Objectives: This assignment places emphasis on revising and expanding the argumentative synthesis essay. This essay will still contain the writer’s own experience in support of his/her position on an arguable issue. In addition to the three written sources incorporated into the argumentative synthesis essay, this essay will supplement those articles borrowed from the list of readings within the class with four additional sources, two of which will also need to be located through one of the college library databases, while the remaining two will be up to the writer, providing that these two additional sources are reliable ones, such as an interview with someone in a position of authority or an article found on the Internet. This assignment places particular emphasis on integrating quotes, providing in-text documentation, achieving paragraph development, and creating citations for the Works Cited page while using MLA Style.
Introduction: Students often believe that a research essay informs readers about a topic and that the sources are simply dropped into the essay and replace the writer’s own words. This assignment differs because it is an argumentative essay in which you use sources in support of your ideas and experiences. Some of the sources will be necessary to provide background information. Overall, these sources will show how thoroughly you have researched the issue and allow you to support your position or to reflect your awareness of opposing positions to your own. Return to the argumentative synthesis assignment if you want to review the characteristics of an argumentative essay.
Topic: Write an argumentative essay in which you revise and expand the argumentative synthesis essay and include at least seven outside sources, five of which must be essays or articles found in a library database. The same articles taken from the list of readings within the class and used for the argumentative synthesis assignment will be included as part of the seven required sources. Students are discouraged from choosing a topic different from what he or she chose for the argumentative synthesis essay.
Reiteration: Your expanded argumentative synthesis essay will include seven sources. These sources will consist of the following:
Three articles taken from the list of readings within the class and used in the argumentative synthesis assignment.
Two additional articles located in a library database; these articles will be ones that you find on your own or additional ones taken from the list of readings within the class. It is conceivable that you will end up using six of the articles listed within the class.
Two reliable sources of your own choosing. It stands to reason that you cannot borrow anything from About.com, WebMD, or Wikipedia, for example. You can, if you like, use two additional articles from the list of readings within the class.
Length: The essay needs to contain at least 2,000 words, approximately eight pages, not counting the Works Cited page.
Format: Ensure that your final deadline draft is in MLA style and includes a Works Cited page. When using sources not found online, such as a book or newspaper articles found in a print source (that is, an actual newspaper you can hold in your hands), name the author or the title of the article (if there no author) in your sentence and add the page number in parentheses whenever you paraphrase, quote, or pull ideas from these sources. Interviews and sources found online, on the other hand, simply require that you name the source (that is, the name of the author and/or title of the article but not the name of the website) within the sentence before each reference to that source. If you should include an interview, be sure to include the person’s authority as an appositive directly after the person’s name (e.g., Dolores Smith, a professor of cosmetology at JCCC,).
Due Date: Be prepared to submit your rough draft for the peer review by April 16. The final deadline draft will be due on April 23 by 11:59 p.m.
Grading Criteria for Assignment #4:
Does the essay create an argument that supports the writer’s position on an arguable issue addressed in the list of readings included within the class? Does the writer address an audience opposed to his/her topic? Is the purpose supported by every example, background fact, illustration, paraphrased idea, or quotation? Focus—30 points possible.
Has the writer made use of not only his/her own experience but also reliable sources? Has the writer incorporated at least seven outside sources altogether, five of which are essays or articles found through a library database? Does the writer show awareness of the reader’s need for supporting examples and evidence, including personal experience and authorities found in his/her sources? Has the writer eliminated all generalizations except for those that are earned? Has the writer created an essay rich with concrete, specific details taken from his/her experience and the required outside sources? Development—30 points possible.
Has the writer achieved paragraph development? Are transitions provided within and between paragraphs to help the audience move easily through this essay? Do the introduction and conclusion provide an effective frame for the ideas contained in this essay? Organization—30 points possible.
Does the writer follow the conventions of standard written English, avoiding such errors as fused sentences, comma splices, and sentence fragments? Is the word choice appropriate for the essay’s tone and subject? Does the writer know how to integrate quotations into his/her prose? Does the writer know how to identify interviews and sources found on the Internet within his/her sentences? Does the writer know how to document both paraphrases and quotations taken from print sources, using MLA style? Style—30 points possible.
Is the essay free of mechanical and typographical errors? Editing—30 points possible.
Has the writer provided a Works Cited page with citations that conform to MLA style? Works Cited—50 points possible.
