Argumentative essay on Organ donation

IMPORTANT DUE DATES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Rough drafts – Essay AND infographic due Friday, April 18th at 5:30pm

Final project – Infographic with in-class presentation due Wednesday, April 30th at 9:00am

Final project – Essay due on Wednesday, May 7th at 1:30pm

Where do I turn in the projects?

All assignments must be turned in through TRACS in the appropriate assignments tab. I will not accept emailed attachments for these projects.

Do I come to class on Wednesday, May 7th for the final exam?

You will not have to be physically present for the final exam day on Wednesday, May 7th. You are only required to submit your final essay to TRACS by 1:30pm on that day.

Your essay must be reviewed by three individuals before it is due.

1) Ms. Nielson or Ren – you must physically meet with one of us.

2) The Writing Center – don’t wait till the last moment to get an appointment. Go schedule an appointment now. ( You must have documentation from The Writing Center.

3) A fellow Texas State student. You must have documentation that they reviewed it.

RESEARCHED ARGUMENT ESSAY

For this essay and infographic, you will write a well-researched argument that takes a position on a controversial topic that you or the instructor has chosen to write about. Academic arguments are found in every discipline and in the workplace, if you are an engineer, a business person, a scientist or another professional, you will be called upon to write proposals, bids, ads, grants and other documents that make an argument in order to raise funds, win a contract, get equipment for your laboratory, etc.

Thesis Statement:

Your thesis statement should be centered on an argument and be clear, specific and focused. You will want to argue a point that is supportable but also is not something that everyone already agrees with.

You will want to be aware of the stakeholders in the argument. What is a stakeholder in any controversy? A stakeholder can be identified as a group of people who stands to gain or profit from

support of their perspective, even if it is only in terms of status or achieving success in the debate. In your research, you would need to find articles (both scholarly and mainstream press) that support or

argue for or against your viewpoint and build a framework in your essay that not only supports your

view but also examines the counter arguments brought by other stakeholders. Ideally, your argument

will be sophisticated, in that it does not just see two sides in black and white, but sees multiple

opinions (or counter arguments), while firmly supporting your own viewpoint.

Support or Evidence:

You will need to back up each claim you make within the argument. You will use your sources to

build credibility and gain authority to speak as a writer on a particular topic. Your aim is to persuade

your audience, thus you must use credible sources to back up everything you say. You can use

ethical, emotional, or logical appeals. You will want to avoid logical fallacies within the argument. You

will use both direct quotes, paraphrases, and will cite all your sources correctly in the text as well as

prepare a References page in APA style to accompany the essay.

Sources:

Your sources should be credible. You must cite at least 6 sources, 3-4 of which should come from

scholarly/peer-reviewed journals( http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/search/advanced?sid=fae65867-49b4-468a-8b44-efac02605578%40sessionmgr114&vid=2&hid=109 ) and the remaining 2-3 should come from respected news sources

such as the New York Times. You should show that you are able to evaluate credibility in the selection of your sources. Selected information should always be relevant to the central argument as well as quoted or paraphrased correctly to support each claim. They should also be well integrated into developed paragraphs and not just be dropped in but contextualized.

What Are the Formatting Requirements of the Paper and Infographic?

You will write six or more pages and include your Cover page and References page, written in APA style, including a mix of scholarly and mainstream sources. The paper should be in Times New Roman, 12-point font with 1” margins and include an interesting and descriptive title.