argument assigment

Essay due: Thursday July 10 during class. Because this is the last assignment, late essays will

not be accepted.

Length: 1700-1800 words. Provide an accurate word count at the end of the essay (the word

count does not include the References page)

Documentation style: APA. Use a correct APA-style cover sheet but do not give an abstract.

Sources: Find six sources from Academic Search Complete as well as one source from the textbook. Use and cite all seven sources in the body of your essay

Points: 30 points (out of 100 points for the semester)

Write an argumentative essay of 1700-1800 words (double-spaced) based on one of the topics from the second set of readings listed on the syllabus: Roberts and Engardio (528), Powell (535), Whitty (459), Corwin (472), Schulman (446), Gregory (451), Ruskin and Schor (487), Sandel (492), Kilbourne (256), Johnson (423), Keen (425), Jarvis (430), and Vargas (432). This essay is not a critique of the essay. Rather, you will use one of the above articles simply as one of your seven required sources for this assignment. How you use the source is up to you: it may be in the section on opposing points of view, or it may be used for one of your supporting arguments.

Besides using the essay from the textbook you will need to find six more sources from Academic Search Complete. You may use more sources if necessary. You will have a minimum of seven entries on the References page. You must use and cite all seven sources in your essay. You are required to paraphrase every source in your essay at least once. You may quote but do so sparingly. Synthesize your sources – use at least two sources for each support argument.

Use APA-style documentation throughout – be sure to use a proper APA-style title page (you do not need an abstract). Do not use subheadings.

Follow the guidelines provided in “Chapter 5: Writing an Argument,” as well as the additional information given in “Chapter 6: Writing a Synthesis” and “Chapter 7: Writing a Research Paper.” Look at the “Structure of an Argument” at the bottom of page 84 for an overview of the necessary parts of an argument essay: 1. The introduction establishes the context or background information of the problem and ends with your thesis statement. 2. The second paragraph of the essay examines opposing arguments, refutes them, and makes some concessions. Be sure to provide sources here. 3. The next paragraphs develop your thesis. Develop at least three supporting arguments. Put the second most important argument first, the weakest in the middle, and the strongest argument last. Begin each support argument with a clear topic sentence that expresses your opinion in your own words (do not start with a quotation). Then use at least two sources as support for each of your three supporting arguments. End each paragraph with your final analysis of the topic – do not end a paragraph with a quote. 4. Give an interesting conclusion that provides new examples, statistics, or solutions to the problem.

Other considerations:

Do not use contractions (don’t, isn’t). Spell out all words (do not, is not, would not, etc.)

Do not use slang expressions (I kind of liked it, it was sort of interesting).

Put in the word “that” to denote a dependent clause: I believe she understands the topic = I believe that she understands the topic.

Use lead-in phrases that work grammatically with your quote: B. Smith (2012) argues that “nothing is better than reality television” (p. 23).

Watch out for comma splices, fragments, and awkward phrasing.

Be sure that you are not plagiarizing when you paraphrase sources. Review pages 153-156 in your textbook. You will receive no credit for an essay that has been heavily plagiarized.

Come to Conferences for extra help.

Go to the Writing Lab for extra help.