Explain and examine a current social problem and offer solutions.

This is a thesis-driven, argument essay.
Students have 2 prompt choices:
a) examine a visionary issue through the lens of the future, or
b)Explain and examine a current social problem and offer solutions.
For this visual essay, students will combine at least 20 powerful visual images, salient research from at least four academic sources, and 1,500 words of written text to create an innovative visual essay in a Word document that includes a accurate works cited page in MLA format.
Choice #1 – A Visual Argument Essay prompt about a Future Proposal
Write a 1500 word (minimum) Future/Proposal Essay to using a future innovation to address a current problem. The problem(s) that you will address with a future innovation(s) can be local, regional, national, or global. For your proposal for a future innovation, you can really think outside the box and be creative.
Include at least 4 academic sources (direct quotes, paraphrases and summaries) with correct in text citations and a 100% perfect Works Cited page.
Design the proposal with attention to s t y l e in order to persuade your audience to accept your proposal with at least 20 images (with source information under each one) in a Word document/pdf.
The essay should have sub-headings and can include additional data with graphs/tables as needed to give emphasis and support for your ideas.
Please review the proposal information in Chapter 14 to better prepare this aspect of your assignment. Pay attention to your refutation section to avoid logical fallacies.
Sample Outline for Essay Choice #1 – Future Proposal (with sub-headings for each section)
Part 1 – Title your proposal and in your introduction (which may be more than one paragraph) summarize the details of the problem. End with a thesis that presents your proposal (an innovation in the future) in a claim of policy.
Part 2 – Provide a detailed history of the problem your future proposal addresses, giving your audience research and background on the issue.
Part 3 – Present your future proposal as an innovative idea set in the future that will be your solution to a future problem (perhaps a problem that we can already see developing today, for example global warming, energy crisis, lack of clean water, poverty and income inequality, nuclear war and/or the threat of war, biological weapons, pandemics, use or misuse of technology and AI, human selfishness, nationalism and facism, hunger and famine, gender equality, etc.) in detail and explain how it: addresses the problem, is a better fix than other future solutions, and would work with details about implementation. You need to think creatively about money, logistics, manpower, workability, environmental constraints, social conditions, constraints of tradition, etc. This should take several paragraphs.
Part 4 – Address the opposing views. What problems might others see in your proposal? Address the opposing views and explain why your solution(s) is/are the best solution(s) to the problem.
Part 5 – Conclude your essay by summarizing your main points and offering a call to action in the future.
Part 6 – Works cited page with all of the sources that you used
Part 7 – Appendix A – Cost Analysis and Benefits Section (THIS IS OPTIONAL) This is a separate section that you can add if you want at the end of the essay before the Works Cited page to enhance your argument. Please review the proposal information in Chapter 14 to better prepare this aspect of your assignment.
***Please note that th 1500 word minimum is for the ESSAY and WORKS CITED PAGE ONLY, so if you add the optional Cost Analysis and Benefits section to enhance your argument, you should actually have a TOTAL of at least 2,000 words.
Grading Rubric for Choice #1
5% – clear, concise claim of policy with concise future proposal about the future problem you selected
25% – well selected and presented photos that help to support your main arguments using rhetorical devices effectively
50% – supporting text (1500 words) that matches the photos and supports the argument sans grammar/sentence errors
5% – a clear section with a counterargument/opposing views that serves to rebut or refute aspects of the proposal to show multiple perspectives
15% – an accurate works cited page and in text citations using MLA format for a minimum of 4 academic sources (not including the photos)
Choice #2 – A Visual Argument Essay about a Current Social Problem
This option for your 1,500 word Visual Argument Essay focuses on a current social problem in the US (e.g. pollution, global warming, homelessness, racism, gay rights, drug addiction, poverty, domestic violence, rights for the disabled, etc.) that your are interested in, possibly related to your major.
Your essay should describe the problem and then offer solutions using a clear claim of policy as your thesis.
This essay should be submitted as a Word document or pdf with the 20 powerful images (with source information under each photo) included and interspersed throughout the text.
The images should be strategically placed and viewed as a functional and important component to the argument you are making.
You need a minimum of 1500 words for this essay (including your Works Cited page with your minimum of four academic sources).
Use the outline below to guide the content and organization Sample Visual Argument Essay focusing on a “current social problem” outline
Part 1 a. Intro paragraph + hook + thesis: b. Present your issue/problem, and then c. Give a brief story or quote or statistic as a hook and then d. Present the thesis “claim of policy” – here is an example: “To better address the problems of ________X_______ and _________Y________, the federal government—OR— people in the US should—OR—must do (solutions) _________1_________, ________2_______, and ________3________”
Part 2 a. Background to the problem(s) b. Causes of the problem(s) c. Effects of the problem(s)
Part 3 a. Solutions to the problem(s) 1. Researched and proven solutions 2. Experimental and new solutions 3. Your own ideas about solutions b. Counterargument to rebut or refute a solution from other perspectives c. Your conclusions about the problem and the solutions
Part 4 a. Works Cited page with your 4 academic sources

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