The culmination of all your work in English 101 is the ability to argue responsibly and persuasively. This essay will demonstrate that you have learned about your controversy, that you can fairly and accurately summarize sources, that you can evaluate and use rhetorical strategies, and that you can address a reading audience in a persuasive way. Your purpose in this essay is to advocate for one specific position in your controversy; in other words: IT IS FINALLY TIME FOR YOU TO EXPRESS AND ARGUE YOUR OWN OPINION ON YOUR CHOSEN CONTROVERSY.
You’ll do this by situating yourself within the “map” of positions on your controversy that you constructed in Unit 3. Your goal for this essay is to produce an argument that advocates for a particular position using the persuasive strategies analyzed and studied throughout the semester. This essay will require all of the information you have gathered and all of the knowledge of rhetorical strategies that you have gained. After doing so much research on your controversy, you should by now have decided which position you agree with. In this essay, you will argue for your position using the evidence from your sources as well as your own reasons. This is your chance to finally say something about the controversy you have been studying, as well as to employ the rhetorical strategies that we have discussed. The objective is for you to consciously use these tools to create the best argument possible about your chosen controversy.
An effective Paper 4 draft will:
…feature an introductory paragraph that includes the student’s controversy question and any background information relevant to understanding their chosen controversy
…lay out a clear, argumentative thesis that states the student’s answer to their own controversy question and conforms to the ABCs of thesis statements
…present reasons and evidence that will appeal to a reasonable reading audience
…strategically and effectively incorporate AT LEAST FOUR credible sources… convincingly address an opposing argument by some combination of concession, refutation, and/or
rebuttal
…document all sources accurately (in-text and on a Works Cited page) according to MLA
style guidelines
…be written effectively and coherently, with very few errors in punctuation or grammar
Minimum Requirements:
Length: 1200 words or more (not counting Works Cited page)
Sources: At least four credible sources
Do not simply re-use any sources from Paper 3 unless there is a compelling reason to do so.
You should focus your energy on finding at least one reference source (e.g. encyclopedia article, topic overview from Opposing Viewpoints database, etc.) to provide background.
One of your sources must be an opinion article on your controversy that disagrees with your position so you can execute a concession, refutation, and rebuttal.
Formatting:
12 pt Times New Roman font (or other legible font, e.g. Arial, Calibri, etc.)
1-inch margins throughout document
Double-spacing throughout document
First page header in top left-hand corner of first page:
Your name
My name (Dr. O is fine)
Title and CRN of course
Deadline (Day/Month/Year format)
Standard header in right-hand side of header section of each page:
Student’s last name and appropriate page number
Important: please implement this in part of the essay I already chose the topic
Topic – Homelessness in USA
Controversy question – “What steps can the
US government take to reduce
homelessness among its citizens?”
Thesis – The US Congress should pass new
laws that are designed to treat the homeless
more humanely, including getting rid of
vagrancy laws and providing funding to the
states to improve their services for the
homeless.
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