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Southern New Hampshire University
Module 2-5 Assignment: Writing Notes
Taylor Heger
Prof. K. Saldivar
English Composition II
09/11/22
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1. Describe the argument to be addressed in your persuasive essay. Explain how the
argument relates to your major, the major you are considering pursuing, or your field of
work.
A. Make certain your topic is debatable. Are you able to see at least two perspectives
to this argument?
For my persuasive essay, the topic I have chosen to discuss is the treatment of addiction
within the criminal justice system. The foundation of this argument is why implementing drug
and/or alcohol treatment is a better alternative over incarcerating these individuals. This topic
pertains to my criminal justice degree as I would like to become a licensed chemical dependency
counselor. Many people would agree that rehabilitation is a more favorable line of defense, while
others believe that addicts and alcoholics are irredeemable, unable to change, and might as well
be put in jails or prisons.
2. Identify the potential challenges you may encounter in supporting your argument with a
specific audience.
A. First, state the audience you will be writing to.
B. Then address the challenges of supporting your argument with this audience.
My argument will be written for those that would prefer those with SUD’s to be jailed,
and do not see reason to try and rehabilitate drug offenders. Challenges that I may run into while
arguing my side is that no matter how adequate of a point I make, no matter how much factual
evidence I present to support my claim, there will still be people with opposing viewpoints.
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3. Establish a goal that you hope to accomplish with this essay. What will this essay need to
successfully meet your goal?
While I do not necessarily want to persuade my audience to feel the same way that I do, a
goal I hope to accomplish with my essay is to identify the issue and then outline rationale to
support my argument. Furthermore, I want my audience to feel more open-minded after
reading my essay, leaving them with a better understanding on the topic from a different
perspective. For me to successfully reach my goal of doing this I will need to diminish any
implicit biases I may have about the conflicting prospect, ensuring that I am being objective
rather than subjective when making my stance.
4. Determine three key points that will help support your argument.
Key Word #1
Drug abuse rehabilitation
Key Word #2
Prevention
Key Word #3
Effects on the mind and body as a result of substance abuse
5. Provide a brief description of at least two resources that support the key points of your
argument.
A. First, list the authors and titles of each resource. These resources may be books or
articles you identified in the previous argument.
B. Then provide a brief description of how each resource may reinforce your argument.
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Resource #1
Title of Article: “Opioid Crisis”
Author: Bara Vaida
Supporting Evidence: Within the article, the author discusses the ongoing opioid epidemic, and
how it has worsened since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She goes on further to say
that President Biden is ensuing a number of proposals to combat the opioid epidemic, including
looking into criminal justice revisions and transferring more people to rehab centers rather than
the penitentiary.
Resource #2
Title of Article: “Immediate effects of interoceptive awareness training through Mindful
Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT) for women in substance use disorder treatment.”
Author(s): Cynthia Price, Sara Parent, Elaine A. Thompson, Kenneth Pike, Carole Hooven,
Sheila E. Crowell & Sunny C. Cheng
Supporting Evidence: The article goes into detail about the benefits of Mindful Awareness
Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT) on those suffering with SUD’s. The basis of the article is how
MABT is utilized by cultivating interoceptive consciousness abilities and correlated knowledge
for self-care.
6. Explain how you plan to effectively integrate evidence in the essay.
To effectively integrate evidence into my essay, I plan on first articulating my stance.
Secondly, I will present the evidence I have collected to support my claim. Lastly, I will go into
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further detail on why my evidence supports my argument in a clear and concise manner in a way
that my audience will understand.
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References
Vaida, B. (2021, August 6). Opioid crisis. CQ researcher, 31, 1-58. http://library.cqpress.com/
Price, C. J., Parent, S., Thompson, E. A., Pike, K., Hooven, C., Crowell, S. E., & Cheng, S. C.
(2019). Immediate effects of interoceptive awareness training through Mindful
Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT) for women in substance use disorder
treatment. Substance Abuse, 40(1), 102–115.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1080/08897077.2018.1488335
