The Persuasive Research Paper

Unit 6: Introduction

By now, you should have at least a rough draft of the Persuasive Research Paper. During this unit, you should be ensuring that source material is successfully integrated and revising your paper,

Unit 6: Reading

Though the content is very similar, the specific page numbers of your reading assignment may vary depending on your edition of the textbook

10th Edition Reading Assignment: The St. Martin's Guide to Writing, Chapter 27, pages 709-730 (focused on the MLA System of Documentation) and pages 731-738 (sample annotated research paper illustrating correct usage of MLA citations)

Unit 6: Assignment -- Persuasive Research Paper (Part II)

Finishing Your Persuasive Research Paper

In this unit, you will want to do two things:

1.) Make sure your sources are correctly cited, as explained in the lecture notes section of this unit.

2.) Revise your own work to the best possible quality.  I strongly recommend that in addition to reviewing your work yourself, you find yourself an outside reader—someone who will read your work and offer you suggestions for revisions. 

You have two options in choosing an outside reader:

* You can find someone on your own to read your work (ie. your spouse, one of your kids, a friend, a neighbor).

* You can sign up for the Peer Review Option by emailing me.  (I’ll set up an email list, so that you and 2-3 of your classmates can email each other your drafts and get feedback.)

*** REMINDER: Papers on the following topics will not be accepted:  * abortion * capital punishment * euthanasia I've already read more papers on these topics than anyone should in an entire lifetime, so I won't read anymore. I encourage you to be more creative in selecting your topic.  *** Please be sure to review the Submitting Your Assignment section of Unit #6 section for specific instructions on how you should turn in your work for grading. The Persuasive Research Paper is due at the end of Unit #6.

Unit 6: Lecture Notes

By now, you should have a complete rough draft.  But how do you recognize your sources, all the materials you are using that are not your own ideas or observations?

MLA Documentation: A Simplified Approach

MLA Documentation is simply a standardized method of citing your sources.  In general, when you use source material, you’ll want to do several things.

Within the text of your paper . . .

1.)  When you are using a source for the first time, introduce your source so that we can understand his or her credibility.  According to Joe Smith, a computer programmer at VacuTech, “Programming is difficult” (Smith 2).

2.)  When you quote the same source later in the paper (after he/she has been introduced), use a standard attribute tag.  Smith went on to say that “DOS is especially difficult for many beginning users” (Smith 3).

3.)  In addition to these informal methods of citation, you will need to use parenthetical citations whenever you are quoting a source directly and whenever you are using a source’s ideas, even if you are putting them in your own words.  Smith explained that there are three keys to good programming:  be patient, be practical, be persistent (Smith 2).

Additional Notes/Questions about In-Text Citations

*But what if the author of the article is not the person that I am quoting?  What if I'm quoting someone who the author quoted in her article?

If the person you are quoting is not the author, just do the same as in number 1 above, but when you get to the parenthetical citation use the author's name instead of the name of the person you are quoting.  For instance, if Lou Brown had written the article above, and merely quoted Joe Smith, you would do this: According to Joe Smith, a computer programmer at VacuTech, “Programming is difficult” (Brown 2).

*But what if the article has no author?

If the article has no author, just do the same as above, but use a keyword from the article title in the parenthetical citation.  For instance, if the article we quoted above had no author, but we knew the title was "Programming for Beginners," we would cite it like this: According to Joe Smith, a computer programmer at VacuTech, “Programming is difficult” ("Beginners" 2).

At the end of your paper . . .

At the end of your paper, you’ll need to include a Works Cited page, which will offer an extended reference for each of the sources you used in your paper.  Use the MLA guide in the assigned reading for this week to determine how to cite each of your individual sources.  PLEASE NOTE:  Though the sample essay "Love: The Right Chemistry" offers a great deal in terms of teaching us about strategy and structure, it does not include formal intext MLA citations or a final Works Cited page.  These are requirements for most academic research papers, including the Explaining a Concept Research Paper for this class.  For a good example of a paper that uses the MLA System of Documentation correctly, please be sure to carefully review the sample student essay in your textbook entitled "Educating Kids at Home," which is part of our assigned reading for this week.  This sample essay also includes very helpful annotated notes, identifying and explaining the ways the author has incorporated her citations.

For more information on MLA documentation on the web, you may find this OWL site helpful:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

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Once you have a complete draft with all of your citations in place, I recommend you review your draft using the following checklist. 

