writing homework

English 1A – Argument Essays Guidelines – FA2020

WRITE ABOUT Hybrid and Electric Cars – which is better?

(This essay is about the same topic I have used for the Compare and Contrast and/ Analysis Essay. I posted the files for the Compare and Contrast and/ Analysis Essay as an attachment for you to read it so you can complete this Argument Essay.)

THE BASICS for the Argument Essay

· This is an 8-page essay proving your argument/thesis on the same topic you used for the Compare and Contrast and/or Analysis Essay. Remember, we are building an argument essay by using the articles, research, and foundations from the first two essays by synthesizing the data you used, gathering more information that will back your thesis statement, and creating a solid argument. (If you want a new topic, please talk to me first. This may require more time and research.)

· If you are using the same topic from your previous essays, you will need to use the three articles you already analyzed along with 1 – 3 other articles from additional research. For this essay you need between 4-6 sources to support your argument and one to two articles that refutes your argument. Three of these resources need to be from a scholarly source.

· Find and use one to two rebuttals (articles with opposing arguments).

(A good argument essay not only has evidence to support your thesis, it also contains information that argues against your thesis. This shows your reader that you are aware of what ‘the other’ is saying and are prepared to defend your argument.)

· You will be analyzing your researched materials and deciding which ones offer the strongest backing for your thesis statement.

· Use quotes, summaries, and paraphrases from all the articles you are using.

· Make sure you use MLA citations after all the quotes, summaries, and paraphrases within your paper and include a Works Cited page.

· If you are using APA style, make sure you are using it according to our textbook, with in-text citations and a Reference page.

· Analyze your resources as closely as you did for the analysis essay.

· Avoid passive statements unless appropriate. Your argument needs to be active in order to engage the reader.

· Use third person point of view only.

· If you are using the same topic from the first two essays, you may copy and paste from those essays any information that builds and adds to your argument but try to find a better way of saying it.

· Use quotes, examples, paraphrases, charts, images, and/or graphs; this is okay and encouraged. Don’t forget to use MLA or APA to site these things.

· Present your argument then state the counterargument. Make sure your argument is stronger than the counterargument.

You may include several different points in one rhetorical argument, but generally, you don’t have to include all the possible areas in one essay. You might use an analysis of a work to explain how it fits a certain ideology or rhetorical mode. Whatever your point is, that becomes your thesis, and remember, it’s a thesis about the argument you are trying to prove.

ESSAY STRUCTURE: Start with the header followed by a title that suggests what the paper is about. Do not title your paper Argument Essay. Your first paragraph is your introduction. Your thesis statement can go in this paragraph or the second. Do not wait until halfway through the essay to plant your thesis. Lines need to be double spaced, use size 12 font, Sanskrit Text, Calibri Light, Courier New, Cambria, or Times New Roman. Use a hanging indent on the Works Cited/Reference page. You may use subtitles and footnotes. Check the MLA/APA style chapters to learn how to do that according to the style you are using.

· Find support for your viewpoint.

· Include a brief summary of the articles, and if needed, introduce the authors. This lends credibility to those writers.

· Uses examples, quotes, images, and/or charts.

· Use any of the terms from our textbook.

· Keep your voice distinct.

· Try modeling your essay after one of the types of argument essays: Classical, Toulmin, Rogerian.

Here’s how you can lose points. 

· Using less than the minimum number of articles required – 5 points

· Writing less than the minimum required pages – 5 points per absent required page count. 

· Missing in-text MLA citation references – 10 points

· Missing MLA Works Cited page – 10 points

· Inappropriate title (titling your essay with the ‘type’ of paper,) – 5 points

· Numerous typos, misspellings, grammatical errors (that results in a major distraction from the topic)– 1-20 points

(If there are numerous errors, you will be asked to work on it, make corrections, and resubmit it.)

· Incorrectly formatted text or Works Cited page – 5-20 points

· Failure to use third person point of view exclusively – 10 points

· Failure to follow the guidelines – 40 points

· Plagiarism – 100 points

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