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The following table provides a short listing of requirements for the argumentative essay. The items listed are explained in greater detail in the text following the table.

Argumentative Essay Requirements Checklist The following table shows the requirements for the argumentative essay for this course. Note that the requirements listed in the table are explained in greater detail including by way of examples in this set of instructions. Those items that are optional as opposed to necessary requirements are identified.

Requirement Detail 1. Introduction: Statement of purpose including either a proposition to test or question to answer in the paper DETAILS; Provide this early in the introduction to the paper. The introduction can also include any background required to make the purpose understandable and concept clarification. 2. Introduction: optional foreshadowing of the structure of the argument. DETAILS; One or more sentences telling the reader what to expect regarding the structure of the paper. 3. Introduction: Methods statement DETAILS; In the introductory section provide a brief methods statement – how and where do you intend to locate evidence and ideas in support of the argument? 4. Introduction: Conceptual clarification DETAILS; Using course materials when appropriate define the key course relevant Concepts. Some of this may also be provided later in the paper as needed. 5. Body: Point by point argumentation

DETAILS; The main portion of the paper, evidence and ideas are presented and their relevance relation to the argument is explained. 6. Body: Briefly discuss obvious plausible alternative arguments DETAILS; Refer to any obvious and plausible counter arguments presented in the course that challenge your argument points and indicate whether they can be rejected. In a short essay there may be only the opportunity to discuss the most significant counter argument. 7. Concluding section: Restate your original purpose, proposition or question early in the conclusion. DETAILS; Paraphrase or restate your original purpose, proposition and/or question. 8. Concluding section: State your conclusion and briefly summarize the key arguments followed by any necessary qualification of your findings. DETAILS; The summary of the argument does not need to be in great detail. In a short paper that makes numerous points making reference to the preceding arguments may be sufficient. Qualify the significance of your conclusion vis a vis the amount of research done. 9. Concluding section: Optional affective or evaluative statement DETAILS; You have the option of providing a first person statement explaining your personal views on the topic and/or your conclusions. 10. You must make reference to course materials in the paper especially in relation to concept clarification and any relevant ideas and evidence from the course. DETAILS; Failure to make use of course concepts and provide in-text citations and references for them could result in the loss of over half the points available for structure and format. 11. You must employ the APA in-text citation and referencing system for the citations and references required in the paper (see below the table)

DETAILS; The URL for the Purdue Owl APA website is presented just below this table. You do not need to employ APA requirements other than those for citations and references. Purdue Owl APA website: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting _and_style_guide/general_format.html Author. (year). In italics write the name or title of the lecture. Personal Collection of (the lecturer’s name), school or organization they teach for, city, state. Berliner, A. (1959). Lecture on Reminiscences of Wundt and Leipsig. Personal Collection of A. Berliner, University of Akron, Akron OH.

Acceptable topics A list of acceptable essay topics is provided at the end of this document

Definition of an argumentative essay For the purposes of this course, an argumentative essay is defined as a short piece of scholarly writing that presents a point of view or proposition which makes an evaluative claim about an area of interest or disagreement about a course related topic or theme. Importantly, your essay must defend or critique a point of view. The point of view is introduced early in the essay by providing a clear aim or statement of purpose in the form of a proposition (aka a hypothesis) that you plan to defend or refute. Alternatively, your statement of purpose can take the form of a research question that you propose to answer. You defend your point of view by providing evidence and ideas and explaining how that evidence and/or ideas logically provide support for your proposition or answer your question.

Structure of the paper Introductory section 1. Early in the introduction, introduce the point of view, proposition or case you intend defend. It is the aim or purpose of your essay. Even if the point of view seems evident in the title of your paper it must be clearly stated again in the introduction.

