Whatever you produce for this assignment can become the basis for the final essay you will write for this course. However, you are not locked in. If you want to change your topic for the final essay, you can. And, anyway, even if you do stick with what you develop for this assignment, you will want to revise it heavily, incorporating feedback from your TA.
INSTRUCTIONS
Pick one of the following topics:
Artificial Intelligence
Climate Change
The Housing Crisis
Political Polarization
Now that you have picked a topic, write an introductory paragraph that sets up and elaborates the thesis you will argue.
Your introductory paragraph should follow the common structure for introductory-paragraph writing as discussed in lecture:
– Hook [optional]
– Context and Topic
– Thesis Statement [one to three sentences max.]
– Elaboration / “Road Map” to Argument
– Statement of Significance
Your introductory paragraph should be between 150- and 300-words long, give or take a few words. You should use MLA Style for formatting and citations. However, you do not need to integrate any quotations for this assignment unless you want to.
After you have written your introductory paragraph, break your argument down into three or more sections. List these in bullet-point form underneath your paragraph as a kind of skeleton outline for the essay as a whole. These sections should be clearly derived from your thesis elaboration.
ASSESSMENT
Your assignment will be graded for its use of the common introductory paragraph structure (40 points), its clarity of expression (20 points), the strength of its thesis (20 points), and the persuasiveness and plausibility of its elaboration and outline (20 points).
