writing an essay

If you choose to complete the following assignment, you may use the supplemental essay to replace a grade on one of the first three essays in the course. 

To begin the process, identify a controversial or debatable issue.   State the issue in the form of a “should” question.   Here is an example of a should question: “Should the legal driving age be raised to 18?”    You must get my approval on the “should” question before continuing with the assignment.   

After getting my approval,  find an article from one of our MCC databases that presents the writer’s views on this issue and print it out.     You are required to find the article using the MCC library homepage.   The most useful databases are CQ Researcher and Ebscohost.    Please read the article, highlighting or underlining important details or passages in the text.       

 

To begin the essay, identify the author and title of the article found in the library.   Briefly describe the author’s overall position or thesis.  Summarize the main arguments of the article—highlighting any interesting facts, examples, statistics used by the author.    At the end of the summary, explain whether you agree or disagree with the writer’s position.      (This will serve as the introduction for the paper ).   Make a list of four reasons to explain your position—to explain why you agree or disagree (or both) with the writer of the article.   In the body of the essay, you will develop each reason in a separate paragraph. 

The final essay must be at least six paragraphs—an introduction with thesis, four body paragraphs, and a conclusion.     Each body paragraph presents a different reason explaining why you agree or disagree with the author of the essay chosen from a database.     To support your ideas, you must cite from the article—using MLA parenthetical citations—at least four times in the essay.     Your conclusion may restate your thesis and review your four main points.   You may also discuss what you believe will happen in the future regarding this issue.    Will this topic continue to be relevant?    The final copy, final works cited page, and print out of the article are due no later than Thursday, December 3, 2015.