Major Assignment: Argument Essay Handout
Overview:
As the culminating assignment for this class, you will create your own Academic Argument Essay. Because the primary purpose of most academic arguments is to inquire into an issue, problem, question, event, or phenomenon, the writer presents a position that reflects his or her effort to understand the topic better.
Why It Matters
This assignment is important because it not only demonstrates your ability to develop and support an argument, it also provides you with a process for all types of writing in your future.
How Youll Use This:
Further develop skills to locate, evaluate, and engage sources including citations
Demonstrate skills with the writing process
Strengthen paragraph development with incorporating support
Apply genre and audience awareness through the rhetorical situation in writing
Instructions:
The Academic Argument Essay is a 3-5 page essay that takes a stand on an issue and uses research to back up its main claim.
Identify an issue or controversy you feel strongly about. Ideally, it should be something that matters in your lifefor example, a controversy over a proposal to eliminate your major at your college, or restrictions on the use of social media for certain kinds of activities on campus. Write an argument in which you take a position on this issue. You will need to use research in your argument. Write your argument in a way that would be appropriate for both an academic audience and a wider audience. For example, if you write about a controversy about eliminating your major at your college, you might intend your argument for readers in an academic field such as education or philosophy as well as for a wider audience interested in educational issues.
7 Essential Writing Steps:
1. Pick an effective topic. Identify an issue or controversy you feel strongly about. It should be something that matters to you personally. It can be something that is important to you from an academic standpoint or perhaps is important to your field. Avoid the “popular” arguments. See a list of topics to avoid under Resources.
2. Identify the rhetorical situation. Identify all the elements of the rhetorical situation. This means you should know who your audience is, what your purpose is, why you are writing on this topic and what kind of biases will your audience and the opposition have. Review the lesson on the rhetorical situation in 01: An Introduction to College Writing/Learn about the 7 Essential Steps to Effective Writing.
3. Develop an argumentative claim. Write a thesis that sets up your argument. Review Thesis Statements in 01: An Introduction to College Writing/Learn about the 7 Essential Steps to Effective Writing.
4. Organize your ideas. Organize your essay using an appropriate argument structure, which you can learn about in 06: Addressing the Opposing View/Learn about Argument Structure.
5. Draft paragraphs that meet the demands of the assignment. Fully develop each paragraph making sure to incorporate evidence from secondary sources. You will learn about how to incorporate your research in 06: Addressing the Opposing View/Learn about Integrating In-Text and End-of-Text Citations.
6. Design your document. Your final submission should follow the MLA Format Guide, which you can download under Resources.
7. Revise and edit your writing. Spend time revising (making “big” changes) and editing (correcting typos, errors, etc.) before final submission. You can review some revising and editing tips from O7: Presenting your Argument/ Self-Review.
Assignment Requirements
Your Academic Argument Essay should have the following components to earn a passing grade:
Your essay should be in a typed format (double-spaced, 12 inch font) and should be 3-5 full pages of text. To earn a passing grade, the minimum length is 3 full pages. Anything less will earn a failing grade.
Your essay should address an argument.
Your essay should have a clear thesis.
Your essay should have coherent and unified paragraphs that support the main claim.
Your essay should be organized using an appropriate argumentative structure.
Your essay should use at least two sources.
Your essay should use MLA for all in-text and end-of-text citations.
Your essay should use an MLA works cited page.
Your story should be free from grammatical errors.
Grading Rubric: Argument Essay
The essay meets the length requirements? YES/NO
The essay is an argument? YES/NO
The essay has a clear thesis? YES/NO
The essay uses a minimum of two sources? YES/NO
The essay is fully developed with unified and coherent paragraphs? YES/NO
The essay follows MLA guidelines for format, in-text citations, and works cited? YES/NO
The essay is free from errors? YES/NO
Examples of Argument Essays are shared in Blackboard.
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