Reviewing Your Persuasive Research Paper – A Basic Checklist

	This paper opens with an effective “hook” to help engage the reader from the beginning.
	There is a clear persuasive thesis and the topic is appropriately specific.
	The paper maintains a persuasive purpose.
	This paper is appropriately developed (at least 1000-1500 words minimum).
	This paper employs a logical method of organization that is appropriate for the topic, and the main points are previewed at the beginning of the paper in order, giving readers a roadmap of what’s to come. Throughout the paper, paragraph breaks and transitions are used appropriately.
	At least four outside sources have been successfully integrated in this paper, and the sources are appropriate quality for an academic research paper.
	Intext parenthetical citations are used appropriately throughout the draft whenever source material is being included (whether directly quoted or paraphrased).
	Each source is introduced on first reference within the text of the paper, so that the reader understands the credibility of the material.
	The writer has avoided any instances of plagiarism, unintentional or otherwise.
	The intext parenthetical citations and the final Works Cited are in the proper MLA format.
	This paper is well-edited.

Unit 6: Example

Here is another student example of the persuasive research paper: 

 

Claire Follmer

English Comp II

20 June 2016

  

Lowering the Drinking Age

What makes twenty-one a significant number in America?  The age of twenty-one was legally established by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 when he signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act; however, many legal adults in America question the wisdom of setting the drinking age higher than the age set for voting in elections or fighting for your country. Many American parents are coming to the realization that by making alcohol illegal the act of drinking becomes more enticing and dangerous to young adults. In fact, there are multiple valid reasons for lowering the drinking age from twenty-one to eighteen. First, alcohol when seen as forbidden fruit contributes to binge drinking culture. Also, drinking at home helps teach responsibility regarding limitations and instills responsible drinking habits in young adults. Finally, lowering the drinking age and allowing for greater campus regulations and security will increase college campus safety.  

The act of binge drinking has become a strong temptation in American culture among underage adolescents. The social norm to take more risks in order to fit in now involves consuming alcohol illegally.  According to Jen Christensen, reporting for CNN, teenage brains seek to act out on impulse and are drawn towards high-risk situations with no consideration for the harsh consequences. Referred to as the “forbidden fruit theory,” the idea that teenagers are more likely to drink when it is an illegal activity is a strong argument against the current law. Opponents of the twenty-one drinking age understand that the law makes “drinking even more appealing to teens, whose brains naturally seek out risk more than adult brains do -- without considering what theconsequences might be” (Christensen). In fact, as Karis Rogerson explains, the illegality of underage drinking makes the act of drinking even more tempting for rebellious teenagers.  The new standard of acceptance has brought forth the idea, in the words of one teenager, that, “getting drunk is a high form of entertainment, possibly the highest” (Rogerson). 

Instead, lowering the drinking age to eighteen will promote responsible drinking habits by allowing young adults to model after their parents’ behavior. Starting responsible drinking habits at home and with parents can take the “excitement” out of drinking. Teens can learn their limits and the effects of alcohol in a safe, monitored environment. It is important for all adolescents to learn how to appropriately consume alcohol, as it is a part of American culture. The fact of the matter is that teenagers by the age of eighteen have been exposed to and consumed alcohol regardless of the law, thus "the increase in purchase age appears to have been not only ineffective but actually counter-productive” (Christensen). Instead of trying to focus on ending the consumption of alcohol in young adults, the focus should be on learning healthy and safe drinking habits. The current law is not going to stop American teenagers from drinking; rather, many would argue that under age drinking increases when it is forbidden.

Supporters of keeping the current drinking age at twenty-one often rely on the argument that the physical and mental effects of alcohol damage young brains and therefore the proper drinking age is twenty-one years. However, the American Psychological Association clearly weakens this argument when it states, “drawing a single line between adolescence and adulthood under the law is at odds with developmental science” (Christensen). According to Wil Fulton, psychiatrists and scientists are in agreement that there is no magical physical difference between the brain of an eighteen year old and the brain of a twenty-one year old.  It is true that a brain of a fifteen year old would process and respond to the effects of alcohol in a much different way than an adult brain, but is also true that with regards to the brain there is no difference between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one (Fulton).  By lowering the drinking age to eighteen, young adult brains would actually have a better chance of learning safe and responsible behaviors rather than a twenty-one year old brain developing the bad habits such as binge drinking and indulging in high-risk activity. 