You must compose a sentence that clearly states your purpose in the form of: 1) a proposition or statement that you intend to defend (a.k.a. a hypothesis), 2) alternatively, you can present a proposition that you intend to prove is incorrect; or, 3) you can pose a question and explain that the purpose of the paper is to answer that question. For example, an essay on geneticization, dealing with the connection between clinical depression and a particular gene variant might begin like this… “Genetic research has identified an association between the short version of gene 5-HTT and clinical depression (Soc 207 2019, Unit 10). This paper proposes that there is a lack of evidence indicating this gene variant alone is responsible for causing depression. What seems more likely is that this gene’s role in causing depression is dependent on factors from the social environment. “ Alternatively, you could deal with this topic by presenting a proposition that you hope to prove correct: “ This paper proposes that depression is in at least some instances the result of gene-environment interaction.” Or, you could pose a question: “This paper will attempt to answer the following question: is clinical depression caused by genetic factors or is it the result of conditions in the social and biophysical environments?” 2. Early in the paper you should define the key concepts contained in, or suggested by, your argument. Sticking with the example presented above you might want to define what is meant by clinical depression. The concept geneticization and the issues it presents should probably be included. You might also wish to discuss the correlation causation fallacy in the paper, which would require you to define that concept. You should provide in-text citations and references in support of the definitions you provide. 3. Provide a background sentence or two, for the argument. Sticking with our depression gene example you may wish to describe Kerr and Shakespeare’s warning about geneticization – and the tendency for the media and some scientists to exaggerate genetic influences or commit

correlation-causation errors. Again you would need to define the concept “geneticization.” 4. A methodological statement of no more than a sentence or two should appear in which you state how you are going to support or defend your proposition. Where did you obtain the evidence you require? Since you will probably be relying on the course materials and certain articles from the academic literature for evidence, say so and provide citations for the sources you will be relying on the most. Sample methods statement: To make its case (or answer the question) the author relies on the unit notes and other content presented in Sociology 207. In addition, the paper presents and assesses information and ideas from three articles appearing in the science section of The Economist (The Economist 2018, 2015, 2014).

Body of the paper The next, and usually largest, portion of the essay is the body – the place where you make your case or argument in support of the original proposition.

Point by point argumentation We make our case by presenting reasons why our proposition is correct and provide evidence or scholarly support for each reason. Each of these presentations of evidence accompanied by explanation is an argument point. For a short essay you may base your case on just a few key points or perhaps even one point if it is convincing enough.

A synopsis of a fictional point by point argument is provided below (the citations have been made up). Note the points presented below are in a very abbreviated form – the points you make in your essay will probably require greater explanation and a more thorough presentation of evidence. 1. The first point The link between the 5-HTT gene and depression is described in Rutherford’s (2015: 177) book on child development. Rutherford cites two studies (Jones et al. 1998, Smith and Smith 2005) which identify a correlation between higher rates of clinical depression for the short variant

of gene 5-HTT than for the more common long version. This research shows that the chances of becoming depressed over the course of a lifetime are 10% more likely among people with the short version of 5-HTT.

Note that evidence in support of this point is provided in the form of citations for published research. You may find that the citation of course content suffices as support for the points you make.

Linking sentence It is important that you link the points you make to your initial proposition, showing how the point logically supports or refutes the proposition (or answers the question). Also useful,is linking each point you make to the one that follows. Often a sentence at the end of a paragraph foreshadowing the next topic/point to be discussed is adequate.

For example: However, simply because there is evidence that the likelihood of becoming depressed increases among people with the short version of 5-HTT does not mean we have proven causal relationships between either the short or long versions of the gene and depression. In proving causality we must consider whether factors besides 5-HTT are involved (Soc 207, 2019 Unit 6). That brings us to the next point, the role of childhood trauma.

2. The second point Rutherford (2015: 48) actually indicates that something else is involved in some cases of clinical depression – namely the occurrence of childhood trauma in combination with the short version of the gene…

Evidence in support of this point is provided via the citation. In completing this point other citations may be required.

Deal with plausible alternative arguments When dealing with controversial topics there are often multiple points of view, some of which are supported by powerful arguments and evidence. You strengthen your case by dealing with powerful counterarguments. In a

short essay this may require that you deal with only the most significant argument in opposition to your proposition. For the example we are using, one might point out that even people with the long version of 5-HTT can become clinically depressed (Rutherford 2015: 49). This suggests that factors other than possession of the short version are capable of causing depression. We need to ask further research questions such as whether those with the long version who became depressed have been exposed to childhood trauma.

Two common ways to deal with counterarguments are described below: 1) refute the argument – identify the counterargument and provide scholarly support or reasoning to explain why it is wrong. Perhaps new research has made this argument out-dated and no longer valid.

2) concede but qualify – this is the more common way to deal with alternative arguments. You might claim that the opposing argument may apply in many contexts (situations), but not the one you are dealing with. You might concede that the alternative point of view may be correct, but the case you are making is more likely to be correct. You might concede that both points of view allow us to deal with problems in different but nonetheless effective way. You might simply state that coming to a firm conclusion about which point of view is the best is beyond the scope of a brief undergraduate student essay.

