Major Paper: Research & Argument

Assignment Description

For this assignment, you will develop an arguable and researchable question around a specific issue of controversy. Your will conduct research over this issue, develop an initial understanding of the various positions taken on this issue, and then take a position yourself, which you will argue in your essay. Your assignment will consist of three stages: a rough draft, a peer review, and a final draft.

Purpose& Learning Objectives:

• To practice and develop the formulation of a focused research question.
• To practice and develop focused research.
• To practice and develop the capacity to consider multiple sides to an argument.
• To practice persuading an audience to adopt or consider a particular position.

MinimumRequirements:

• Minimum four pages, as well as a Works Cited page (Papers less than four pages in length will receive no better than a D grade).
• MLA format, including in-text citations and a Works Cited page
• Must use three total sources; each source must come from the RLC Library or Library databases (Your first source is given to you through Blackboard).
• An underlined thesis statement.
• A section labeled Counterargument that is at least ¾ of a page. This section must anticipate an objection to your position and counter that objection.

Process for Completion:

Step 1: Pick one of the articles from the Research Topics and Readings folder in the Course Readings folder on Blackboard. Read and thoroughly annotate the article.

Step 2: Rephrase the author's primary argument in the form of a close-ended question, until you have identified a point of stasis.

Step 3: Find an article through the RLC Library or Library databases that takes an opposing position to the one you identified in your first article. Read and thoroughly annotate the article.

Step 4: Consider your own position on the issue. Rephrase your original research question in an open-ended format using one of the five W, 1 H words (why and how work particularly well for this). Use this question as a guide for finding 1 or more additional sources from the RLC Library or Library databases.

Step 5: Read and thoroughly annotate your remaining research and refine your position and research question.

Step 6: Write a rough draft of your paper. Here are some guidelines:

• Make the answer to your research question your thesis statement.
• Use the Classical Arrangement, but write your Background and Confirmation/Body sections first, followed by your Counterargument (Concession/Refutation) section, then your Partition/Thesis section, and finally write your Introduction and Conclusion sections last. Don't forget to underline your thesis and label your Counterargument section.
• Review your essay and consider how you can better appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos in your writing. Make any necessary revisions.

Step 7: Turn in your rough draft copy by the due date to your group members. Please email an electronic copy in doc or docx format only to each group member, but you must email all of them, as well as me, in the same email in order to receive credit for the rough draft. Rough drafts must also meet the minimum four page length requirement in order to receive full credit.

Article: Western Standards of Beauty Have Spread via Globalization- The Culture of Beauty, 2013.