Construct a proposal of at least 1,500 words that something should or shouldn’t be the case. Use “should” or “shouldn’t” in your thesis statement. In constructing your essay, offer analysis of at least five well-chosen sources.
Goals
Demonstrate analytical skills
Choose and research a topic
Construct an appropriately sophisticated thesis-driven essay
Evaluate and integrate appropriate sources in order to support the thesis
Understand how to utilize pre-writing and revising techniques
Explore a topic that’s potentially significant to you
Practice rhetorical moves that are persuasive for academic audiences
Grading Checklist
This assignment is for a grade, which you’ll assign to yourself on the following page in Canvas. Note that I reserve the right to reverse your decision. If I reverse your decision, you can still meet with me and then revise this assignment and turn it in again. See the course grading policy for more details.
Your work will receive six points toward your final grade in the class if it meets all the requirements listed below.
To receive 2 points (out of 6 total), your essay must address both of the following items (each item is worth one of the two points):
Take into account the complexities of the issue being written about, acknowledging and incorporating others’ points of view
Take evidence from sources with enough interpretation/evaluation to develop a coherent analysis or synthesis, subjecting expert viewpoints and sources of information to questioning
In other words, the essay should take a clear, nuanced position in a complex debate. The essay needs to include a thesis that contains tension between contrasting ideas. They Say / I Say can help you to take a nuanced position. Make sure to fairly and accurately acknowledge the viewpoints of others and to frame your view as a response to their viewpoint(s). Make sure to acknowledge weaknesses in your own argument and strengths in the arguments of others. An essay that oversimplifies an issue, presents only one side of an argument, or reduces a debate to a simple “all or nothing” proposition will not earn credit.
Furthermore, the essay should incorporate a variety of contrasting viewpoints, including expert viewpoints, from various sources. The viewpoints included in the essay should be subjected to questioning and analysis, meaning that the claims in the sources shouldn’t be taken at face value. There should be some exploration of the reliability and limitations of the data and viewpoints provided. Your essay should cite specific reasons and evidence for agreeing or disagreeing with the views taken from sources. Furthermore, the evidence and viewpoints in your essay should be combined together into a coherent whole, meaning any areas of potential confusion or apparent contradictions are clarified for the reader.
To receive another 4 points (out of 6 total), your essay must:
Be at least 1,500 words, excluding the list of works cited
Be double spaced and formatted according to MLA guidelines
Respond directly to the prompt
Begin with an introduction that offers contextualizing information and a thesis statement
Include body paragraphs that focus on specific main ideas and that provide evidence and analysis to support or illuminate the thesis
End with a conclusion that offers your own take-away claim or explores the larger implications of the analysis that you’ve done
Demonstrate rhetorical moves from Chapters 2 (Summarizing), 3 (Quoting), 4 (Responding to Sources), 6 (Counterarguments), and 8 (Connecting the Parts) of our textbook
Cite at least five appropriate sources you’ve found on your own
Include a list of works cited for all of the sources you reference in your essay
Have been revised and proofread so that the reader won’t have difficulty understanding the essay
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