The strongest argument in favor of the current law of the drinking age of twenty-one is the undeniable fact that drunk driving accidents in America were significantly reduced after the drinking age was raised to twenty-one. A higher drinking age led to a drop in fatal accidents with young drivers a “percentage of 61% in 1982 dropped to 31% in 1995” (Christensen). However the drop in fatal drunk driving accidents do not prove that the acts of illegal drinking stopped. The fall of fatalities also reflects the end to blood borders, “stretches of highway known to bring liquored-up kids back to their own, less-alcohol-friendly states” (Fulton). The drop in drunk driving accidents among adolescents can be attributed to some degree to the difference in drinking ages between states. Furthermore, it seems a more logical response to high fatality rates in young drivers with or without the involvement of alcohol to institute graduated licenses and stricter drunk driving laws. Teenagers are less likely to get behind a wheel without a license or risk loosing a license than they are to consume alcohol illegally at a party. 

Finally, the safety issues surrounding the drinking age of twenty-one can no longer be ignored or overridden by a statistic published almost forty years ago. The safety and physical wellbeing of young adults is severely compromised by the popularity of binge drinking and the growing problems with rape and sexual harassment on college campuses. As Jeffrey Tucker of Newsweek explains, college administrators have recently spoken out against the twenty-one drinking age and signed the Amethyst Initiative. The Amethyst Initiative, which was signed by 135 colleges and states, states: “the goal is not to encourage more drinking but to recognize the unreality of the current law, and how it has led to perverse consequences on campus” (Tucker). Schools across the country have recognized the futility of the law and instead believe that they will be much better able to promote safe and responsible drinking habits for legal consumers of alcohol. Educators across the country agree that the current law encourages binge drinking, and students often flaunt illegal drinking as a form of rebellion. One recent study conducted by Ruth C. Engs, Professor at the Indiana University School of Public Health, found the following:

Those under the age of 21 are more likely to be heavy -- sometimes called "binge" -- drinkers (consuming over 5 drinks at least once a week). For example, 22% of all students under 21 compared to 18% over 21 years of age are heavy drinkers. Among drinkers only, 32% of under-age compared to 24% of legal age are heavy drinkers. (Engs 2) 

As the National Institute of Health explains, many universities believe that strong measures to promote safe and responsible drinking will go a long way towards reducing the deaths, injuries, health problems, assaults and sexual abuse and suicide attempts related to alcohol (College Drinking). Every year there are nearly 100, 000 students who are victims of sexual abuse or rape in alcohol related attacks on college campuses (College Drinking). It is time to allow educators to address alcohol related dangers on college campuses by legalizing the behavior that already occurs, so that it can be properly addressed and regulated.  

In order to reduce binge drinking and promote safe drinking habits among American youth, the drinking age should be lowered from eighteen to twenty-one years old. Science has proven that there is no physical or mental difference between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one, and forbidding alcohol consumption in young adults only increases binge drinking and endangers physical and mental wellbeing when used irresponsibly. Lowering the drinking age will enable parents and educators to promote safe drinking habits and reduce the safety risks of illegal drinking. Clearly, twenty-one is an arbitrary number that has a negative impact on America’s youth culture. The time has come to allow adults at the age of eighteen to be responsible for their own lifestyle choices. 

  

Works Cited

Christensen, Jen. "21: Science's Limit When It Comes to the Drinking Age." CNN. Cable News Network, 15 July 2014. Web. 20 June 2016. 

"College Drinking." National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. National Institute of Health, n.d. Web. 20 June 2016.

Engs, Ruth C. "Why the Drinking Age Should Be Lowered: An Opinion Based upon Research." Indiana University Bloomington IUScholarWorks. Dr. Ruth Clifford Engs, n.d. Web. 13 June 2016.

Fulton, Wil. "Is It Time to Lower the Drinking Age to 18?" Thrillest. Thrillest Media Group, 29 Mar. 2016. Web. 13 June 2016.

Rogerson, Karis. "Viewpoint: Why America Should Lower the Legal Drinking Age." USA TODAY COLLEGE. N.p., 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 20 June 2016. 

Tucker, Jeffrey A. "The Drinking Age Should Be Lowered Fast." Newsweek. N.p., 26 July 2015.  Web. 20 June 2016.

Follmer Claire Persuasive.docx

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You can also find a sample sample research paper illustrating correct usage of MLA citations in your textbook, and this draft is also annotated with special notes, offering helpful insight and suggestions related to source integration.  This essay is located on the following pages (determined by your textbook edition):

10th Edition  = pages 731-738 

9th Edition  = pages 787-794 

Older Editions:

8th Edition = pages 772-779  7th Edition = pages 782-790