ENGLISH 1301 FINAL ESSAY TOPICS
Directions: Write a convincing 4 (double spaced) page essay in the standard format, using the principles of debate you have learned this semester. Write on one topic only. Use facts, expert opinions, statistics, and/or studies as well as ethical, logical, and emotional appeals. Because you must prepare for a hostile audience, arrange your evidence from the least important to the most important, saving your most compelling evidence for the next to the last paragraph. You may choose what way you would like to present your essay i.e. compare/contrast, definition, expository, cause/ effect, etc. You will decide which evidence to use; i.e., statistics, expert opinion, a study, or a startling fact. You must cite at least three experts from the internet to bolster your argument. Important: You must use frequent documentation to show information has beenborrowed.
Important: Do not use the pronouns I, you or your unless they are quoted from a source. Instead, use the third-person (he, she, it) observer’s point of view. You must use the internet, but stay away from Wikipedia, which is an unreliable source. You must have three credible expert opinions (quotes) that agree with your position (pro or con).
Be sure you have completed the Coversheet, which is the top sheet. The content order is as follows after the (1) Coversheet (2) Final Draft and (3) Works Cited Page. Important: Be sure to revise and edit carefully. Look at everything—words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs (order and number), and your evidence. Ask yourself, “Have I used logical, ethical, and emotional appeals?” This is the time to polish and refine your essay. Be sure to have a clever title. Hint: The title cannot be the topic! A title is original, specific, and a fragment or a question, or it may consist of a title and a subtitle as my example indicates. It must give readers a hint about the content. For example, if your topic is on the death penalty, you cannot have the title of your paper as The Death Penalty because it is too broad. However, the words death penalty must be in the title. For example, a clever title is The Death Penalty: Justice or Vengeance? Note: An original title is not underlined or put in quotation marks. An underlined title shows it is the title of a book, and quotes indicate a title is borrowed from an article or story.
