Argument Essay

This assignment does not count toward the final grade.

Due Saturday by 11:59pm Points 0 Submitting a file upload

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For this milestone, you will select a final proposition from your topic paper and create

a complete argument. You will complete a three-part topic paper before the deadline

on Friday, February 28th at 11:59pm.

1. Apply principles of argumentation to a contemporary controversial issue

2. Construct an essay and argue for a side of the issue

You will complete the following components for this assignment:

1. A rough draft of a complete argumentative essay

The essay will be 4-5 double-spaced pages (~1000-1250 words).

The essay will use APA format for citations and references, including a separate

reference page that does not count toward to length of the essay.

The essay will be in 12-point Time New Roman font with 1” margins.

Choose a final proposition (draw on instructor feedback) from your topic paper

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proposition list and develop a claim in support of or opposed to your final proposition.

Decide which side of the issue you want to argue to support.

This is an exercise in evaluating evidence, analyzing claims, and building a case. I

do not expect you to change your mind or political position. Rather, I expect you to

genuinely research the arguments, evidence, and rhetorical tools (i.e., pathos, ethos)

that are used by those you disagree with to make their cases.

Write an essay with effective grounds, backing, and warrants for your argument.

Research your topic to gain a sense of the major arguments made by each side of

the issue’s stakeholders. Identify suitable backing that will strengthen your claims.

Draw on the sources you identified in your annotated bibliography.

Organize and analyze your research using the Toulmin model as a guideline for

logical organization.

Put together the best case you can for the proposition. Think through whether your

case has internal contradictions or is otherwise open to counterarguments. Provide a

vision and story to give cohesion to your argument.

Remember: If there was not a case to be made for both sides of an issue, the issue

would cease to be an issue because the matter would be settled. For example, the

sun rising in the east is not an issue. There is no reasonable evidence to contradict

the assertion and the vast majority of the world throughout history has accepted this

as an unchanging fact. Issues are issues because both sides can make arguments

since the matters have not resolved into broadly-accepted facts.

I strongly recommend diagramming your argument and writing an outline to give your

argument a logical progression before beginning writing your essay.

Once you have completed researching your argument, write a formal essay creating

your case. Provide the grounds, the warrant, claim(s), backing, reservations (if

applicable), counter arguments, rebuttal to counter arguments, rhetorical strategies,

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and a vision of how the world is improved by your proposition being granted

adherence.

Write to make your argument, then carefully proofread and edit down. Be succinct.

Avoid unnecessary jargon or superfluous language. Be clear and get to the point.

The audience you are attempting to persuade (me) wants to see clear, relate-able,

and complete argumentation. I do not want to see obtuse, vague, wildly abstract, or

confusing writing.

All sources must include an in-text citation and a reference on a separate references

page. The references page does not count towards the length of the paper.

If you are directly quoting a source, your citation should look like this:

According to Author A, "blah blah blah blah blah," (Last Name, Year, page #).

If you are paraphrasing a source, your reference should look something like this:

Author A (year) found that their research demonstrates support for blah blah blah

(page #).

If you are using multiple sources to back a claim, your citation should look something

like this:

Surprisingly, this phenomenon is actually not that rare (Author A, year; Author B,

year).

If you include a citation, you must also include a reference. If you include a

reference, you must also include a citation. Citations point to references and your

reference list tells your readers what evidence you have used.

Reference pages should have References centered at the top of the page.

Your references are then listed in alphabetical order by author last name. If there are

multiple authors, use the first author listed to determine order.

Here is an example of how a journal article reference should look:

Author Last, First initial. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, Volume(issue):page #s.

Ferguson, C. J., Konijn, E. A., Kaufman, J. C. (2015). She said/He said: A peaceful

debate on video game violence. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 4(4): 397-411.

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You might want to look at the

Purdue Online Writing Lab for APA. (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style /apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html)

The rough draft should be largely complete but does not need to be polished. I will

provide feedback on your draft version.

The rough draft will likely be shorter than your final draft.

The rough draft is not graded, but must be turned in before you can continue to

the next module.

Submit your rough draft.

Your rough draft can be submitted as .pdf, .doc., or .docx.

If you have any concerns, contact me (mailto:[email protected]) to discuss.

Move on to the next module by clicking the Next button below. You can also access

modules by returning to the module index on the Home page.

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