Category: English

To compose an argument with integrated research of at least 4-6 pages in length. . Your research should come from credible sources. In your final essay, you will reference at least four outside sources to support your points. Please choose your sources carefully and remember that more research doesnt necessarily equal a better argument.

Purpose

To develop argumentation, research, critical thinking, writing, and persuasive skills and create a polished research-based college-level argument.

Instructions

Argument with integrated research, the final essay assignment of the course, is an extended research project of at least 4-6 pages in length. in which you will argue a position concerning a specific issue.

As you start planning your essay, think about the following questions:

• Who is your intended audience (the audience with whom you want to share your perspective)?
• What goals do you want to accomplish with the essay? Do you want to change your audience’s mind? Do you want to promote your audience’s cause? Do you want your audience to understand your perspective?
• What choices will you make (about language, structure, development, format) in order to achieve those goals?

Suggested process

1. Begin by identifying specific controversies in your chosen topic.
2. Choose one controversy to focus on for your annotated bibliography and essay.
3. Research the controversy, develop an annotated bibliography, refine your topic, generate ideas, and develop a working thesis.
4. Draft the essay and revise your thesis as needed.

You should

Your final essay should be detailed in terms of content, evidence, sources, and support. The topic should be tight and focused, and your position should be responsibly, persuasively, and credibly argued. As with any strong argument essay, you should:

Introduction

• Create interest in and introduce your topic
• End with your thesis

Body

• Support your argument with a series of focused body paragraphs
• Reference outside sources smoothly and effectively to illustrate points and to support claims
• Use the 1 or 2 quote body paragraph format
• Address and respond to counterarguments

Conclusion

• Conclude with a focused conclusion in which you sum up your main points and emphasize the significance of your argument
• Emphasize the significance of your argument

In addition your essay should:

• Format the essay MLA style
• Maintain an effective balance of ethos, pathos, and logos
• Convey your points through professional college-level writing
• Maintain crisp, clear prose
• Ensure that your finished essay is free of errors
• Demonstrate awareness of your rhetorical situation
• Include a minimum of four sources,
• Include a works cited page (in MLA format) with at least four sources.

Body Paragraph Format

For the Rhetorical Analysis Essay, you used the 1 quotes body paragraph format. Many times you find you would like to add a second quote to your paragraph. Adding the second quote is an easy addition. Use the format below:

1. Topic sentence –– this is the first sentence of the paragraph that clearly states the part of the argument this paragraph will examine
2. Evidence setup– Briefly give context to the quote. This could include general information or information from the source that helps the quote make more sense.
3. Evidence — provide 1 quote of that supports your argument
4. Buffer sentence…. you need some sort of sentence between the two quotes to transition to the next piece of evidence. Either give commentary to analyze the first quote and/or evidence setup for the second quote.
5. Evidence — provide 1 quote of that supports your argument. Consider using a quote from a different source here. It adds additional support to your argument
6. Commentary — explain/analyze how this quote(s) support your claim made in your topic sentence
7. Transition sentence –– transition to the next point by writing wrapping up this paragraph and giving us a sneak peak into the next paragraph.

You should have no more than 1-2 quotes per body paragraph. This way you can fully set up up and analyze each piece of evidence you are providing.

Counterargument

The goal of a counter argument paragraph is to acknowledge the other side of the argument and then prove why it is wrong. The counter argument(s) is typically the last paragraph before the conclusion but it can also be placed anywhere within the essay –> see the

First, identify a strength of the MLA style. Then, offer suggestions on their use of MLA. Check the paper against these MLA guidelines:

• Double-space the paper,
• Use Times New Roman, font size 12 pt.,
• Leave only one space after periods and other punctuation marks,
• Set the margins to 1 inch on all sides,
• Indent the first line of each paragraph one half-inch from the left margin,
• Create a header with your last name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner, one-half inch from the top and flush with the right margin,
• List your name, your instructor’s name, the course, and the date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Make sure this part is also double-spaced. Make sure that the date format is “date, month, year.” Like this: 15 May 2022.

Grammar

First, identify a strength of grammar. Then, offer grammar suggestions. Questions to consider include:

• Does the tone feel appropriate for a college essay?
• Is the essay free of errors?
• What could the writer do to improve?

FINAL Draft

Assignment and Purpose

Write an essay that analyzes the rhetoric of visual arguments (advertisements, political cartoons, paintings, films, websites, etc.). Choose interesting, complex images. Your overall goal in this paper is to construct and support a thesis that evaluates the quality of the arguments being made in your visual sources. In order to do this, your paper should place the visual arguments in a social or cultural context for your intended readers. Most importantly, though, make sure that you are going beyond merely explaining the obvious in the imagery by analyzing and interpreting repetitions, strands (similar objects/ideas), binaries (objects or ideas that are opposite in nature), and/or an anomaly and answering the so what question (why does your analysis matter?).

The purpose of this assignment is to help you practice the basics of analysis in a creative way by exploring images that exhibit complexity and rhetorical purpose. In writing this essay, you will be more aware of the cultural, social, and political implications of visual sources.

Requirements

• MLA format (heading, header, double spaced, etc.) Must have Works Cited with every draft.*
• Times New Roman, 12-point font
• Academic writing style (use 3rd person, avoid contractions, use sentence variety, clear transitions, etc.)
• Use Analysis and Interpretation discussed in class.
• 3-4 pages (excluding Works Cited); typed drafts average 300 words per page, so the minimum is 900 words.

Course Student Learning Outcomes

Demonstrate critical thinking standards as they engage in analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of visual sources in order to explore patterns and contradictions among images and present the complexity of multiple interpretations and implications.

