Assignment Overview
Rhetorical Situation: You are a senior student in your major department and have been asked to present a paper at a scholarly conference. The paper should be on a current topical issue in your discipline field. You will read through scholarly journals and newspapers to identify such an issue. Your paper will be a policy argument regarding the specific topic. You are required to develop a specific policy thesis and organize a sustained argument around it that employs multiple rhetorical modes. You are also required to find source material, partly by using library databases, and at least one of the sources must be a peer-reviewed academic article. (EBSCO)
Assignment Outcomes
Identify and explain a specific and compelling problem within the parameters of the rhetorical situation outlined on the assignment prompt.
Develop a solution to the problem and communicate this solution within a well-constructed thesis statement.
Organize a sustained policy argument that is sensitive to a particular rhetorical situation.
Use more than two rhetorical modes in developing the paper’s argument.
Use library databases to find appropriate source material.
Distinguish between academic and non-academic sources and use different types of sources in appropriate ways.
Integrate source references, including direct quotations, using signal phrases (attributive tags) and parenthetical in-text citations (MLA format).
Synthesize references from a minimum of six sources.
Construct a properly formatted works cited page using MLA guidelines.
Requirements
Length: 2,000-3,000 words.
Format: Follow MLA guidelines.
Source Usage: Six sources, at least two academic. The paper must demonstrate effective summary, paraphrase, and quotation using signal phrases and parenthetical citations for attribution. The paper must include a properly formatted works cited page.
Development Requirements:
The essay should be an argument regarding one of the topic areas below. Make certain to obtain research on both sides of the issue. Pay attention to the full argument format, citations, logic, and structure. The introduction should give an overview of the issue, definition of issue, history of the issue, and the main arguments and thesis. The body paragraphs should examine one argument each according to the prescribed structure. The conclusion should include a proposal for resolving the problem and a projection of the issue in the future.
Topic areas:
A medical or scientific problem policy Health/Medical
Final Research Topic
Should the abortion law be repealed? Is abortion safe? Is it moral? Is it constitutional?
