One of the most famous types of college papers is the researched argument. You may be familiar with other terms for this assignment: term paper, documented essay, argumentative essay, etc. Regardless of the official name, this type of essay requires the writer to enter into an established argument and to choose one side based on academic research.
From this point on you will be working towards a researched argument paper. In the research process, you will choose a suitable topic, refine it into a research question, and use a search strategy to find and evaluate sources and take notes. You will then integrate sources into your research paper by quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing to support one side of the argument. You will also create a visual element that supplements your thesis. The next few assignments that will be assigned are linked to the research paper. So, even when you are working on other assignments for this class, you will also be working on your researched argument paper, narrowing down your topic and examining sources.
Assignment: Write an essay that argues a position on an issue that has two distinct sides. Examine the different sides of the argument: objections, questions, and opposing viewpoints. Then state your own position clearly. The objective of the essay is to convince those who disagree with you that they must take seriously the arguments you raise. Furthermore, you will illustrate parts of your argument with a visual (graph, illustration, chart, etc.) within your textual document.
I am allowing you to choose your topic within certain limits. You will be working with this topic for several weeks; so, pick something in which you are interested. Although you will be talking about an established issue, stay away from over-worked issues like the drinking age abortion, AIDs, college pregnancy, or euthanasia. You’ll be trying to avoid a topic that takes an ethical position, or a position arguing whether something is right or wrong.
Can’t think of a topic? Try to stay at the local or state level to create a workable topic, something that appeals to your personal interests. Be creative. Possible topics include: Should condoms be administered to high school students? Should public school students be required to wear uniforms? Should students be required to learn a second language that is not spoken at home? Should reality television be regulated? Should women 18 yrs and younger be required to get permission from their parents to have an abortion? (Note that this last example does not take an ethical position on abortion itself, but instead would focus on the legality, strengths, and weaknesses of requiring the girls to get permission.) These are just a few suggestions and you are not forced to use these. If you are stuck, look through our textbook, A Time Traveler’s Guide to Rhetoric, and review the essays you liked. Why did you like these essays? What is the larger argument being made? Can you apply this argument to a current issue in your community, state or country at large? If you can, then this might be your topic!
Requirements:
The Essay: 8-10 pages (2400-3000 words). The format of the paper should follow MLA style which can be found in your handbook. The paper must have at least four cited sources. Your sources must include two academic books, one academic article/essay, and one academic internet source. Failure to include these four specific sources in your essay will result in a significant grade deduction.
Audience and Purpose:
You are writing this paper to state your position on an issue. You want to do so concisely to convince those who disagree with you to seriously consider your arguments and ultimately to persuade them to agree with your position. Thus, before you begin writing, you will need to define your audience to determine the best approach and language to use to persuade them to accept your position.
Prewriting Activities: You will have several prewriting activities. First, I want you to come up with 5 potential topics. On each topic, you will need to write down everything you know about the subject and the things you would like to know more about. You may do minor research, looking up your topic in encyclopedic books or on the internet. Decide which of these topics has the most potential for serving as the topic of an 8-10 page paper. You need to complete this assignment on your own before moving into the next activity. The second activity will be a proposal paper which will be geared towards your research topic. You will be proposing the reason I should allow you to research your issue. I encourage you to use other prewriting techniques we have discussed this semester.
Proposal Assignment:
After you have read and seriously thought and considered the ideas in that text, it is time to write a 400 word proposal. Formal proposals call for you to identify an issue as a problem and present a potential solution to the problem. For this course, the proposal is a prewriting activity for the researched argument essay. Thus, the problem you will need to identify is what you don’t know about your research topic, and how you plan on discovering a solution to that problem through research.
In 400 words, propose why you should research a certain topic for your argumentative essay addressing the following issues:
1. Significance of the topic: What do you already know about the history of the topic, the topic’s affects, etc.
2. Sides of the argument: identify the different sides of the argument, and where you expect to position yourself in this argument. What reasons does each side provide as support for their position?
3. Explain your position on the argument. Be sure to explain the logic of your choice rather than the emotions that drove you to accept this position. Remember that you need to provide valid, logical reasons rather than rely simply on the rightness or wrongness of an issue.
4. The type of research you plan to complete: What specific journals, books, etc. will you consult? Do not simply state you will search the internet and/or the library. I want specific titles of magazines, newspapers, journals, books, and websites and why you plan to consult these specific references. You should also include the key terms you will use while searching various search engines.
