English 50 / Fall 2015
Essay 3: ARGUMENT
IMPORTANT DATES
#
#
#

Week 10: Meet with an instructor or tutor during your WRC lab to discuss a specific question about your essay.
11/3: Bring a typed thesis and outline for a workshop.
11/10: Bring one copy of a completed, typed draft of your essay for a workshop. Incomplete or handwritten
drafts will result in a 5% reduction of your final grade on this essay.
11/12: Final Draft due at the beginning of class
o A complete essay packet will include: your working thesis, first draft, peer review, your final draft, and an
electronic copy submitted to Turnitin.com by 11:59 pm on the due date.
THE PROMPT OPTIONS
Choose one of the following prompts. For any option, you must summarize the ideas of the article mentioned in your
prompt. This is your required source, and you should use it to transition into your topic and then into your specific
thesis. Your summary of the original reading and how it applies to your topic will be the bulk of your introduction
paragraph. Use at least one direct quote and one paraphrase from the source anywhere in your paper and cite
correctly. Review p. 310-324 of your textbook and see the sample below one the other side of this page for help with
citations and works cited pages.
1. Alex Hutchinson, in “How Salad Can Make Us Fat,” argues how the psychological concept of the “licensing effect”
poses a particular problem in terms of health. Hutchinson notes that people can defeat the licensing effect either by
“focus[ing] on the process of living healthfully rather than the goal of being healthy” or by “narrow[ing] your focus so
that you weigh the pros and cons of each decision in isolation” Write an essay in which you argue whether or not this
advice can help improve health. To argue your point, use examples from your own observations, experiences, current
events, history, or other reliable accounts.
2. Launa Hall, in “Rehearsing for Death,” writes, “Instead of controlling guns and inconveniencing those who would use
them, we are rounding up an silencing a generation of school children, and terrifying those who care for them.” Write
an essay in which you argue for or against active shooter drills in schools. To argue your point, use examples from your
own observations, experiences, current events, history, or other reliable accounts.
3. Steve Lohr, in “Don’t Fear the Robots,” notes that artificial intelligence software is being used in “medical diagnosis,
crime prevention, hiring selections, and loan approvals. The idea is that…A.I….can be applied to all kinds of decisions,
making them smarter, fairer and less prone to human whim and bias.” Write an essay in which you argue whether
artificial intelligence is an asset or a threat. To argue your point, use examples from your own observations,
experiences, current events, history, or other reliable accounts.
REQUIREMENTS
# This essay needs to be at least 1200 words, and at least 5 paragraphs long. Include the word count at the end of
the essay.
# The intro paragraph should include a summary that names the author and title of the article being discussed.
The essay needs to include at least one quote and one paraphrase from the article, correctly cited.
# The thesis statement should be a single sentence that is the last sentence of the intro paragraph.
# You should write exclusively in the third person point of view. Even if you are using your own observations as
evidence, you should still adjust the point of view to third person.
# The paper should have fewer than 7 grammatical errors. If you exceed this amount, I will not grade your essay
until the errors are corrected.
# The paper should be formatted according to MLA style, and it must include a Works Cited page.
This out-of-class essay is worth 14% of your grade. Here is how you should prepare:
1. ☐ Read the prompt options and brainstorm!
2. ☐ Review Ch. 16 about argument essays.
3. ☐ Write a preliminary thesis statement.
4. ☐ Review the sample Argument essays from Real Writing. Pay attention to how these essays are organized and
how the authors use examples to prove their point.
5. ☐ Create a working thesis for an in-class workshop on 11/3.
6. ☐ Using your thesis statement, outline, and comments from the workshop, write and type a first draft for your
essay, and bring two printed copies to class on 11/10.
7. ☐ Revise and proofread your essay before turning in the final draft on 11/12. Make sure that you have your
thesis, outline, stamped rough draft, peer review, and final draft to turn in during class.
Sample Works Cited Page
Smith 4
Works Cited
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Newspaper. Publisher, Day Month Year.
Medium. Day Month Year of Access.
Lohr, Steve. “Don’t Fear the Robots.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company
24 Oct. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.









This is a sample Works Cited entry for an article in an online newspaper. All of the articles for Essay 3 are from online
newspapers, so this is the format that you should follow.
The Works Cited is a separate page that follows after the last page your essay.
Notice that this page has your last name in the header, just like your other pages. The Works Cited page is numbered in the
same way that your other pages are numbered.
Use Times New Roman, size 12 font.
Use 1” margins all around.
Use even double spacing throughout. Don’t skip extra lines before or after the title (Works Cited), and don’t skip extra lines
between entries.
Arrange the entries in ABC order by authors’ last names.
For each entry, indent the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. lines (any line after the first that contains the author’s last name)
The title of this page (Works Cited) should be in the same font, centered. It is not bold, underlined, or italicized.