Paper Four: Issue Based Position Paper
Assignment: Read multiple perspectives on a controversial issue and take a position on that issue
Audience: The college is hosting a forum for students to voice their opinions about controversial issues that are important to contemporary American society. You will present this paper
Sources:
Length: at that forum.
Essays listed on our website underneath each debate title will serve as your sources.
You must include at least five pieces of direct evidence from your sources. (More evidence is encouraged.)
This paper will be written in class during our exam period. See the syllabus for in-class paper instructions.
Citation:
Grading:
Due Date:
MLA Style
20%
December 2, 2014
Purpose
This assignment will help you to utilize the rhetorical analysis skills that you have used in previous assignments in order to present your own coherent argument about a topic. You will enter constructive debates about contemporary issues that affect your world. In this assignment, you will examine multiple perspectives on the same issue, synthesizing and negotiating different positions, and present a logical well-argued position on that issue.
Writing the Argument
In this assignment, you will choose one of three topic options. For each topic option, there will be several essays available that take different positions on the issue. For this paper, you will choose a topic and read all of the essays that accompany that topic. We will discuss each debate in class. You will decide where you stand on the issue. Using both your personal ideas and the evidence from the essays, construct an effective argument that seeks to persuade your audience that your position is the correct position. You will also have to create an annotated bibliography that includes at least six that I provide. Of those six sources, at least two of them should present ideas that are against your position. From your sources, you will have to integrate at least five quotations into your paper that will bolster your argument or highlight a specific aspect that you would like to critique.
Introduction
Briefly introduce the issue. You may also introduce the essays and authors, if desired. If you know a little about the history of the issue, that information can be included here as well. Introduce why this issue is significant to you or society. End the introduction with a thesis statement that states your position on the topic. It is ok to agree with an argument in part and disagree on some other part that you feel is significant. Remember that the introduction should be proportional to the analysis of the paper (i.e. a longer introduction will result in a longer paper; most of the paper should consist of your argument/analysis of the issue). Moreover, you need a clear and concise thesis statement that stakes out your position on the debate.
Body
Make sure that your paper is organized with clear critical topic sentences that include sub claims and transitions.
Each claim should be discussed using evidence, in its own body section. Your evidence should be clear, logical, and suitable for your audience. Analyze your evidence; tell why it is significant. (Do not just leave it hanging.)
Remember that an effective paper will confront the claims that are contrary to the paper’s main argument within the context of the body sections. A paper that does not address counter claims lacks effectiveness. However,
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your argument should be at the forefront of this paper. That means that all topic sentences should contain your sub claims; they should not be reactive or defensive.
Conclusion
Recap your argument and touch on the broader implications of the debate. What are the possible consequences if your arguments are ignored? Where do you see this debate going? Is this particular debate indicative of something else in our culture, etc? You do not have to answer all of these questions. However, you do want to draw your paper to a close while raising your audience’s awareness of the importance of the issue.
Paper Options
Option One
For years, the debate over immigration has remained at the forefront of national and local political and educational conversations. At the center of this debate is the English Language Movement, which advocates the adoption of English as our national language and the thousands of immigrants who call the United States home.
While recent media coverage would have us believe that this is a very contemporary issue that affects mostly
Spanish speaking immigrants, language acquisition, assimilation, and cultural identity, which are all inextricably intertwined, are issues that every immigrant faces. The question is as follows: Should English be constitutionally asserted as our official language?
Option Two
With the advent of twenty-four hour news channels, computer generated special effects, and the ever-expanding world of the internet, Americans are being exposed more and more to violent media images. Moreover, in the wake of school violence, like the carnage that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School and the recent events at Price Middle School in Atlanta, many critics argue that media violence adversely impacts individuals, especially children and young adults, making them more violent. More calls for censorship result. However, there is also a contingent that argues, among other things, that media violence is one in a host of many factors that make people violent. The questions are as follows: Does exposure to violent media make individuals more violent and is censorship of violent media an acceptable option to curb violent behavior?
Option Three
We have always been a society that is protective of our children. We enact public safety measures that are designed to ensure that the mental and physical health of our children is secured. We assume that children need the guidance of adults in order to make healthy and complex decisions. Simultaneously, the scale of juvenile crime and its prevalence in the media suggests a crisis. In the past twenty years, there has been an increase in the number of juvenile offenders who have been treated as adults in our criminal justice system. The question is as follows: Should juveniles who commit violent crimes be treated as adults in our criminal justice system?
Be Mindful of the Following:
Pay careful attention to the grammar, style, citation, and formatting concepts that we have discussed in class. I will deduct two points for each occurrence of errors in the following areas:
-Parenthetical Documentation
-Works Cited Documentation
-Formatting Titles
-The use of personal pronouns (I, we, you, etc.) and contractions (In excess of two)
-Comma Splices and Improper use of Semi Colons
-Unstapled Papers
-Subject Verb Agreement
-Papers not in Times New Roman Font
-Papers not in 12point Font
-Papers that are not in Proper MLA Paper Format
-Papers that do not have one-inch margins on all sides
-Quotations that are not properly integrated
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