Argumentative Research Paper

(20%)

Due Date: 11/27/08

General Guidelines:

• Page count: 7 full pages minimum to 8 full pages maximum, plus a works cited page or pages.
• Use MLA style.
• Use the formatting guidelines on the course syllabus.
• Make certain that the essay has a thesis.
• Remember to give your essay a two part title, separated by a colon, neither part of which should read Argumentative Research Paper.

Prompt:

• This essay also comes from the research done in your Annotated Bibliography.
• You are writing about the same topic as your Annotated Bibliography.
• This is not a cut and paste version of any of your previous course work presented in essay form. This is a completely new project for which you have weeks to draft and revise, and it should demonstrate that you have given much thought to engaging your sources differently than you did in previous writings. It would be a serious error in judgment to use any of the writing from previous course work, or to slightly paraphrase or reword any of your previous writings. Failure to negotiate these aspects of this project successfully could result in a grade as low as zero on this essay.
• You must cite a minimum of 6 sources, 4 of which must have been included in your Annotated Bibliography. This means that each one of the 6 sources quoted in this paper must be cited with an in-text citation and a corresponding works cited page citation.
• You may use additional sources beyond the 6 if you wish.
• Devise your own thesis and argument.

Another important point:

Remember that MLA Style Guidelines are a critically important element of this course, and if you negotiate them at an exceedingly low skill level this paper will receive an unsatisfactory grade at best.

How to turn in this essay: a paper copy is due during class on the due date. Additionally, an electronic copy is due, prior to the beginning of class, on the due date, and it must be turned in to TurnItIn.com as a MS Word doc or docx file. Use the TurnItIn.com “file upload” method on the submit screen. You will be instructed during class about how to create a TurnItIn.com account, and how to turn in your work. Your essays will be considered late until both the paper copy and the electronic copies are turned in. All other rules for late work, as delineated in section six of the course syllabus, also apply. Moreover, your electronic turn-in must be an exact duplicate of the paper copy. In other words, no further corrections or revisions will be accepted. Also, if the electronic and paper copies do not match up it will have a negative impact on the assignment’s grade.

Due Date: 11/27/08