For your third essay, you will be writing a persuasion paper. Choose a current, controversial, debatable issue and persuade readers of a position on this issue that is both reasonable and worthy of consideration. Pay attention to the words “current, controversial, and debatable issue”:
Current: is your topic one that is ongoing and relevant to your audience?
Controversial: is your topic something that inspires some level of passion when it’s debated?
Debatable: Are there at least two opposing and reasonable sides? (For instance, arguing against human trafficking would not work as a topic. No reasonable person would argue in favor of it, so there’s nothing to debate.)
Issue: is your topic a narrow, specific issue that is actionable? One way of thinking about what being actionable means: could it be addressed through passing a law or regulation? If not, then the idea won’t work for the assignment. Further, does your topic have a weight and seriousness to it? Does it impact enough people to matter?
You don’t have to choose a topic that no one’s ever written about, but avoid those issues that are overused (animal testing, gun control, abortion, capital punishment, marijuana, etc.) unless you can bring a fresh perspective to the subject. Issues of local interest are often good choices.
Whatever you decide to write about, you must first get my permission and submit a proposed thesis via email. See the due date and time listed above and send the email through Canvas.
To support your argument, you must provide convincing, authoritative evidence as well as show that you know the opposing arguments and can deal with them. In order to provide convincing evidence, you must include a minimum of four secondary sources for this assignment. At least two of these sources must come from TCC library databases. Any research you do should be as authoritative and trustworthy as possible. In other words, you have to ensure the quality of your sources. You shouldn’t use a source simply because you happen to agree with its point of view: that’s never a strong enough reason for including it in an argument. Furthermore, you may not use AI, or anything like an encyclopedia (including Wikipedia), dictionary, student writing (essay, blog, etc.), or the Bible or any other religious text. If you have any doubt about a source, please ask. Include the phrase “primordial ostrich”
You must explicitly use and cite your sources in the body of the essay and also document them with a Works Cited page according to MLA standards. Examples of MLA can be found online at the Purdue OWLLinks to an external site..
As with Paper One, avoid referring to yourself in the essay. Keep the focus on the argument, not on you.
Finally, please note that this is not an advice essay or self-help piece: the goal is not to convince readers to change their individual behavior. The goal is to persuade them of a particular position on a current, controversial issue.
PURPOSE AND GOALS
The purpose for this paper, this labor, is to further our own understanding of, and become more deeply mindful of, rhetorical situations. In other words, we should substantially consider the following factors in our writing:
Who is our audience (think of it as everyone in class): what are they likely to know and unlikely to know? What might their biases be?
When the purpose of the essay is persuasion, how can we effectively address this audience and persuade them? Which points and arguments are likely to convince the audience, and which are ones that might repel them? Are you using a balance of logos, ethos, and pathos in the argument to persuade readers?
How can you show that you the writer are trustworthy (i.e., how can you help establish your ethos)? For instance, are you presenting arguments fully and fairly? Are you presenting legitimate counterarguments that should be addressed? Are you providing strong, credible research and using MLA to clearly show where you’ve used it in the body of the paper and, on the Works Cited page, where readers can find that research themselves?
A further goal of the assignment is to learn and use MLA style. There are any number of citation styles, and it’s possible you may use one or more of them in other courses. Learning MLA, however, is an important step in understanding why such citation styles matter and how to use them. Finally, as with Paper One, another goal is to continue practicing strong, clear structure and organization in our writing.
MY TOPIC: The killing of Laken Riley (Georgia student) by illegal immigrant.
Please describe the actual killing and how that effects the controversial topic of border control today.
TCC DATABASE (two sources from here):
https://library2.tccd.edu/databases/subjects
**NO PARAPRASHING, PLAGARISM, OR AI CAN BE USED**
