argument essay

RESEARCHED ARGUMENT ESSAY ASSIGNMENT (150 Points)

For this essay, you will write a well-researched argument that takes a position on a controversial topic that you have 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 should 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 (example: everyone should have access to clean drinking water).

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 (ethos) 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’ll want to avoid logical fallacies within the argument. You may use both direct quotes, paraphrases and will cite all your sources correctly in the text as well as prepare a Works Cited (bibliography) page to accompany the essay. This page will not count towards your total required amount of pages.

Sources:

Your sources should be credible. You must cite at least 4 sources, 2-3 of which should come from scholarly/peer-reviewed journals. In addition you may also use 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.”

What Are the Formatting Requirements of the Paper?

You will write 3-4 pages and include your Works Cited page as page 5, written in MLA format (https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/). The paper should be in Times New

Roman, 12-point font with 1” margins and include an interesting and descriptive title. Because this is a presentation of an argument and not a research paper, you may not include illustrations unless they ae absolutely imperative to the understanding of the content. Do not forget to appropriately label your paper with your name, my name, the assignment and date. Paper must be saved as a .doc or .docx file and uploaded to blackboard no later than 5pm on 14 April, 2012.