Due Dates: | Requirements: |
Working Draft: May 1st, 2000 Final Draft: May 5th, 2000 |
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Choose a current event that is of interest to you and present an argument about how existing policies should change in response to this issue. You may build upon what you have already written for your Opinion Piece. Find a minimum of five (5) published works on this issue or on related issues. They can be books or articles in magazines or journals. On-line versions of these journals are acceptable. Do not use non-refereed web-sites unless you discuss this with me in advance. Use quotations from published works in order to support your own argument. In referring to these published works, you should explain whether you agree or disagree with the writer and why. As you write this paper, explain also how these writers agree or disagree with each other. Consider how they make their arguments as well as what they say. Consider the assumed audiences of these works when you interpret their ideas. At the same time, your own argument needs to be the dominant feature of this essay. Do not allow the works you cite to determine the structure of your argument. Instead, structure your argument according to the order that will allow you to make the best case for change. A good paragraph in a research paper will tend to follow the following pattern (though there are times when it is necessary to deviate from this pattern):
Organize your paper carefully. Either before or after writing the first draft, write an outline of your argument. |