Having practiced your skills at rhetorical analysis, now is your chance to develop an original argument of your own.
Having practiced your skills at rhetorical analysis, now is your chance to develop an original argument of your own. For this, you will need to identify an issue amid various points of view and then frame and sustain an argument about it that not only includes the analysis and exposition of information, but also establishes what is at stake. You have to practice making a claim. Moreover, you must provide good reasons and relevant evidence to support your position, an exercise that will be abetted by considering potential counterarguments.
As you go about your research, you will have to be able to identify a writer’s line of argument and then evaluate that writer’s claim in light of the evidence provided. In addition to this, you must also assess the implications of the argument. Only then can you determine how you will respond to the source. Will you use someone else’s argument to support your own; will you add to someone’s argument; or will you argue against a conclusion that someone has reached?
All of these skills will be utilized in the construction of your next and final paper, a meaningful and sophisticated research argument essay.
Research is an ongoing process in every field of study, as professors, professionals, and other public experts explore various topics and engage in conversations on issues related to those topics. So to be able to grapple with research, understand the research process, and perform research of your own is extremely important. It is through research that innovation and progress are made.
Details:
For this research project, you will select a topic related to your major or a career interest and find an issue within that area that is being researched so that you can find authoritative sources on it. The research topic you select should be one that you are using for this class and not for another class, and it should be one that you feel comfortable discussing with class members. We will be working on this project for the rest of the semester, and it is important that you select a topic you are interested in and that you stay on schedule with the project.
With this assignment, we will systematically make our way through the research process. After you select an issue, you will do preliminary research to gain an overall understanding of the problem (assessing professional and perhaps popular viewpoints on your given topic) and will develop a research question to guide your efforts.
Next, determine how you will answer the question from step two. What claim do you want to make and what is at stake in your claim? This will become your working thesis, “working” because your thesis will likely change in slight ways as you continue to research. Then you need to ask yourself whether your claim is obvious, or whether you actually have a thesis that you can argue? If there is nothing controversial about your claim (you can’t imagine anyone arguing against you), then it doesn’t need to be proven.
Then, as always, consider your audience, what they may or may not know and the alternative arguments that could be made about the issue you’ve selected. You will have to engage potential counterarguments.
Then, you will move to more focused research and will need to find at least six authoritative sources on your topic, including peer-reviewed journal articles, scholarly books, government documents, specialized magazine articles, and/or interviews with experts. You are working towards a researched argument essay, so you need to develop a claim about your topic that you can support with credible evidence.
Once you have begun to put together a useful bibliography, you will construct a formal proposal, making the case for why your topic matters and requires research (Who cares? So what?) and what you think (your thesis). You will need to show that you have started to develop good reasons with supporting evidence for your position. Along with this proposal, you will submit an annotated bibliography of at least your six sources above, briefly summarizing them and stating how they are relevant to your argument. See that assignment prompt for more details. Due Oct. 27.
Later, you will be required to bring your introduction along with an outline of your paper to class. I will check to make sure this has been completed. Due Nov. 17.
Your final step is to finish drafting your paper. Due Dec. 6.
Final paper due Dec. 8.
Specifications: the paper should be 6-8 pages in length, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins in 12-point Times New Roman or a similar font (e.g., Calibri, Garamond). The paper must adhere to MLA format. It must also incorporate a minimum of 6 sources. Of these, at least 1 must be a book or book chapter, and at least 3 must be peer-reviewedjournal articles. All sources must be credible and must be properly cited, both parenthetically in the text of the paper and within the list of works cited.
N.B. All quotations must be introduced and then commented upon, linking them to your argument. If quotations are not introduced and commented upon, they are NOT evidence.
I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have on this assignment in person or via Zoom or email, and I encourage you to visit the Writing Center at any point during the writing process. Remember that you have online writing help available to you as well through ThinkingStorm. You also have a Grammarly account through the college. Use it!
Your grade for this assignment will be determined based on your ability to develop a convincing thesis supported by good reasons and evidence with minimal grammatical and stylistic errors. For more on grading criteria, see the rubric below.
Grading Rubric:
-Assignment Requirements: Have you followed the instructions on the prompt? Does your paper meet the required specifications? ?/5 points
-Thesis: Do you clearly state, in your introduction, the main point that you are going to argue? ?/20 points
-Organization:
Does the introduction provide adequate set-up for the thesis? Does it do so for the paper as a whole? ?/5 points
Does each body paragraph have a clear topic sentence that serves as a supporting claim for the thesis? Is each body paragraph unified around the idea contained in the supporting claim? ?/15 points
Do you effectively transition between ideas? ?/5 points
Does the conclusion restate the main ideas of the paper without being redundant? Does it go beyond this and consider the implications of the ideas raised? ?/5 points
-Development & Evidence:
Do you support your argument with evidence (specific details), particularly in the form of quotations, paraphrase, or, very occasionally, summary? ?/10 points
Do you engage the views of at least six different sources, quoting from and correctly citing at least one book/book chapter and at least three peer-reviewed journal articles? Are all of your sources credible? ?/10 points
Do you incorporate your quotations by introducing them and then providing commentary (implementing the quote sandwich) as well as giving a parenthetical citation, following MLA format? ?/10 points
Do you have a works cited page, and does it follow MLA format? ?/5 points
-Voice & Language: Do you utilize standard English grammar, correct spelling and punctuation, and are your word choices appropriate? ?/10 points
Paper Format: MLA
Answer preview to Having practiced your skills at rhetorical analysis, now is your chance to develop an original argument of your own.
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