For your final assignment, you will write a 2500-word to 3000-word researched essay on the topic you have previously written about for this class, making an argument for or against something . Your essay should be logical and devoid of fallacious reasoning. It should have a well-developed thesis which is supported by researched evidence, and should come to a logical conclusion. You may include information and sources from your Midterm Essay.
MLA documentation is required for all sources used. Essays that lack either parenthetical citation or a Works Cited page will not receive credit. BOTH ARE REQUIRED.
Minimum 8 sources cited.
Essays that do not meet the minimum word count will receive no credit. Essays that go over the 3000-word maximum will be graded only on the first 3000 words. Please note that word counts exclude the heading on the first page and the Works Cited.
The essay must be in proper MLA format, including double-spacing.
No separate title page should be included.
You must submit through Turnitin. Any essay with a similarity score 10% or above will receive no credit. Similarity scores below 10% will be evaluated individually. Any exact wording without quotation marks (highlighted in red in Turnitin) will result in no credit, even if the similarity score is below 10%
Essays submitted through Turnitin may be resubmitted twice without penalty as long as all submissions are before the due date. If you submit more than twice, a 10% reduction in total points will be taken for each submission over 3 (the original submission, plus two resubmissions).
There will be no submissions allowed after the class ends. The usual 10% deduction per day will be taken between the due date and the last day of class. The class will remain open for three days after the last day, to allow you to see final grades and feedback on your final essays. No submissions will be accepted, however, after the last official day of the course, as determined by the LTCC academic calendar.
Grading Rubic:
MLA formatting of essay
MLA format is followed, including proper page numbering, heading, spacing, and margins.
/ 50 pts
Organization
Essay has a clear thesis statement, and each paragraph contains a topic sentence related to the thesis. The topics follow the order of the thesis statement, and are arranged logically. Transitions between paragraphs are present and smooth. There is a clear conclusion that draws together the points of the essaying a way that reflects but does not repeat the thesis.
/ 100 pts
Argument
The argument is clearly laid out in the thesis, and is well-supported by the details of the essay. Logical fallacies are avoided, and conclusions follow logically from premises.
/ 100 pts
Internal Documentation
Parenthetical citations are in the proper format, are punctuated properly, and are used at appropriate points to document source material.
/ 100 pts
Works Cited
The works cited page is in proper format, all entries are cited in parenthetical citations at least once, and the minimum of 8 separate sources cited has been met or exceeded.
/ 100 pts
Grammar and Mechanics
Sentences are complete and grammatically correct. Spelling and punctuation are correct.
/ 50 pts
Incorporation of Feedback
Feedback from the Midterm Essay and from peer reviews has been incorporated, and all errors pointed out in either of those sets of feedback have been corrected.
Here is some of the feedback for the midterm that was turned in and graded:
Please view the rubric, but also click on “view feedback” to see my additional comments. Here are my three goals for you for your final essay, which you will need to copy and paste into the “Addressing Goals” assignment that will become available later, along with a short paragraph for each explaining what you have done to review the things you need to work on before (or while) writing your final essay. 1. All sources cited in parentheses must appear in the works cited, and all sources listed in the works cited must appear in parenthetical documentation at least once in the essay. 2. Sources must be cited for ALL information that is not common knowledge, not just for direct quotes. 3. Sources with no listed author(s) and sources with multiple authors must be cited correctly. Please review. Let me know if you have any questions about these goals, or need some help in figuring out how to address them.
Midterm and rough draft are being provided for reference.
