Source Requirements
For your essay, you must use the full-text, peer-reviewed journal articles you retrieved during your Galileo research for your annotated bibliography to defend your stance in your argumentation essay. Periodicals are not acceptable.
You will need to use at least three sources from your annotated bibliography, two of which should support your stance and one, the opposition.
Composition Requirements
Your essay must have at least five well-developed paragraphs although most will require more.
You must include six direct quotes with in-text citations.
You must compose your essay in Word and submit it as a Word document only. Uploading your document in any other file format other than Word will result in a grade of 0.
It must have between 1000 – 1200 words. (Points taken off for too few and too many words.)
The introduction must have an attention-getting hook and effectively introduce your thesis statement, the LAST
sentence of the introduction.
Your thesis should have the verb phrase ‘should’ or ‘should not’ or ‘must’ or ‘must not.’ (Example: The college should establish an on-campus daycare because it would provide a real-world learning lab for its Early Childhood Education (ECE) students, offer both day and evening students and faculty a convenient childcare option, and provide the ECE program and the college with an additional source of revenue. This example thesis shows the topic, the author’s stance, and the points the author will use to argue for an on- campus daycare.)
Each body paragraph must have an easily identifiable topic sentence (generally the first or second sentence of the body paragraph), substantial major and minor details, and transitional words or phrases indicative of the rhetorical strategy you have chosen.
(Remember; each rhetorical strategy has its own set of common transitional words or phrases.) While you must indicate in your heading which rhetorical strategy you chose, I should have no problem determining the rhetorical strategy as I read.
Argumentation essays require an easily identifiable anticipation and refutation.
Remember: the anticipation shows that you understand what the opposition thinks about the topic.
Remember: the refutation shows the weaknesses of the opposition’s argument.
Example: While many administrators do not want to cover the costs of additional liability insurance required to cover an on-campus daycare, they should consider the increased number of students who would attend and graduate if the college offered on-campus childcare program. In fact, “According to a 2014 study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, … only 33 percent of students with children [obtain] a degree or certificate within six years” (White 23).
You must format your essay using MLA style.
Be sure to use one-inch margins all the way around (Word default), true double spacing throughout your entire document, Times New Roman, 12-point font size, and an inserted page number, not header, preceded by your last name and one space.
Your essay must be submitted as a Word document attachment. Any other submission will receive a grade of zero.
Please see the sample MLA document or the MLA websites listed in Blackboard if you do not know how to format an MLA style essay.
This assignment requires you to cite several sources; therefore, you must use quotation marks around the cited material and include an in-text citation following the quoted or paraphrased material.
The in-text citation must correspond to a full source citation included on a work(s) cited page.
The sources on your works cited page must be organized in alphabetical order based on the first author’s last name.
What to Avoid in Your Composition (formal writing infractions):
First person pronouns (I, we, us, our, ours, my, mine)
Second person pronouns (you, your)
o If you want to mention a personal issue, you must talk about yourself in third person. For example, I would write,
“Jennifer enjoys making her mother’s meatloaf,” NOT “I enjoy making my mother’s meatloaf.”
Contractions (it’s, can’t, wouldn’t, shouldn’t, et cetera)
The use of the pronoun it as a placeholder (It makes me angry when I see drivers texting. What is it? What makes me angry? Revise it: Seeing drivers texting makes me angry.)
The use of the word there as a placeholder (There are three items I like to take to the beach. Where are those three items? Revise it: I like to take three items to the beach.)
Passive voice (This process is performed by nurses daily. Avoid this wordiness and unnecessary linking verb. Revise: Nurses perform this process daily.)
A Word about Plagiarism
o If you submit someone else’s words or change only a few words or copy someone else’s ideas without providing a parenthetical citation (also referred to as in-text citation) and quotation marks where applicable and a corresponding work(s) cited page entry, you will receive – at the least – a zero for your plagiarism, and you will be reported to the Dean of Student