Writing Project #5: Extended Argument

200 Points

The objective of this assignment is to construct an extended argument that (ideally) builds on the work you’ve done for Writing Project #3 (informational argument) and Writing Project # 4 (proposal and annotated bibliography).

The informational argument asked you to examine the various perspectives and arguments about some issue or problem.  Writing Project #5 asks you to now pick a side and argue for that position.  It also is critical to take “the other sides” into account (and refute them), as that will make your own argument more effective. In other words, you are still required to acknowledge what the opposing sides are saying about the topic. While you are now allowed to choose a side to argue, you are still not allowed to use “I” in your paper.

In an argumentative paper, you need to

• Make a specific claim with your thesis about what you are arguing should happen concerning the topic.
• Choose a specific structure for your argument.
• Find convincing reasons to support your claim.
• Adequately inform your audience about the issue you are analyzing.
• Do research in order to justify your reasons, read/evaluate the material critically, and provide sufficient evidence for each reason.
• Analyze the opposing views and deal with them honestly and fairly.

Your essay should include the following parts:

• Introduction: this is where you tell your readers what the essay is about. This is also where you need to make sure that you capture your readers’ attention, provide background information, describe existing arguments and counterarguments, etc. For this paper, your introduction need not be limited to a single paragraph.
  • Thesis: this is where you establish your debatable claim. Make sure that your claim is very specific. Your thesis should include a brief outline of your whole paper and may appear somewhere within the first two pages of the essay, towards the end of your introduction.

• Body:

• Each paragraph in the body of your paper needs to have a main point that you can support with specific evidence.  That evidence must be cited appropriately and correctly.  You should include appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos.
• This is also where you outline opposing points of view—at least acknowledging them and, as appropriate, refuting those other claims.
• Conclusion: this is where you close your essay by briefly recapping your essay, describing its connection with similar issues, and stating the significance of your paper with future directions and implications of your research.
• Works Cited: The Works Cited page is NOT your annotated bibliography – it should follow proper MLA format for a Works Cited page and reference only the sources that you include in your essay. For this essay, you will need to include at least eight sources, at least six of which should be print sources. (Remember that web sources are those that exist solely on the Internet—like a web page with content that does not appear elsewhere in print.  If you find a source that was originally printed (like an essay) but you download it from the web (through a library database, for example), then that is NOT a “web source” but rather a print source).

Length: eight to ten typed double-spaced pages.