Posted: September 13th, 2017

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*Items marked with an * are considered “basic requirements” for this assignment, and failure to meet those basic requirements will reduce the assignment grade per the “25% Rule” in the course syllabus.

Overview: This assignment an opportunity to become an expert on a topic that you find fascinating, and one that is currently being debated in your major or minor discipline. After you’ve explored a number of topics and written your sketch, you should arrive at a claim about your topic (thesis), conduct your research, back up your claim with reasons (points), state the grounds on which you base your reasons (evidence from sources), and rebut opposing viewpoints.

Purpose:  The purpose of this essay is to write an effective research-based argumentative essay on a topic that’s appropriate for an academic paper and that’s relevant to your major or minor discipline. In writing your academic argumentative essay, you will learn how to correctly summarize, paraphrase, and quote various sources and to correctly document your sources in MLA format.

*Audience Analysis Statement:  You will be writing to an academic audience that is either skeptical or holds opposing viewpoints. The audience should be familiar with your major discipline (think about faculty in your major department). An audience analysis statement of 100-150 words in which you define your audience in detail is required on page 1 of the essay. Choose your audience; define it; describe your targeted readers in detail. Don’t try to “discover” who all the possible readers for your essay are.

Argumentative Structure: Choose one of the following

A Position Paper: In a position argument you make a claim about a debatable issue. You define the issue, take a clear position, make a convincing argument, and acknowledge opposing views.

A Proposal Paper: In a proposal argument you propose a course of action in response to a recognizable problem. The proposal says what can be done to improve the situation or change it altogether. You define the problem, acknowledge possible solutions propose your solution or solutions, and explain why your solution is the most feasible.

Format:  MLA

Length: 1000 or more words, excluding the Works Cited page

*Research & Annotated Bibliography:
•    Submit an annotated bibliography of at least 4 sources

•    Use at least 4 scholarly sources
•    Quote at least twice from your source(s)
•    At least one of your sources must have been published in a periodical (scholarly journal, magazine, newspaper, government documents, etc.), preferably a scholarly journal.
•    General encyclopedias, dictionaries, websites, magazine articles, or other general reference works are NOT considered scholarly sources for this paper (although these sources may be used in addition to the required 4 scholarly sources).
•    Create a correctly formatted works cited page to accompany each full draft.
•    Submit (along with the all full drafts) photocopies of every source you use with the quoted or paraphrased text highlighted.

Additional Guidelines for this essay:

•    Begin with two attempts at invention strategies, one of which must be an outline.
•    Complete an initial sketch before conducting any research on your topic. Use this sketch to put down on paper everything you know about the topic, and use the sketch to explore possible positions/solutions as well as counterarguments for opposing points of view.

Annotated Bibliography for Essay 3

Overview/Purpose
To identify, summarize, and discuss the relevance of FOUR scholarly sources that will assist you in researching and drafting essay 3.

Content of Summaries
Summarize the source in 5-7 sentences and in 3-5 sentences discuss the relevance of the source. Answer these questions in the summary/evaluation: What are the major points of the source? What’s the main argument? What important evidence is used? Also, evaluate the source by asking these questions: Why is it useful to your research for this essay? What information specifically from the source will prove useful, and how? Remember, minimal use of first person (I, me, etc.) is acceptable in the “evaluation” section of the entry. The summary should be framed this way: “This article describes how X” and “This article will provide information on Y” and “This book chapter provides a contradictory point of view that will balance my paper.”

Format
Begin with an MLA style heading; double-spacing throughout (no more, no less); last name/page number in upper-right corner; one-inch margins all around. See Bboard->Style & Documentation->Diana Hacker for help.

Length
Each summary/evaluation must be 150-200 words, excluding the works cited citation.

Acceptable Research
Scholarly journal articles, scholarly book chapters, and scholarly sources accessed from a website are acceptable. Either print or electronic research may be used; if you choose a book for this assignment, you should summarize no more than one chapter of the book, and not the entire book. Scholarly journal articles, with very few exceptions, must be at least ten pages long or the equivalent length of web text.

Submission of Photocopies of Research
Complete photocopies or printouts of articles or book chapters (including the title pages of books) must be submitted with the assignment. Any text that you quote from or paraphrase must be highlighted with a highlighter pen (not underlined) on the photocopy.

Use of Your Own Words
The annotated bibliography entry must be in your own words. If you must quote, do so sparingly, and follow the rules for quoting on the Purdue OWL at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/ . Penalties for plagiarism, outlined in the writing assignment sheet and on the course syllabus, apply to this assignment.