Second Essay Assignment
For your final essay, you will choose from a select topic of social, political, or current event interest (i.e., Mass Shootings, Immigration and Refugees, or Violence Against Women), and write a critical, argumentative essay defending a thesis on that topic, in which you give a critical analysis of a particular solution to that issue. Note: while It may be a topic that is of personal interest to you, or it may be a topic that you’re exploring in another course. submitting the same paper to two courses without permission violates GSU’s academic honor code. Please contact both instructors before submitting the same or similar paper twice.
In Forum 10, you identified an article that defends some particular solution to the problem you identified. Your essay will critically analyze the argument, including the premises of the argument, any assumptions of the argument, the strength of the logic of the argument, and any fallacies that may be committed. The thesis you choose should reflect direct engagement with the particular argument, and not the general topic.
Your paper should include:
A short introductory paragraph, with a clear thesis statement (e.g., I shall argue that Smith’s solution to Mass Shootings is incorrect because XXX, YYY, and ZZZ…).
Three supporting paragraphs, roughly corresponding to the rules of ‘stasis’ described in the text.
A meaningful discussion of, and including a reply to, at least four high-quality external resources, that relate to your topic.
No direct quotations. It is never necessary to directly quote any author. When it is important to rely on someone else’s ideas, simply summarize the position which he/she is defending. It is, however, necessary to cite all authors whose ideas you reference. Thus, if you begin a sentence with, e.g., “According to Socrates…”, you should end that sentence with a citation. Essays that include “direct quotations” will not receive a grade higher than a D. (Read that sentence again, to be sure you understand it).
A clear and complete bibliography, formatted with MLA or APA format. Reminder: while we did prepare an annotated bibliography as part of the research into your final project, MLA and APA do not include an annotated bibliography.
Please submit just one document. This should include the required cover page, your essay, and your bibliography. Please combine all of these elements into one document before you submit. It is not necessary to submit two or three separate files.
Criteria for Evaluation:
Your paper will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
Papers must demonstrate an understanding of the arguments being discussed, reflected by a thesis statement that engages directly with the author’s argument for the solution to the problem that you identified in your article. For example, you’re not presenting your own solution to immigration problems. You’re giving a critical analysis of some author’s solution to immigration problems, by either giving a defense, or presenting a criticism of it. If your central thesis includes a solution to immigration, gun violence, or violence against women, then you’ve misunderstood the assignment.
Papers must demonstrate a mastery of the relevant concepts from the course. By now you know that one of the most valuable parts of our textbook is the various checklists for evaluating various parts of arguments. The best paper will make extensive use of, and reference to, those checklists. You can find a list of most of them by scrolling through our discussion forum.
Don’t worry about getting the ‘right’ answer. Rather, concentrate on the quality of reasoning used in your evaluation.
Your grade will reflect the degree to which these rules and general requirements have been observed.
Papers with frequent grammatical or spelling errors, or which otherwise do not reflect good quality academic writing, will be returned with no grade. If you don’t know the difference between `their’ and `there’, or the correct use of the semicolon, make an appointment with the writing studio before you submit your paper. http://writingstudio.gsu.edu/
All papers should be double spaced, between 600-750 words, and submitted as a doc or docx file. Include your name and a brief title at the top of page one, and your last name as a header or footer on every page. Include a bibliography or references section. Format according to APA or MLA citation style.
Last Completed Projects
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