ARGUMENT ESSAY EXPLAINED:

Worth 15% of your final grade.

Connection to Student Learning Outcomes: This assignment allows you to:

1. demonstrate writing as a recursive process;

2. demonstrate writing and inquiry in an argumentative context using investigative strategies toreflect, analyze, explain, and persuade in a research paper format;

3. demonstrate the critical use and examination of printed, digital, and visual materials;

4. locate, evaluate, and incorporate relevant sources with proper documentation;

5. compose a research paper incorporating rhetorically effective and conventional use of language.

The Purpose of Argument:

The argument essay is a writing assignment that forces you to look at two sides of a "touchy" subject, objectively and without bias. You must choose a controversial issue and locate arguments from all sides, evaluating all perspectives fairly. You will analyze those arguments and judge which side has the best arguments, explaining why they are better than opposing arguments. Once you have decided, you have to take a stand – on one side or the other – and persuade your readers that your opinion is rational, logical, and built on a solid foundation of evidence. You will incorporatesource material and document it competently.

The minimum length is 3 pages, not including the Works Cited page(s).

The maximum length is 5 pages, not including the Works Cited page(s). If you go over 5 pages, you will lose 1 point per word beginning on page 6. This does not include the Works Cited page(s).

The Works Cited page begins on a page of its own after the last page of your paper. Do not create it as a separate document. It is a part of every research paper that appears at the end. It is not counted in the minimum or maximum page lengths for this assignment.

In the Links section, you will find examples of student-generated argument papers with Works Cited pages at the end.