HERE to access the
advertisement
Argumentative Essay Steps: 1. Choose a topic that is debatable, meaning open to different perspectives. You want to choose something that you are interested in, but that you don’t know everything about. You will be proving the correctness of your position through your research! Make sure your teacher approves your topic before beginning step 2. 2. Find valid, reliable sources to prove your point. You must use a minimum of one book, 2 websites, and one other source (book, website, encyclopedia, etc.) The minimum total is 3. The following website is a wonderful resource for articles on BOTH sides of the issues! http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-issues-display?id=SMO0040-0-2815 *Mini-lesson on reliability of sources. *Mini-lesson on avoiding plagiarism. 3. Write a working thesis statement. This should include the three parts of your claim and how these three parts will help prove your point. *Mini-lesson on writing effective thesis statements for argumentative essays, showing samples. 4. Use the notes packet provided to take notes. *Mini-lesson on keeping track of your sources. *Mini-lesson on researching the opposite side of the argument! 5. Write your essay! Use the essay outline form provided to help keep your paper organized! *Mini-lesson on introduction paragraph with the thesis statement/claim. *Mini-lesson on MLA formatting, including parenthetical citations, using direct quotations, paraphrasing. *Mini-lesson on using the information about the opposing side to strengthen your argument! This includes how to choose a powerful transition! 6. Type your essay. Edit for appropriate organization and transitions that connect your ideas to each other and show how these ideas are related. Make sure your introduction begins with an interesting and relevant hook that leads to your thesis statement. Make sure your conclusion ends with real world connections. Proofread! Argumentative Essay Topics http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-issues-display?id=SMO0040-0-2815 Schools and Education Should schools have a mandatory uniform policy? Should schools open up athletic programs to students with disabilities? Should schools be organized by skill level rather than age level? Should schools increase the amount of time spent in physical education in all grade levels, K-12? Should distance learning replace standard schools? Should all high school students be required to take a foreign language? Should all students be required to participate in a sport? Science Should research and development of cloning be limited? Should “Intelligent Design” be taught in the science curriculum in American schools? Should schools increase the time spent on science curriculum in order to better compete in the global community? Should the experimentation of animals for research and develoment of medical products be stopped? Constitutional Issues and Law Should America develop stricter handgun control laws in order to save lives? Should the death penalty be abolished? Should the United States make and enforce stricter laws preventing illegal immigrants to live, work, go to school, etc. in America? Should gambling (gaming) laws be changed to allow more gambling with fewer restrictions? Should welfare be abolished? Should America create a law that would make a divorce much harder to obtain? Should the rich pay a higher rate in taxes than the poor or middle-classes? Should affirmative action be eliminated from the workplace and college admissions? Should fast food and other unhealthy foods be taxed higher in order to promote healthy eating? Should the driving age be raised to age 21? Argumentative Thesis Statements In an argumentative paper, you are making a claim about a topic and justifying this claim with reasons and evidence. This claim must be a statement that people could possibly disagree with, because the goal of your paper is to convince your audience that your claim is true based on your presentation of your reasons and evidence. An argumentative thesis statement will tell your audience: * your claim or assertion * the reasons/evidence that support this claim * the order in which you will be presenting your reasons and evidence Example 1: Barn owls' nests should not be eliminated from barns because barn owls help farmers by eliminating insect and rodent pests. A reader who encountered this thesis would expect to be presented with an argument and evidence that farmers should not get rid of barn owls when they find them nesting in their barns. Example 2: American schools should have mandatory uniform policies because schools that have such policies show increased test scores, decreased bullying, and lower drug use among their students. A reader who encountered this thesis would expect to be presented with an argument and evidence that contrasts test scores, bullying rates, and drug use incidents in schools with uniform policies with those that that do not have such policies. Questions to ask yourself when writing an argumentative thesis statement: * What is my claim or assertion? * What are the reasons I have to support my claim or assertion? * In what order should I present my reasons? How does this order strengthen my claim? Name__________________________________ Notes for Argumentative Research Essay Topic: _________________________________________________ Thesis statement (the claim that you are going to prove). Do NOT use 1st person (I believe…) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Each time you take notes from a new source, keep track of them here. Use Knightcite