essay article

Third Writing Assignment: Persuasive Essay 

 

 

· An important skill for writers of research papers is the ability to find connections among the sources they read.  Thus, we will turn our attention to working with several primary and secondary sources in an attempt to find the common strands of thought that tie them together.  After identifying those strands, you will bring them together in a coherent essay that argues a position. The formal name for this writing assignment is "argument synthesis," but you may think of it as a research paper with an argument writing purpose.

· The research question for this third writing assignment is "Social Networking: What Are the Consequences of Becoming an Online Society?"  Your first responsibility as a researcher is to narrow this broad topic to a manageable subject.  Read all of the assigned essays in chapter 21 to get an overview of the issues involved with this topic.  After reading the essays, you should choose an angle that interests you (you may want to glance at some suggested research topics on page 535 in Elements of Argument). Your purpose is to write an argument essay related to an issue identified in the readings.

Essay Requirements

· Length: 3 to 5 pages (750 – 1250 words)

· One or more summaries of outside sources

· Two or more paraphrased sentences from outside sources

· Two or more direct quotations from outside sources

· Parenthetical citations (a.k.a., in-text citations). These citations will accompany quotations from the essays in Elements of Argument.

· Works Cited page

· No contractions

· No second person pronouns

· Use of three outside sources (Only one of these sources should come from the Internet; one source should come from chapter 21 in Elements of an Argument (an essay, not the chapter introduction). The other source should come from the college library's online databases (i.e., ProQuest Direct, Opposing Viewpoints . . .) or catalog.

· Explicit thesis statement (claim)—you may choose the type: fact, value, or policy.

· Three points (evidence)

· Introduction and Conclusion

· Well-developed body paragraphs

· Interesting title

· MLA format

An essay without complete documentation of source material will automatically receive a failing grade.