Conclusion The first thing to do in your conclusion is remind the reader what the original proposition for the paper was. This is important. You can paraphrase the original proposition statement if you like or repeat it word for word. Second, actually state your conclusion. Was the proposition successfully defended or not? You are allowed to refute the proposition you began with, if the evidence does not support it. Alternatively, given the limitations of the assignment were you unable to come to a solid conclusion? This is okay as well. Third, very briefly summarize the argument points that led to your conclusion (a sentence or two may suffice).

Finally, you are allowed to make a brief evaluative statement (aka affective statement) at the end of the paper. This could be a comment on the strength of your conclusion and how it could be made stronger in a future effort. It could be a comment on the importance of the topic to you, a particular group or the community at large. It could be statemenst about how much you enjoyed, or were surprised by, what you learned, etc..

The evaluative statement is the only place where I recommend use of the first person “I” in the paper.

How many sources must you examine and cite? You must refer to at least three academic sources in the paper. You may find that three sources from the course content will suffice. The course unit notes count as a single source. Kerr and Shakespeare count as a single source. Any supplementary readings from the course, articles etc. each count as sources. Each of the readings, listening and viewing activities count as sources. However, for some topics you will be required to also refer to sources from outside the course.

Citations and references You are required to employ in-text citations in the body of your paper and a references page at the end of your paper using the APA style presented on the Purdue Owl Writing Lab website. The APA section of the writing lab shows you how to make proper in-text citations and their corresponding references https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ Your references section should include only those sources actually cited in the text of the paper.

Grading criteria for written work 25%

Structure/format and content: Effective use of the appropriate formats, structures, stylistic models and evidence. Effective use of academic

research materials and documentation (APA citations and references) in support of facts and ideas employed. The use and application of relevant course concepts. The provision of definitions for key concepts. Following assignment criteria; answering all assigned questions.

60%

Effective reasoning: A clearly stated research question or hypothesis/proposition. A well-structured rational argument; cogent, logical explanations of how the points of evidence presented apply to the problem at hand. An appropriate or useful research methodology. Effective use of documentable evidence. A logical flow between argument points including linking sentences and reference to the original purpose when appropriate. Consideration of reasonable alternative arguments when required. A properly structured and logically sound conclusion. Absence of fallacious arguments including overgeneralizations and other non-sequiturs. Absence of statements that unwittingly contradict previous statements.

15%

Effective writing: Concise, coherent, non-ambiguous writing with appropriate tone and style; excessive errors in grammar and spelling and/or an excessive number of incomprehensible or illogical sentences can result in a grade of 0/15.

Other important criteria * You can use a title page, but it is not required, just make sure your name and the title of your essay appear at the top of the first page.

* You do not need an abstract. * Double space the paper and use a 12 point font – Times New Roman is preferred. * The length of the paper is approximately five to eight pages not including the references page and title page. Four to seven pages for the main text

is permissible, provided the topic is effectively handled and any extra pages include useful content and are not redundant. * You must employ and cite at least three academic sources in your essay. The sources can include readings from the course as well as the course notes. More sources should make for a better paper. I recommend you use what you can from the course plus three outside academic sources such as journal articles or highly reputable periodicals such as The Guardian, The Economist, The Globe and Mail and The New York Times. I will accept articles from the phys.org website as academic sources. * Do not use point form lists unless you first clearly explain the purpose of the list and identify what it proposes to list in a grammatically correct sentence or introductory phrase. *When using tables, graphs and other images be sure to explain the purpose of the image, give the image a title or heading, and just below the image provide a source note explaining where the data or image was obtained. *You must use the proper APA in-text citation-reference system as presented on the Purdue Owl website https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ * Papers not submitted by the due date will receive a 25% late deduction regardless of the reasons the paper was late. Absolutely no papers will be accepted after the last day of classes for the semester.

Approved Topics Topic handling tips Many of the topics presented below will not be fully discussed until later in the course. However, you can easily read ahead in either the course notes or Kerr and Shakespeare to get yourself up to speed on a topic. Be sure to make use of course materials, ideas and evidence when useful in your paper and be sure to cite those references to the course.

The topics. 9. Examine one or more media reports dealing with the nature/nurture controversy, that includes exaggerated and/or false claims. It is not too difficult to find articles announcing research findings in support of

geneticization/gene-for claims. Critique the article making use of one or more of the rules of causality presented in this course when appropriate. Your proposition should refer to whether the claims made in the article are accurate, reasonable, or bogus.