Write in a style that clearly communicates meaning, builds credibility, and offers fresh insights.

Getting Started

1. Choose complex, interesting visual sources;
2. Use analytical methods (Notice and Focus, strands, binaries, etc.) to develop points of analysis
3. Write body paragraphs first, using paragraph strategies and academic writing style
4. Write opening and overall analytical thesis
5. Write conclusion with overall implications of your analysis (why does it matter?)
6. Revise, revise, revise.

Evaluation Criteria

The following categories determine the grade for each submitted paper:

Thesis, Critical Thinking/Analysis, Development/Supporting Evidence, Synthesis, Structure/Coherence, Grammar/Mechanics, and MLA Documentation.

Not all of these elements are weighted the same, but all are part of the final grade for your paper. The most important aspect of any paper in this class is critical thinking.

make sure you look at the Introduction, Conclusion, and Works Cited lecture posted in Modules as well as the example for guidance with your Introduction and Conclusion:

Please use MLA format for headings, Works Cited, and essay format. Visit Owl Purdue MLA for examples:

Include your images in the final essay. These should be pasted onto the document AFTER the Works Cited page.

I noted some issues with the development of thesis sentences. Please see the mini-lecture below for guidance and examples.

Formulating and Evolving Thesis Statements

College-level essays are thesis-driven, so you want your thesis statements to be clear and engaging and to evolve throughout the paper based on the evidence you present and the conclusions you draw.

In your opening for the Visual Analysis Essay, you will introduce your sources, tell why its important to analyze them, and present your thesis. The thesis statement is the overall map of your paper (points of analysis) and why they are interesting, significant, revealing, or strange.

In order to create a meaningful, complex thesis statement, specify and subordinate the ideas in your thesis (the examples below become increasingly specific and only the last sentence uses a subordinating conjunction (although, even though, since, while, etc.) to create a complex sentence.

It’s important to recognize the problems of a weak thesis and revise your thesis statements using the solutions. Study the examples and try to make your thesis as specific as possible, using the complex sentence format.

The thesis statements below move from simple to complex; the brackets say what is correct or incorrect about the potential claims.

1. There are many similarities (such as?) and differences (such as?) in the cartoons (why interesting or strange?). [this student makes no claim; weak thesis type 1; fix this problem by being more specific]
2. The rhetoric in the political cartoons of the womens suffrage movement includes many important ideas. [this student states something obviously true; weak thesis type 2; fix this problem by making an assertion with which others may disagree]
3. The cartoons exhibit elements of the binaries feminine/masculine and private/public. This claim is not fully developed; the student has two points of analysis but does not answer the so what question; fix this problem by telling why the points of analysis matter (interesting, significant, revealing, or strange because . . . . )]
4. An analysis of the binaries leads the viewer to ponder the contradictory conclusion that private matters decide public policy. [not fully developed]
5. Although the masculine/feminine binary in the political cartoons draws the viewers attention to a lack of government participation in the womens suffrage movement, an analysis of the binaries illuminates a more important argument that private conflicts will eventually decide public policy. [Strong, specific thesis in complex sentence form]

the chosen poem : Death , be not proud be by (john Donne).

Choose a poem we have studied in class and write an essay in which you analyze the poems literary elements (parts of the poem and figures of speech) and use this analysis to interpret the meaning of the poem; in other words, you need to demonstrate how the poem uses literary elements, such as metaphor, simile, personification, symbol, metonymy, etc., to communicate or convey its message, as you understand it. To make the essay as enjoyable as possible, I recommend that you choose the poem you were most drawn to and feel you have the most to say about. Also, given the brevity of the paper, I recommend that you focus on only the two to three literary elements you believe to be most important in the poem.

Directions:

For the introduction, after writing a hook that engages your reader, you will need to provide the following necessary information in three to five crisp sentences: title of the poem, poets name (biographical facts, if relevant), and a brief summary of the poem. Moreover, for the thesis, you will need to identify the literary elements you will be focusing on and connect them to the theme of the poem. (Remember, a theme is what the poem is trying to teach you about human nature or experience. A theme is not a topic or subject, which can be captured in a word or two, such as abortion or infidelity. Rather, a theme should be a one to two sentence statement that captures the poems lesson).

This is what the thesis should look like: In Barry Ramirezs Interstellar, he uses symbol, metaphor, and metonymy to explore the theme that when we are young, we make impulsive decisions to impress others which, in turn, are embarrassing.

For the body paragraphs, you should focus on one literary element per body paragraph. You will need to provide quotes of the parts or lines of the poem you are highlighting with citations at the end of sentences. For example: The speaker says, into musical shells of ears/entered a stone forest (Herbert 26-27). Then, you will need to break down or analyze the quotes and work to connect them to the theme of the work, as you have interpreted it. Additionally, for your body paragraphs, you are required to include quotes from at least three articles from scholarly journals found on an approved database (Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, or Gale) to support your position or highlight a position that you disagree with. (If you cannot find articles directly related to your poem, then you should seek and use articles on the topic of the poem).

For the conclusion, you should reflect on how successful the author is in achieving his or her goal or message and give a personal statement about the topic; in other words, briefly discuss how you relate to the topic of the poem. You are allowed to use first person (I) throughout the paper and in the conclusion.

The paper should be 3-4 pages (not including the Works Cited list). The paper should be in MLA format, which includes, but is not limited to, double-spaced, 1 margins, headers with your last name and the page number, 12 point, Times New Roman font, and a Works Cited list.

Any paper that lacks in-text citations and/or has sources that are fictitious or not verifiable will receive a 0. All works cited citations of online sources require a hyperlinked URL at the end of the citation.