Write an ARGUMENT/RESEARCH ON FREE EDUCATION

Research/Argument Paper

For this assignment, you will write a research/argument paper. Explore 3 - 5 controversial topics and choose one in which you are passionately interested. By choosing a topic that you are interested in and want to know more about, you will be likely to produce a better paper.

The best way to explore these topics is to do free-writing and brainstorming, to ask yourself a list of questions about the topic. Then begin to browse through current (no older than 24 months) issues of periodicals looking for possible information about the subjects you are considering. Check newspapers and magazines, and listen to NPR (90.1 FM) or TV news for comments and information on your topic. Also, editorials and cartoons are additional sources for ideas. Do not forget the Internet as a source.

Once you have explored a minimum of three topics, choose one and begin to explore the current research on it. The purpose of this assignment is to examine the most current positions both FOR and AGAINST your thesis. Then advocate one of the positions based on your research. The paper should center on the arguments that you accept. Mention the opposition's opinions only briefly-perhaps in the second paragraph of the paper. Then, focus the reader's attention on the specific reasons why you feel the way you do, based on the research.

Periodicals are where you will find the most current discussions in the field. However, series of books representing opposing views may be acceptable if the views are still current. Also, you may interview representatives from the field and/or use a survey to collect responses from other members of your target audience. Possible audiences for this essay include people whose support you are trying to enlist by getting their "vote."

Cite your sources accurately in the text of your essay and on a references page. You must use at least six (6) different resources for your paper. Copies of interviews, survey results, written sources, and pamphlets MUST be shown to me or they will not count.

This paper should not be a collection of paraphrased or quoted paragraphs from your research. The writer and the writer's views should be clearly discernible from the research material included in the paper. You have a position to support, and the research in the paper should either inform the reader or support your point of view.

Evaluation Criteria:

Clear thesis (claim/statement of opinion)

Effective introduction

Audience awareness

Fair and accurate discussion of opposing viewpoints

Convincing evidence refuting opposing arguments

Sufficient evidence to support a position; use of first-hand observation, examples from personal experience, statistics, facts and quotations from reading, and results from surveys and interviews. Effective organization, coherence, paragraph transitions

Clear style with few distracting typos or errors

References page

Correct APA in-text documentation

Originals or photocopies of research materials, documented interviews, survey questions and responses, and pamphlets or brochures

Writer's language discernible from that of source authors

Length: Minimum of six-eight (6:3) pages of text, double-spaced, in 12-pt. type. The final draft of the paper must include a title page and a references page. All pages, beginning with the title page, must have a header and page number.