to format each source. Then you can copy and paste each here. When writing your paper, you will be able to simply put the sources in alphabetical order, copy them, and paste them into a new document called Works Cited. This will be the last page of your paper. http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/ My Sources Body paragraph 1 will be about this topic : _______________________________ Research fact 1:_______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 2: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 3: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________Source name & page number (_________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 4: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________Source name & page number (_________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). I think these research facts will help prove my thesis because… _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Body paragraph 2 will be about this topic : _____________________________________ Research fact 1: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 2: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 3: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 4: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). I think these research facts will help prove my thesis because… _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Body paragraph 3 will be about this topic : _____________________________________ Research fact 1: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 2: _______________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 3: _______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). Research fact 4: _______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________Source name & page number (_____________________________). This fact is a direct quotation or paraphrased. (Underline one). I think these research facts will help prove my thesis because… _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Name_____________________________________ Argumentative Essay Outline Introduction Paragraph Hook (startling statistic, rhetorical question, short anecdote, quotation, definition, etc. that catches the reader's attention. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Introductory comments about the importance of your subject: _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Thesis Statement. (This is your argument or claim, telling the reader your opinion and introducing your main reasons why they should share your opinion. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Body Paragraph 1: This paragraph is your first reason why readers should share your opinion. You are backing your ideas up with text evidence from your research.) Topic Sentence: Introduces just this reason. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 1: Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 2. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 3. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Clincher/Conclusion Sentence: Concludes just this paragraph and sums up your first reason why readers should share your opinion. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Body Paragraph 2: This paragraph is your second reason why readers should share your opinion. You are backing your ideas up with text evidence from your research.) Topic Sentence: Introduces just this reason. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 1: Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 2. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 3. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Clincher/Conclusion Sentence: Concludes just this paragraph and sums up your second reason why readers should share your opinion. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Body Paragraph 3: This paragraph is your rebuttal. You must show how and why the opposite side is wrong and use this information as your third reason why readers should share your opinion. Topic Sentence: Introduces just this reason. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 1: Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 2. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Specific Example 3. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Support for your example. This should be a paraphrased piece of evidence from research or a direct quotation from research. Use MLA formatting to cite your source. Use appropriate cohesive devices (This proves...) _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Clincher/Conclusion Sentence: Concludes just this paragraph and sums up your first reason why readers should share your opinion. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Conclusion Paragraph Thesis Statement: restate your thesis (claim) in slightly different words. Use an appropriate transition. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Concluding comments. These should emphasize the importance of your subject and opinion. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ Citing your Sources! Any piece of information that you gained from research must be cited, either by using a “direct quotation” or by paraphrasing (putting in your own words.) 1. Citing a source with an author and page numbers: Here are 3 ways to cite the same source. Mixing up the different ways is effective and will add variety to your paper: Jones stated that Ferrell’s athleticism was due to his father’s "incredibly motivating coaching and confidence in his abilities" (263). Ferrell’s athleticism can be attributed to the “incredibly motivating coaching and confidence in his abilities” (Jones 263). Jones extensively explored the role of Ferrell’s father’s coaching in the son’s athleticism (263). (All three of these examples show the author’s name and the page number once.) This is what the source will look like on your Works Cited page: Jones, Johnny. The Motivated Athlete. London: Oxford U.P., 2012. Print. 