Eng301 Writing and Rhetorical Conventions
Researched Argument Essay Guidelines

Peer Evaluation: Drafts must be posted to your group's topic thread in the Discussions section of Blackboard by the start of class on Friday, March 30. Evaluations must be complete by the start of class on Monday, April 2, in order to receive credit.

Revised Draft Due Date (to the instructor): 12 p.m. Wednesday, April 4 in the Essays folder in Blackboard.
Conferences: Monday, April 9, and Wednesday, April 11, at the instructor's office (Avery 217).

Overview:
Effective arguments require research. The rhetorician who shows they have done thorough research stands out, even if we disagree with their views or their interpretation of their evidence. Consider for instance a politician who makes an argument without compelling evidence to support it, and the politician who has good evidence and the analysis to back it up.

This essay is the culmination of the first three essays you have written, and you will be asked to draw on all of the principles and skills you have learned and developed, as well as those with which you already have expertise and experience. Like the first three essays, the argument here is the focus. In this essay we add the need to sustain and support your arguments through extensive research.

Assignment:
In the Classical and Rogerian essays you were asked to choose either a professional journal or a popular magazine and write an argument using one of the genres of argument to structure your argument. In this essay you are asked to take the topic you have chosen, per the Proposal, and

• choose the Classical Argument and write a sustained, well-supported essay for a popular magazine,
• OR choose the Rogerian Argument and write a sustained, well-supported essay for a professional journal.

Your audience may agree with you or disagree with you--choose an approach with this in mind, including how you address differing views (if your readers disagree with you, for example, how should you address them and how should you respond?). Use appropriate language and formality for the type of publication you will be writing for.

The type of publication should also determine the types of sources you use and how you use them.

 Proposals must be submitted with all drafts.

Goals and Expectations:

• 8-12 pages typed and double-spaced, with an appropriate heading and descriptive title.
  • works cited/reference pages do not count toward the page requirement.
• Presentation of a specific and focused argument based on your topic and research question, with clearly established main and supporting claims.
• Use of a clear organizational model (Classical or Rogerian), with emphasis on the parts required by the model.
• An appropriate amount of evidence in support of your your claims, warrants, backing, and qualifiers.  Your evidence must come from a combination of the following: 
  • [A minimum of] any combination of 8 books, journals, magazines, or newspapers which can be found on shelf, in microfiche, or in the databases at the WSU library
    • at least one source must be a government document. 
  • You are also required to use at least one visual, whether it be a graphic, picture, or video. Be sure to label your visual(s) correctly and document appropriately.
    • Note:  Evidence from the internet will not count toward the minimum number of sources, but you may use the internet in addition to the 8 sources.  Evidence from the internet should not, however, be comprise the bulk of your total evidence.  In other words:  most of your evidence should come from library research. 
    • Primary research, such as an interview or survey, may be considered for one of the required sources, on a case by case basis.
• Clear use of MLA or APA documentation styles to document all ideas not your own. Drafts without a works cited/reference page will not be accepted.
• Revised drafts should demonstrate careful proofreading and revision, including but not limited to revising claims, support, organization, grammar, and sentence mechanics.

Your draft must include a half-page to full-page Draft Reflection, in paragraph form, on:

• the publication you think would be an appropriate audience for your argument, and why
• the main question(s) you hope to answer by the end
• how you believe your essay will contribute to the conversation
• your draft's strengths
• your draft's main areas for improvement
• your plan for revision.

Our goal with this essay is to put together all the elements and skills we have learned and worked on this semester in a comprehensive, source-driven, argumentative essay.  Accurate use of sources, a detailed statement of position, consideration of multiple perspectives and discourses, consideration of situational awareness, demonstration of revision and writing as a process, and other factors will be important.  Your essay should demonstrate basic competency or better in all five core categories from the Writing Portfolio Rubric, and it may be wise to review the rubric as you write, research, and revise.

Final Note: Each essay will be randomly checked to ensure the writing is the students’ own and that students are citing properly.  Any and all sources may be randomly checked to verify credibility and authenticity. 

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