Argumentative Research Essay

(20%)

Due Date:

MONDAY/WEDNESDAY CLASS: 4/22/09

TUESDAY/THURSDAY CLASS: 4/23/09

NO PHYSICAL COPY OF THIS ESSAY IS DUE, BUT RATHER ONE ELECTRONIC COPY TO TURNITIN.COM, WHICH MUST BE EITHER A DOC OR DOCX FILE, SO YOU MUST USE THE “FILE UPLOAD” METHOD ON TURNITIN.COM, TEN (10) MINUTES OR MORE PRIOR TO BEGINNING OF CLASS ON OR BEFORE THE DUE DATE.

General Guidelines:

• Page count: 7 full pages minimum to 8 full pages maximum, plus a works cited page or pages.
• In terms of what type of final grade this paper can earn, you should read the grading criteria (below) carefully, and before turning in your paper, perform a final proofread against the grading criteria.
• It is important for you to realize that this assignment must be written in the same prose style required from the Connections Essay forward, for some weeks ago we shifted our emphasis from personal writing to academic prose. We will spend time in class devoted to the particulars of academic prose, so papers that use a personal writing prose style will receive an unsatisfactory grade at best.
• Make certain that the essay has a thesis.
• Use MLA Style Guidelines.
• Use the formatting guidelines established during class lectures.
• Remember that you are to write an argumentative paper, which means that you should choose an issue associated with the assigned topic, take a stance on the issue, frame your thesis early, and write a persuasive paper about it.
• Use a document header, as you should on all assignments, regardless of their length.
• This assignment is an argumentative essay, so it must have a strong thesis, which means that you must take a stand on the issue in your thesis. A thesis is a debatable claim.
• Remember to give your essay a two part title, separated by a colon, neither part of which should read Argumentative Research Paper, or anything to that effect.

Prompt:

• This essay also comes from the research done in your Annotated Bibliography.
• You are writing about the same topic as your Annotated Bibliography.
• This is not a cut and paste version of any of your previous course work presented in essay form. This is a completely new project for which you have weeks to draft and revise, and it should demonstrate that you have given much thought to engaging your sources differently than you did in previous writings. It would be a serious error in judgment to use any of the writing from previous course work, or to slightly paraphrase or reword any of your previous writings. Failure to negotiate these aspects of this project successfully could result in a grade as low as zero on this essay.
• You must cite a minimum of 6 sources, 4 of which must have been included in your Annotated Bibliography. This means that each one of the 6 sources quoted in this paper must be cited with an in-text citation and a corresponding works cited page citation.
• You may use additional sources beyond the 6 if you wish.
• Devise your own thesis and argument.

Grading Criteria for your Prose Style and for Formatting (papers will also be graded on all other guidelines addressed in this prompt):

• Use a document header, as you should for all assignments.
• Use a two-part title separated by a colon, neither part of which should contain the name of the assignment.
• The formatting guidelines on the syllabus/class lectures must be observed.
• The paper should meet the page count requirements, and all other requirements of this prompt and the syllabus.
• Writing must be free—or predominantly free—of typos, awkward/unclear phrasing, and sentence level errors.
• Do not use contractions.
• Do not use first person pronouns such as “I” “me” “my.”
• Do not use second person pronouns such as “you” “your” “yours.”
• Do not engage in personal stories, meaning stories of your own life experiences, or the experiences of friends, family, and so on.
• Do not begin sentences with conjunctions: but, and, or, nor, for, so, yet.
• Do not pose any questions in any assignments. This means, quite literally, not to use questions. Make statements instead.
• Do not quote the bible or make allusions to religion in any way.
• Avoid any form of direct address to the reader, such as "think about the fact that . . ."
• Avoid too casual of a prose style, such as sentences that begin with words like "well, sure, now, yes, no."
• Do not use the phrase “a lot,” which can usually be replaced with one of the following words: many, most, much.

Another important point:

Remember that MLA Style Guidelines are a critically important element of this course, and if you negotiate them at an exceedingly low skill level this paper will receive an unsatisfactory grade at best.

How to turn in this essay: a paper copy is due during class on the due date. Additionally, an electronic copy is due, ten (10) minutes or more prior to the beginning of class on or before the due date, after which the paper will lose 10% for one class period late, per late work policies on the course syllabus; it must be turned in to TurnItIn.com as a MS Word doc or docx file. Use the TurnItIn.com “file upload” method on the submit screen. You will be instructed during class about how to create a TurnItIn.com account, and how to turn in your work. Your essays will be considered late until both the paper copy and the electronic copies are turned in. All other rules for late work, as delineated in section six of the course syllabus, also apply. Moreover, your electronic turn-in must be an exact duplicate of the paper copy. In other words, no further corrections or revisions will be accepted. Also, if the electronic and paper copies do not match up it will have a negative impact on the assignment’s grade.

Due Date:

MONDAY/WEDNESDAY CLASS: 4/22/09

TUESDAY/THURSDAY CLASS: 4/23/09

NO PHYSICAL COPY OF THIS ESSAY IS DUE, BUT RATHER ONE ELECTRONIC COPY TO TURNITIN.COM, WHICH MUST BE EITHER A DOC OR DOCX FILE, SO YOU MUST USE THE “FILE UPLOAD” METHOD ON TURNITIN.COM, TEN (10) MINUTES OR MORE PRIOR TO BEGINNING OF CLASS ON OR BEFORE THE DUE DATE.