Write an original argument of 1,500 words minimum (approximately six double-spaced pages). Your essay should deal with an aspect of the topic you\u2019ve been narrowing in the pre-writing activities in our class and should be addressed to the target audience you\u2019ve been refining in those same exercises. Note, your instructor is not your target audience for this assignment.
\nYour essay may include one or more argument types. Examples of argument types that may be incorporated into your essay include but are not limited to the following, though you are advised against using more than two or three in one paper.
\nDefinition argument
\nNarrative argument
\nComparison\/Contrast argument
\nClassification\/Division argument
\nCause\/Effect argument
\nProcess Analysis argument
\nProblem\/Solution proposal
\nThe essay should be formatted in MLA style in Times New Roman 12-point font with the following header:
\nStudent Name (Always replace with YOUR name)
\nInstructor: Don Bapst
\nENGRW 300
\nDue Date: 2 May 2018 (Always replace with the correct due date in this order: number, month spelled out, year)
\nFor this essay, you will need to cite from at least five outside sources in MLA style, including a \u201cWorks Cited\u201d page with all your cited sources listed in alphabetical order and parenthetical in-text citations matching your quoted and paraphrased citations to each source on the list. See the Purdue Owl (https:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.) for complete MLA citation standards. The sources used in this paper must be in addition to sources used in Project Two.
\nYour essay should include the following:
\nAn introduction that gets the target audience\u2019s attention and ends with a thesis statement describing the main claim (or argument) of your essay in one sentence.
\nSupporting evidence for your claim including both:
\nPersonal experience on your topic
\nAND
\nEvidence from outside sources (each clearly introduced, cited, and tied back to your central argument): At least two of the three sources should be articles or studies taken from scholarly or academic journals.
\nA counter-argument that your target audience is likely to raise. It must be:
\nGiven serious, realistic consideration
\nRebutted with additional evidence
\nA conclusion that reinforces your main claim\/argument in a fresh new way and drives home your point to the target audience with a call to action and\/or next steps.
\nAdditional requirements by argument type:
\nDefinition essay:
\nThe word or words that you are defining in your essay must be conceptual words that are largely misused, generalized, and\/or misunderstood. For example, if your topic has to do with the impact of music played in a work environment, examples of words you could explore in your definition essay include: harmony, music, and beauty. While there is a literal definition for each of these words, many qualities and characteristics influence how people perceive and describe each, justifying an exploration of all that goes into our interpretation of each word. Words that have a more consistently objective definition (e.g., refrain, volume, tone, pitch) are off-limits for this type of essay.
\nWhile you may consult a dictionary to learn what the precise published definition(s) of a word is, if your proposed definition of the word corresponds to the most common meaning of the word as defined in the dictionary, then you do not need an entire definition essay to justify your reading of the word and should choose another essay type for this assignment.
\nYou may quote from a dictionary once in your definition essay, but this will not count towards the three minimum sources required for the assignment.
\nNarrative essay:
\nThe instance or story you will describe in this essay comes from your own experience and illustrates something important about the related topic on which you are focusing your arguments for Project Two. If the story you wish to describe comes from a source, then this approach will not work.
\nYour narrative essay must focus on only one key instance or story, and the bulk of your writing will be on the specific details of the instance. This approach will only work if the instance or story being described lends major insight to your topic. For example, if you are writing to make a case for the impact of music in a work environment, perhaps you worked as a server at a bar where heavy metal music was routinely played. Let\u2019s say that one day, someone at the bar started reacting to the music in an aggressive or violent manner, leading to a series of reactions involving the staff calling the police to have someone removed from the premises. This would justify telling the story of how that all played out. However, if there was no single stand-out instance like this, and if your experiences about people reacting to music in your workplace is confined to brief observations (e.g., people plug their ears when the volume goes up, people stay longer at the bar when the volume is lower, etc.) then the narrative approach will not be the best choice.
\nThough the bulk of this paper will concern your description of a personally observed instance, you must still include citations from three sources. The sources can provide facts, stats, and additional information on your topic. You could also find other testimonies that mirror your own experiences on the topic.
\nComparison\/Contrast essay:
\nFor this approach, you must have a topic that lends itself to a comparison\/contrast essay. In the example of music\u2019s impact on the workplace, you could compare the effect of different types of music in the workplace. However, you\u2019d want to be sure not to make your comparison obvious (e.g., playing classical vs. heavy metal music in a bar). Rather, you will need to find an area of comparison that is useful to your topic and target audience (e.g., playing heavy metal at full volume vs. playing alternative rock at a moderate volume).
\nYou are not being asked to conduct an experiment on your topic but rather to write an argument. Therefore, if you do not already have some experience with the different aspects of your topic that you wish to compare and contrast, this approach is not ideal.
\nA comparison\/contrast essay is more specific than merely being \u201cfor or against\u201d something. In other words, you cannot compare and contrast everything in favor of your position with everything against it. Rather, you need two specific aspects of your topic to compare and contrast. These two aspects must be similar enough to justify a comparison, yet different enough that the comparison sheds light on your topic. As with the other approaches, you will need to supplement your own experiences on the topic with evidence taken from a minimum of three sources.
\nFor specifics on other argument types, be sure to refer to our textbook, Writing for Success. I leave it to you to find examples of the different essay\/argument forms (in our textbook and through the ARC Library online databases) to understand which approaches best lend themselves to your topic and target audience.
\nAdditional words of caution on other argument types:
\nClassification\/Division \u2013 Works best with a subject that needs specific categorization by sub-topic.
\nCause\/Effect \u2013 Works best to uncover hidden or overlooked causes\/effects related to your topic to better understand a problem. This approach should not be used to predict or speculate about future effects of a proposed solution. This is what the Problem\/Solution approach is for.
\nProcess Analysis \u2013 Works best when outlining a very specific, step-by-step process that needs full clarification. Do not use if the process you\u2019re writing about is common knowledge or obvious.
\nProblem\/Solution \u2013 Should only briefly explain the problem (in the intro and possibly one or two additional paragraphs). The bulk of your argument should focus on the specific plan for implementing your solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Original argument Write an original argument of 1,500 words minimum (approximately six double-spaced pages). Your essay should deal with an aspect of the topic you\u2019ve been narrowing in the pre-writing activities in our class and should be addressed to the Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essay-paper-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.benedictsol.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}