The Persuasion Paper

English 98
Major Writing Assignment #3

The Argument Essay

Argument writing is one of the most useful and complicated modes of writing. This is because you are not only dealing with complex ideas and organization but more often than not, trying to persuade someone to see things your way. A good argument has four parts: the issue, the claim, the support, and the counterargument (concession/refutation). Depending on your purpose and/or audience, you may choose to have a claim of fact (Raising the drinking age will decrease traffic accidents), a claim of value (Beauty pageants degrade women), or a claim of policy (Voters should pass ordinance 10 to fund the new ice rink).

For your second major writing assignment, write an argument paper that demonstrates your understanding of what a good argument essay is as well as all the parts of an effective essay. Start by doing the topic proposal found on p.288. Remember that a lot of preparation work in terms of thinking/brainstorming/researching will help you to pick an interesting and appropriate topic. Keep the page length of 3-4 pages in mind while deciding. Reasonable support for your claim includes reasons, personal experiences, expert or relevant testimony, facts, statistics, etc. As you do research for your topic, make sure to keep track of your sources so you can cite them in your paper. You must include one article from a library subscription site like ProQuest. Remember, any writing or information used but not cited is considered weak evidence and/or plagiarism. Try doing a pros and cons list, and pick out the strongest arguments on either side to incorporate into your paper. Look at the organizing patterns given on p.277 and decide which pattern fits best with your argument.

Your final essay should be 3-4 pages long. All sources MUST be documented using the MLA format found on p.388. No second draft will be required for this paper; however, if you wish to receive some further feedback about your arguments, grammar, and/or syntax, I will be happy to help you out with that. All drafts should be typed, if possible, and double-spaced. Final drafts MUST be typed, double-spaced, with a 12pt font, standard 1.25” margins, and an easy to read font. Finally, since we have been talking extensively about sentence variety, try to incorporate a variety of sentence types (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) as well as a rich vocabulary into your writing. Aim for a popular level of formality: this means NO using “you” in your writing. Remember, to get full points for the process, you must have your drafts ready on the date due, with adequate copies for your peer group as well as the instructor as well as be present the day the group meets, having read and critiqued your group members’ writings. Any drafts not turned in on the dates given below will be considered late.

Deadlines
Topic Proposal Fri, 5/18
Draft 1 (+5 copies) Tues, 5/22
Peer response Wed, 5/23
Final draft (all copies in envelope) Tues, 5/29

Remember! If at any point you get stuck, ask for help.