Need help organizing ideas
WRITING ASSIGNMENT SHEET:
Argumentation Research Essay
Writing Topics
You may choose to write your argumentation essay on the of the topics listed below or a variation on one of those
· Should social media activity be grounds for losing one’s job? (You should consider both the employer’s and the employees’ perspectives.
· Should students take online classes?
· Should parents deny their children and teens access to social media platforms considering cyberbullying and resulting problems stemming from it?
· Should high schools do away with tackling in football? (You could choose to write on a variation on this topic to include college or even NFL.)
· Should parents allow their children to play football or any other physically combative sport?
· Should public schools reduce the amount of homework teachers give students?
· Should public schools reduce the number of classes students are required to take each semester so that they can focus more attention on fewer classes?
· Should all parents encourage their students to attend a university? (Consider other viable education options like technical education.)
· Should students take a break between high school and college? (Another term for taking a break between high school and college is ‘gap year’; however, some people need more time to work, mature, and decide what interests and skills they have or want to obtain before going to college, so you do not have to think necessarily of a one-year break between high school and college. The break could be two to ten years.)
· Should companies collect and store information about their customers?
· Should all U.S. public schools (Kindergarten through 12th grade) require students to take consumer education classes between eighth and twelfth grades to learn about how to handle their money, including how to save money for short-term and long-term goals and for retirement, how to build money with investments, and how to avoid major credit pitfalls like purchasing new vehicles and maxing out credit cards?
· Should public schools be required to reinstate government (or civics) classes in high school so these future voters or future non-voters understand government structure and their rights and responsibilities as U.S. citizens living in a republic?
I borrowed and adapted some topics from the website
200 Best Argumentative Essay Topics
. Not every topic is clearly argumentative or even college-level worthy; however, you are welcomed to read through those topics or perform a Google search for a topic and email or message me to get my approval for your topic.
Source Requirements
For your final essay, you must use the full-text, peer-reviewed journal articles you retrieved during your Galileo research for your annotated bibliography to defend your stance in your argumentation essay. Periodicals are not acceptable.
You will need to use at least
three sources from your annotated bibliography, two of which should support your stance and one, the opposition.
Composition Requirements
· Your essay must have at least five well-developed paragraphs although most will require more.
· You must compose your essay in Word and submit it as a Word document only. Uploading any your document in any other file format other than Word will result in a grade of 0.
· It must have between 1000 – 1200 words. (Points taken off for too few and too many words.)
· The introduction must have an attention-getting hook and effectively introduce your thesis statement, the
LAST
sentence of the introduction.
· Your thesis should have the verb phrase ‘should’ or ‘should not’ or ‘must’ or ‘must not.’ (
Example: The college should establish an on-campus daycare because it would provide a real-world learning lab for its Early Childhood Education (ECE) students, offer both day and evening students and faculty a convenient childcare option, and provide the ECE program and the college with an additional source of revenue.
This example thesis shows the topic, the author’s stance, and the points the author will use to argue for an on- campus daycare.)
· Each body paragraph must have an easily identifiable topic sentence (generally the first or second sentence of the body paragraph), substantial major and minor details, and transitional words or phrases indicative of the rhetorical strategy you have chosen.
· (Remember; each rhetorical strategy has its own set of common transitional words or phrases.) While you must indicate in your heading which rhetorical strategy you chose, I should have no problem determining the rhetorical strategy as I read.
· Argumentation essays require an easily identifiable anticipation and refutation.
· Remember: the
anticipation shows that you understand what the opposition thinks about the topic.
· Remember: the
refutation
shows the weaknesses of the opposition’s argument.
· Example:
While many administrators do not want to cover the costs of additional liability insurance required to cover an on-campus daycare,
they should consider the increased number of students who would attend and graduate if the college offered on-campus childcare program. In fact, “According to a 2014 study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, … only 33 percent of students with children
[obtain] a degree or certificate within six years” (White 23). Since our college hosts a large number of non-traditional students who often already balance a job and children, an on-campus daycare could pave the way for them to finally obtain their degree.
· You must format your essay using MLA style.
· Be sure to use one-inch margins all the way around (Word default), true double spacing throughout your entire document, Times New Roman, 12-point font size, and an inserted page number, not header, preceded by your last name and one space.
· Your essay must be submitted as a Word document attachment. Any other submission will receive a grade of zero.
· Please see the sample MLA document or the MLA websites listed in Blackboard if you do not know how to format an MLA style essay.
· This assignment requires you to cite several sources; therefore, you must use quotation marks around the cited material and include an in-text citation following the quoted or paraphrased material.
· The in-text citation must correspond to a full source citation included on a work(s) cited page.
· The sources on your works cited page must be organized is alphabetical order based on the first author’s last name.
A Word about Plagiarism
o
If you submit someone else’s words or change only a few words or copy someone else’s ideas without providing a parenthetical citation (also referred to as in-text citation) and quotation marks where applicable and a corresponding work(s) cited page entry, you will receive – at the least – a zero for your plagiarism, and I must report your plagiarism to our Dean of Students.
