Claim/Reason/Evidence (Proposal) for argumentative essay

  

(This assignment will also serve as the proposal.)

1) Create a potential argumentative thesis statement for Essay and write it down, labeling it as your claim. 

2) For this claim, write down 4 or more possible "Reasons" or "secondary-claims"--statements that support your claim, but will need to be defended. If you use a "secondary claim", you will need a "reason" following it.

3) For each "reason" write down what "evidence" or support you will need to prove the reason and therefore support the claim. You may consider more than 1 reason.

Following these steps may serve as an outline for paragraphs within your essay.

An example of this assignment might go as such:

Claim/Thesis: We should move away from fossil fuels in cars.

Reason: Fossil fuels are limited.

Evidence: Studies how long fossil fuel will last and how long it takes to create new fossil fuel.

Secondary-Claim: We have a moral obligation to protect our planet because it's all we have.

Reason: Fossil fuels are damaging to the environment.

Evidence: Studies of pollution caused by fossil fuels, global warming. 

Reason: Alternatives exist for cars already

Evidence: Hybrids and electric cars--show stats concerning their efficiency, affordability, and cleanliness compared to gasoline engines.

Prompt 1 

Sports Related Controversy

Take a major sport related issue, past or present, and find a position within it argue for or against. For example, you may look at gender issues in high school football. You might look at drug use within baseball and how it’s addressed. You might look at the many controversies that have surrounded the Olympics, such as the recycling of the facilities of past Olympic villages. The amount college athletes are paid has received a lot of attention as well, along with various player treatment concerns across almost all sports. 

Avoid focusing purely on a single individual within a sport. You might choose to write about how a sport handles misconduct in its players, but you should not focus on a single players misconduct. The person may be used as an example, but they should not be the focus. 

In addition, avoid writing about controversies that have only occurred in the last three years, as it is unlikely that you will find enough scholarly articles for your topic.

You may write on any example I gave, or a controversy of your own choosing. Your goal is to argue a position within the sports related controversy and sway the reader to your side or convince them to take some action. 

For this paper, you must cite six sources, with at least half being scholarly—that is, books or peer-reviewed journals written by experts for experts. In addition to citing these sources, you may also perform primary research. In other words, you may conduct your own surveys, observations, and so on.

This is a formal essay, so avoid first and second person.

Prompt 2 

Future Concerns

Consider dilemmas or conflicts that will likely be occur within the coming century. One's that are not problematic now, or are not severe enough to be addressed now, but will likely create controversy down the road due to technological, economic, or social growth. With this dilemma, make a claim and defend it--sway the reader to your way of thinking or convince them to take some action.

For example, if and when space colonization comes to pass, how should the world decide what country owns other planets and resources? What are the answers to the ethical dilemmas that may arise from issues such as cloning and artificial intelligence? What should be done in response to the rising issues of overpopulation, global warming, waning natural resources like gasoline? 

This is a research essay. Even if the problem is hypothetical, there will likely be many resources discussing the same or similar problems. You must cite six sources, with at least half being scholarly—that is books or peer-reviewed journals written by experts for experts. In addition to citing these sources, you may also perform primary research. In other words, you may conduct your own surveys, observations, and so on.

Prompt 3 

Choose Your Own Topic:

You may choose your own topic for essay 4, the argumentative research essay. Topics of your own choosing must be approved via the proposal (either in email or via the proposal assignment). Your goal is to take a stance and sway a reader towards your point of view, or convince them to do something. 

The following topics I am setting as off limits: Current Politics, Abortion, Marijuana legalization, gun control. I am not trying to censor, I've simply read too many papers on some of these, and others I read about all day whether I like to or not. 

When choosing a topic, it's best to be specific. Broad topics are often weak topics, and will actually be more difficult to write about. 

For this paper, you must cite six sources, with at least half being scholarly—that is, books or peer-reviewed journals written by experts for experts. In addition to citing these sources, you may also perform primary research. In other words, you may conduct your own surveys, observations, and so on.