English Composition 101/Argumentation Research Essay #4
M. Torri/English Composition 101/Argumentation Research Essay #4
(SPRING 2022/TR ENG-101-07)
Task:
Students will develop and write a five- to seven-page, MLA-documented, multi-source (4) argumentative research essay in support of a clear, focused, original, and specific claim (thesis) that takes a position and answers one of the questions below. Sources must be academic and preferably obtained through the RCSJ library database. Any final paper below 5 full pages will be penalized 10 points. Any paper that uses less than 4 outside sources will also be penalized 10 points.
Note: The required Works Cited page is NOT included in the 5-7-page length requirement.
It is an additional page to be included with your final copy.
Possible Topic Choices:
1)Are contact sports such as football and hockey too dangerous?
2)Do guns have a place on college campuses?
3)Do college students need trigger warnings?
4)Sexual harassment/assault on college campuses—a problem overlooked or a problem handled fairly?
5)Just how valuable is a college education?
6)Is social media a friend or foe?
7)Immigration—a help or hindrance to the growth and prosperity of the United States (economically, culturally, and globally)?
8)Should the law allow payment to Organ Donors?
9)Should juvenile offenders be tried in adult courts?
10)Should college student athletes be paid?
11)Under what circumstances do bystanders have an ethical obligation to intervene?
12)Is it time to do away with the Electoral College?
13)Should the United States establish a universal basic income?
Please use the table below as a reminder of the steps/items required, their point value, and their
respective due dates:
Assignment Step/Component Point Value Due Date
1. Topic Choice 1 eLearning T 4/12
2. Prewriting #1 4 eLearning T 4/12
3. Prewriting #2 4 eLearning T 4/12
4. Research Proposal (guidelines & sample attached) 10 eLearning T 4/12
5. Annotated Bibliography (guidelines & sample attached) 12 eLearning T 4/12
6. Informal Outline (must include preliminary thesis) 6 eLearning F 4/22 (11:59 p.m.)
7. Rough Draft 13 eLearning F 4/22 (11:59 p.m.)
8. Final Essay (with MLA Works-Cited page) 50 eLearning T 5/03
(11:59 p.m.)
Total Points Earned=Final Assignment Grade (25% of final course grade)
Please keep in mind the following points:
All finished copies of formal written assignments must be in standard MLA format:
typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman font, size 12, 8 ½ x 11 paper, one-inch margins, proper pagination and heading. See sample provided in eLearning. Essays will be graded for style, content, organization, usage, sentence construction, and mechanics.
EVERYTHING COUNTS!!
Essays should not be written with the first-person “I” and should not contain any other personal pronouns (we, us, our, you, your).
Handwritten essays will not be accepted for any reason. Problems with computers and/or printers may arise, so students must give themselves enough time to complete and upload their work.
No separate title page required; however, all essays must have a title that hints at or reflects the paper ’s thesis.
Unless otherwise stated, all final copies must be accompanied by all required parts of the writing process (see table). Late components will be accepted for one week past their deadline date; however, late components can only receive half credit and only if those components are completed according to the directions given Under no components are completed according to the directions given. Under no
circumstances can a late final copy be accepted. Essays will receive additional penalties if any of the above requirements are not met (academic format and setup, title, use of personal pronouns, etc.)
Documentation is required for this assignment. This documentation must adhere to MLA standards and must include parenthetical in-text citations and a Works Cited page. Plagiarism matters! Any paper that does not contain either parenthetical citations or a Works-Cited page will not be able to receive a grade higher than a 60.
Any paper that does not contain both parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page will not receive a grade higher than a 50.
In order to earn the full assigned points for each required step/component, items must be completed as and when assigned. Points are deducted for incomplete, minimal or substandard content, and/or late components. Absences do not excuse lateness!
No work will be accepted via course messages and/or e-mail.
Keep in mind that a research issue proposal must include the following five items:
1. An introduction of the issue (see paragraph 1 of sample)
2. The issue presented in question form (see paragraph 1 of sample)
3. An explanation of why the issue is important to you (see paragraph 2 of sample)
4. A description of what you already know about the issue (see paragraph 3 of sample)
5. An explanation of what more you need to learn about the issue (see paragraph 4 of sample)
On the following page is a sample of a research paper issue proposal.