Your Task
In this essay, you will be required to make an argument about the research you found and to address counterarguments to your own thesis. Your job is to write an essay advancing this argument and to use at least five sources (at least three scholarly) to support your argument.
Your job is two-fold: (1) to convince your reader of the validity of your argument and to (2) invite the reader to change his or her views about the topic to more closely align with your argument or to rethink her or his own views.
Requirements
Essays not meeting all requirements will be docked severely and, in all likelihood, will not earn a passing grade.
Essay must be no less than six full pages (not including Works Cited page)
Essay must use at least five total sources.
Of those five total sources, at least three sources must be scholarly.
Audience
You should assume the following about your audience for this essay:
You readers are in college; therefore your tone should be appropriate for an academic audience.
Your readers are not familiar with your topic or your sources; therefore some summary is necessary for each.
Your readers are not predisposed to agree with your thesis; therefore you are either writing to convince someone to change or reevaluate their thinking on your topic or to convince a reader to take a specific action.
What I’m Looking For
An excellent essay will demonstrate the writer’s ability to craft a solid thesis statement and carry a convincing argument through an eight-page paper. Each part of the paper should support the thesis statement. The writer should adopt a tone that invites the reader to change existing ways of thinking rather than driving them further into established thoughts and opinions. The writer will correctly cite his or her sources using proper MLA style while addressing at least one source that is counter to the essay’s thesis. The writer should also take into account the concepts we’ve covered in class: the Quote Sandwich, a strong thesis statement, exemplary organization + structure, and topic sentences.