2. Citing a source with page numbers but NO KNOWN author: When a source has no known author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in quotation marks if it's a short work (e.g. articles) or italicize it if it's a longer work (e.g. plays, books, entire websites) and provide a page number. Example: We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study environmental change . . . ” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6). This is what the source will look like on your Works Cited page: “The Impact of Global Warming in North America.” GLOBAL WARMING: Early Signs. 1999. Web. 23 Mar. 2009. 3. Citing Sources from the Internet when author is KNOWN: •Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name). •You do not need to give paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function. Example: One online film critic stated that The Truman Show is "...a beautiful and terrifying critique of oppression" (Garcia, “Truman: a Life”). 4. Citing Sources from the Internet when author is UNKNOWN: •Do not include entire URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as CNN.com or Forbes.com. (The entire website address will be in the Works Cited page.) Here are 3 easy examples: According to cnn.com, the Syrian massacre showed “a great devastation of human life.” The Syrian massacre showed “a great devastation of human life” (CNN.com). The Syrian massacre resulted in the deaths of thousands of people (CNN.com). Look on next page for a sample Works Cited page. *This is a list of all the sources that you have cited in your paper. *Notice how the list is in alphabetical order, even when no author is known. *You will create your Works Cited page using Knightcite. You may have to copy and paste from Knightcite to a Word document. *Notice how each source is labeled ‘print’ or ‘web’. Works Cited "Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009. Dean, Cornelia. "Executive on a Mission: Saving the Planet." New York Times. New York Times, 22 May 2007. Web. 25 May 2009. GlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition, 2007. Web. 24 May 2009. Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print. Milken, Michael, Gary Becker, Myron Scholes, and Daniel Kahneman. "On Global Warming and Financial Imbalances." New Perspectives Quarterly 23.4 (2006): 63. Print. Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming." American Economic Review 96.2 (2006): 31-34. Print. ---. "Global Warming Economics." Science 9 Nov. 2001: 1283-84. Science Online. Web. 24 May 2009. Shulte, Bret. "Putting a Price on Pollution." Usnews.com. US News & World Rept., 6 May 2007. Web. 24 May 2009. Uzawa, Hirofumi. Economic Theory and Global Warming. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print Transitions and Cohesive Devices Remember to create transitions that show the relationship between new ideas! Ask yourself: how do these ideas connect? Does one idea cause the next idea? Or do you want to show contrast? The proper transition will help make this connection clear. Try doing this by using complex sentences that begin with a subordinating conjunction: Sample Transitions: Check out this website for more info: http://home.ku.edu.tr/~doregan/Writing/Cohesion.html Not only does Ms. Lipkind have an amazing dribble, but also her slam-dunk is impeccable. Although the Bill of Rights was written to guarantee Americans important civil liberties, many groups were left out of enjoying these rights, including women and African-Americans. While slavery was such an important issue in the South, it is hard to conceive that Northerners were fighting the Civil War for other reasons. Clincher/conclusion words: In conclusion, To conclude, In summary, As one can see, Thus, Therefore Cohesive Devices: Use these within your sentences to make them sound logical, reasonable, and cohesive (organized, so each sentence connects with others to create a unified, solid idea). Here are 3 ways you can create cohesion easily in your writing: 1. Repetition of a Key Term or Phrase This helps to focus your ideas and to keep your reader on track. Example: The problem with contemporary art is that it is not easily understood by most people. Contemporary art is deliberately abstract, and that means it leaves the viewer wondering what she is looking at. 2. Synonyms Synonyms are words that have essentially the same meaning, and they provide some variety in your word choices, helping the reader to stay focused on the idea being discussed. Example: Myths narrate sacred histories and explain sacred origins. These traditional narratives are, in short, a set of beliefs that are a very real force in the lives of the people who tell them. 3. Pronouns This, that, these, those, he, she, it, they, and we are useful pronouns for referring back to something previously mentioned. Be sure, however, that what you are referring to is clear. Example: When scientific experiments do not work out as expected, they are often considered failures until some other scientist tries them again. Those that work out better the second time around are the ones that promise the most rewards. This sample essay is from the MLA (Modern Language Association) website: http://mlaformat.org/mla-format-sample-paper