With this assignment, you are planning your research strategy and argument. This is worth 5% of your overall paper grade. If you wish to change your topic at a later date, that’s fine, but you will be required to write another proposal, and contact me before submitting it. Your proposal will be graded on your address of each of the four issues above and the essay’s structural strategies we have covered so far this semester. You need to submit your proposal essay as an attachment labeled Lastname_first initialProposal.doc (MS Word file) such as Smith_JProposal.doc.
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You will also be participating in Discussion Board workshops for your research paper as well, so make sure to manage your time wisely in the coming days.
Research: Once you have narrowed your topic to a workable issue, you will begin your research. Find as much information as you can but remember to keep in mind the different sides of the argument. Keep in mind that you have specific source requirements (2 academic books, 1 academic article/essay, 1 academic website). By the time you get to this stage we will have discussed the different resources for information. I expect you to use them.
Also, please review the guidelines for plagiarism in your writing handbook. All information taken from another source either summarized or verbatim must be properly documented using MLA. The penalties for plagiarism can be found in the student handbook and on the syllabus. If you have any questions about potential plagiarism, please see me.
Annotated Bibliography: Prior to turning in your essay, you will submit an annotated bibliography. This assignment will allow me to make sure you completed some research, that you have at least the required sources and that you are properly citing your materials. For the bibliography, you cite the source and add a brief summary (4-5 sentences) of each source used within your paper. Here is a sample entry from an argument about child labor in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem “Cry of the Children.”
Horrell, Sara and Jane Humphries. “Child Labour and British Industrialization.” A Thing of the Past? Child Labour in Britain in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, edited by Michael Lavalette, St. Martin’s, 1999, pp. 76-100.
Horrell and Humphries present an exploration of child labor in Britain (i.e. Scotland, North Ireland, England, and Wales) during the Industrial Revolution. The authors provide useful statistics on the dynamics of child labor in relation to male-dominated households, female-dominated households, and the contributions of child laborer income to each. Also, they feature a section on legislation specific to child labor issues, which is needed to create my argument that Elizabeth Barrett Browning was commenting on contemporary issues in her poem.
Focus and organization: Remember to define the issue, assert the position clearly, argue directly for the position, and counter argue. The organization of the argument will be discussed in depth later on.
Visual Component: One final requirement of this assignment is the inclusion of a visual component (blame Texas legislators for this requirement) of your own design. On the last page of your final draft of this assignment, you will include a one page document that mirrors the main parts of your argument. It must contain text, images, and an ordered design. The component can be as simple as a table, chart or graph of your own design with an explanation, but it must be your creation, not something you simply pulled from another source (simply taking a graph, chart or table from another source is plagiarism). This component will count for a part of your overall assignment grade and will be assessed according to the inclusion of a visual element, text (significant explanation of the visual element), and an ordered design.
Grading: Please see the rubric in the course for the specific grading of this essay.
Submission guidelines: You must submit a draft of your essay to the appropriate drop box on the Assignments page. After you have received feedback from your peers, you need to then submit your final paper for grading. At the end of your final paper, please attach a brief commentary explaining how you have improved upon your original draft (100 words minimum). If you use Track Changes, your comments and corrections to the original draft will appear in a different color.
DO NOT FEEL OVERWHELMED AT THIS TIME! This paper is not to be completed in a few days’ time. We will take it in stages. Plan ahead. Do not wait until the last minute to do this paper. Deadlines will be set and I expect you to meet them. In doing so, you will pace yourself and have ample time to produce an extraordinary position paper.
For any questions, you can consult both A Time Traveler’s Guide to Rhetoric and Handbook for Writers. For further questions, please feel free to ask me.
One final note: please print out this document and use it as a check list to make sure you have met all requirements for this assignment.
Checklist:
8-10 pages
MLA format of page
o Correct page header with page number
o Correct spacing
o Correct margins
o Correct Assignment Heading (your name, instructor’s name, class, and date)
o Correct font and cpi (Times New Roman, 12 cpi) Visual component
Use of four required sources
o Academic book #1
o Academic book #2
o Academic article/essay
o Academic website
In text citations for use of all source information Parts of the argument
o Intro with thesis
o Background on issue
o Three claims of your position
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o Refutation/counter of opposition
o Conclusion with a call to action Works Cited page using MLA citations
o Uses correct MLA citations (check title punctuation of sources)
o Citations are in alphabetical order
o No numbering or bulleting