Assignment: Argument Essay

Essay Assignment:

Write a short argument paper (at least 1000 words) in which you take the topic of your issue-analysis report and try to persuade the reader to do or think something specific.

How to Write Your Argument Paper:

Congratulations! You’ve just finished writing your issue-analysis report in which you posed a driving a question and attempted to answer that question through research. Hopefully, you were able to analyze the issue from several angles, but you did so without taking a stance. No doubt you did a fantastic job.

For this paper, you will now use that research and that knowledge you have gained about the issue and write an argument. The first thing you will do is ditch your driving question and craft, instead, a thesis statement. A thesis statement is your central claim or argument. For example, in your issue analysis, your driving question might have been, “Should Dixie State build a parking garage?” For this paper, you would then revise that into a thesis statement (a claim), such as, “If Dixie State really wants to enroll 15,000 students by 2020, then they will need to build a parking garage in the next couple of years.”

Once you have decided on your position (your thesis statement) you will draw from the research you conducted for your issue analysis to adequately argue that position. Where the issue analysis left a lot of room for open-ended questions, doubts, and discovery, this paper will need to be tight and focused with all claims and evidence supporting the position you take in your thesis statement.

Page Length and Formatting:

Your paper should be 1000 words minimum, formatted to MLA, APA, or Chicago standards.

Sources:

At the very least, you’ll need to incorporate at least one of the sources from your issue-analysis report, but you’ll need to adequately support your thesis statement, so it’s likely you’ll use multiple sources (maybe even some new ones). Your main priority for this paper will be to persuade your reader to act or think in a certain way. Arguments aren’t the same thing as opinion papers. While your opinion will certainly be important, ultimately what you want to do is actually convince your reader to act or think in a certain way (for example, to start or stop doing something, to modify a behavior, to change an assumption or way of thinking, to take action, etc.). Don’t include information or sources simply because they were in your issue analysis. Make sure anything you use is relevant to your main argument and effectively supports the claims you are making—that’s why the minimum word count is less than your issue analysis, so you won’t hesitate to remove any boring/irrelevant material.

Readings to Help You Write Your Argument:

• Rhetoric Defined

• Rhetorical Appeals (aka Audience Appeals; Aristotle's Appeals; Ethos, Pathos, & Logos)

• Arguing

• Common Logical Fallacies

• Warrants

How Your Essay Will Be Graded:

Your final edited and revised essay will receive an evaluative grade (A through F) based on the following criteria:

• Is there a clear sense of audience (who you're writing to) and purpose (what you want them to do with this information)?

• Do you provide enough evidence to back up your claims, and is that evidence properly cited with in-text and end-of-text citations?

• Do you have a catchy title, an engaging introduction, and a conclusion that provides a sense of closure?

• Does the essay adhere to assignment instructions (such as meeting the minimum word count)?