency in the course objectives.

Assessment Criteria

Readers will evaluate your essay based on the following course outcomes:

· Write thesis-driven, analytic essays for an academic audience

· Demonstrate rhetorical awareness through use of structure, paragraphing, voice, and tone

· Evaluate, analyze, synthesize own ideas and the ideas of others

· Read critically for inquiry, learning, thinking, and communicating

· Make basic but effective use of sources in an academic documentation format, including in-text citation and a bibliography

· Demonstrate awareness of grammar and usage conventions in academic writing

Plagiarism or academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and will result in a failing grade for the course.

Checklist for the 101 Outcomes Essay:

___Did you check your citations against a style guide?

___Did you use the heading above?

___Did you double-space the essay?

___Did you use Times New Roman and font size 12?

___Did you number the pages of each final draft?

___Have you made sure that neither your name nor your instructor’s name is on your final draft?

Remember that you must submit your OA paper in two ways:

1. Upload the final draft to the OA website: http://englishoa.cwidaho.cc

2. Turn in process work and final draft to your instructor according to his or her requirements.

* If you do not turn in your Outcomes Assessment Essay at the time specified by your instructor, you will fail the class.

Submitting Outcomes Assessment Essays On-Line

1. Before you attempt to upload your OA essay, make sure it is saved in one of the file formats the on-line OA system accepts: the system will accept Microsoft Word 2003 files (doc), Microsoft Word 2007-2013 files (docx), or Rich Text Format files (RTF). If you use a word processor other than Word, use your program’s “Save As” function to save your essay file as RTF.

2. You may name your file anything you wish, but you will need to find it easily in order to upload it.

3. Open a web browser (you can use Internet Explorer, Chrome, or FireFox) and point it to http://englishoa.cwidaho.cc. Your username is your student ID number with any initial zeroes dropped (074325 should be entered as 74325), and your password is your eight-digit birthdate (put zeroes in front of single-digit months or days. Example: 01271991).

4. Click the “Browse” button to the right of the File Name field. Use the standard Windows navigation dialog that will appear to find the file you saved in step 1 above. Select the file and then click the “Open” button in the lower right corner of the dialog.

5. When the file name appears in the File Name field, click the “Submit OA Essay” button. It’s just below and to the left of the File Name field.

6. The system will upload your file, prepare it for reading, clear the screen, and show you a receipt for your submission. You may choose to print the receipt if your instructor asks you to. Generally, there is no need to print it, however.

7. Click the “Log Out” button, and you’re done. Check with your instructor for the results of the Outcomes Assessment reading.

Notes:

· If you need to save your essay as RTF, open your essay file in your word processor and click “Save As.” You can usually find this function under the “File” menu heading in Windows programs. When the Save As dialog appears, change the “Save As Type” dropdown to “Rich Text Format.” The “Save As Type” dropdown is usually directly below the file name field in Windows programs. The word processor will automatically change the file extension to RTF, which means you shouldn’t have to change your file name. Click “Save” to complete the conversion.

· If you select a file with a type other than doc, docx, or RTF, the system will present a warning message to the right of the File Name field. It will not let you upload a file until you select a file of one of the allowed types. If this happens, click the “Browse” button again and select an acceptable file.

· You do not need to be on campus to submit your essay. That is, the on-line Outcomes Assessment system is accessible from any computer with Internet access.

Instructors read & rate OA essays One reader agrees with instructor Both readers disagree with instructor P = Student receives grade earned in course. (A, B, C, or F) NP = Student receives no credit (NC); must repeat course. Note: NC does not affect GPA; may affect financial aid. Portfolio Review Two readers must agree

Instructors read & rate OA essays One reader agrees with instructor Both readers disagree with instructor P = Student receives grade earned in course. (A, B, C, or F) NP = Student receives no credit (NC); must repeat course. Note: NC does not affect GPA; may affect financial aid. Portfolio Review Two readers must agree