English 1102: Writing a Research-Based Argument Essay Guidelines and Assignment Your next writing assignment is to write a research-based argument essay using information from at least five outside, secondary sources (You must use both primary and secondary sources, and you MUST reference at least one academic journal article.) You must also document your use of these sources using in-text citations and a works cited list. This is only part of what you will need to do for this particular essay, however. The idea behind an argument essay is pretty simple: all you will do is take a stand on some issue (i.e., as it relates to work studied in this class) and then give me three reasons why you’re taking that particular stand, explaining each of your reasons in body paragraphs. Let’s look at these two aspects of the argument more closely. First, the writer of an argument essay must take a stand on an issue. Some people get the idea that an argument essay simply presents both sides of some issue and then lets the reader make up his/her mind about the issue. If this were true, the writer would be nothing more than a reporter, but the writer should clearly be for or against something. I want to know what you think of the issue you’re writing about. I’m not worried about the opinions of the billions of other people out there. What you think of the issue you are writing about should be clear from the thesis on. Second, not only do I want to know what you think about a particular issue, but I also want to know why you think this way about this issue. You may feel strongly, for instance, that Amy Holcombe in Ron Rash’s novel One Foot in Eden acted wholly irrationally in her actions to conceive a child, but feelings are not enough for an essay. You will need to have three reasons to support why you think the way you do. For example, if you feel that Amy acted irrationally in her act to conceive a child but was forced into this way of thinking because of familial and societal expectations, as well as maternal instinct, then you’ve provided three reasons to justify Amy’s irrational acts. You might review the notes in your e-text concerning research, citation, and documentation for some ideas about researching and writing your essay. Select one of the following prompts: 1. Select ONE short story or one play from any of the assigned works that we have read throughout the semester and present a stance that asserts how history impacted the work. For example, your stance might answer the question, “How did the early twentieth century impact or influence Trifles”? For this prompt, you will also want to be careful to put the historical facts that you have learned in the context of what you are explaining about the connections to the work. *Students may NOT choose the following as short stories: “20/20” or “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind.” All other short stories that we have studied this semester are allowed. 2. Write an analysis of a certain theme that you find in the work of two poets. It is probable that in your conclusion you will want to set the poets’ works side by side, comparing or contrasting them, and evaluating each poem carefully. Here are some sample topics to consider: a. Phillis Wheatley and Ron Rash : Prophets of Social Change b. What Is It to Be a Woman as Reflected through the Works of Nikki Giovanni and Dorothy Parker c. The Complex Relations between Fathers and Children in the Works of Theodore Roethke and Robert Hayden d. The Complexity of Relationships through the works of John Donne and Aphra Behn NOTE: There may be a poem that we did not study listed in the above pairings. If the prompt is still of interest, please email me. I will send you a link to the poem. 3. Select ONE short story from any of the assigned works that we have read throughout the semester and present a stance about how gender roles impacted the theme of the work. *Students may NOT choose the following as short stories: “20/20” or “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind.” All other short stories that we have studied this semester are allowed. 4. Select ONE short story or a play from any of the assigned works that we have read throughout the semester and present a stance about how space (i.e., spatial or physical space that surrounds a person) impacted the theme of the work. *Students may NOT choose the following as short stories: “20/20” or “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind.” All other short stories that we have studied this semester are allowed. 5. The final option is to create a literary research topic of your own, but the research topic must be a literary topic; and it must cover the materials that we have been working with in this class or that we will be working with during this semester in this class. If you choose this option, you must send your topic and thesis statement to me by no later than Week Ten. Because this is a literary analysis research paper, you will also need to incorporate a minimum of five credible secondary sources. At least one secondary source should be from an academic journal. All secondary sources should be academic or show credibility and/or expertise. They should also be unbiased. For example, a biography of an author written by the author’s child might not be as unbiased as one written by a scholar with no personal connections. Your sources should be reputable and credible. Also, be sure to use the most current information available. *Students may NOT choose the following as short stories: “20/20” or “The Elephant in the Village of the Blind.” All other short stories that we have studied this semester are allowed. You will need to include a minimum of three quotes and two paraphrases from the secondary sources. Allow the quotations and paraphrases to support your good thoughts. In other words, do not use your sparing thoughts to support a great deal of quoted and paraphrased material. The essay should present your thoughts and connections more than quoted and paraphrased material. Additionally, when using quoted and/or paraphrased material, be sure to acknowledge your sources by citing the source within the parenthetical citation or by citing the source directly. Additional guidelines for this essay should also include: · 1,500-2,000 words, not including headers and works-cited list · MLA Style, including a Works Cited page · NO footnotes or endnotes and NO title page · No more than one long quote (a quote that exceeds four lines or three for poetry) · A thoughtful introduction with an attention grabbing statement, the acknowledgment of the author and work, and a concise thesis statement · A well-developed body · A thoughtful conclusion that also revisits the most salient points and restates the thesis in different words For additional information on formatting a literary research essay, please read and re-read Chapters 8 and 9 in our E-text. The due date for this essay is provided in the course calendar. Please contact me with any questions. Please remember to submit original work for this specific course within this semester. Any work that is plagiarized will receive a grade of “zero” on the paper and a failing grade in the course. Please also remember that careless work submitted for this assignment will also receive a “zero” grade. Please review the criteria carefully. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate Short story selection https://www.smliv.com/stories/lincolnites/ https://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/POE/cask.html https://biblioklept.org/2011/02/02/wake-for-susan-cormac-mccarthy/ https://repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/163600/Good%20Country%20People%20-%20Flannery%20O%27Connor.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf https://myweb.scu.edu.tw/~jmklassen/scu100b/rdngconv/lambdahl.pdf
