You will identify a potential misconception or opposition related to your argument and then use evidence from two reliable sources to address the misconception or opposition. The thesis statement for this Assignment is likely to be different from the thesis statement used for your Final Project since this assignment is only focused on one aspect of your argument--a misconception or opposing point.
A misconception that your potential audience may be based on faulty information or a lack of understanding of the facts about the topic. You will want to clearly identify the misconception in your thesis statement for the, along with briefly noting the truth the reader needs to recognize. An example of a thesis statement related to bullying might be, "While some believe that bullies are only boys who are physically larger than their peers, physical size in fact is not a dictating factor for who is a bully in schools." Your body paragraphs will need to provide information from two sources to support this Assignment's thesis statement; the research may serve to support a fact or further highlight that people have a misconception about your topic.
Rather than address a misconception about your topic, you can instead point out an opposing point of view to your topic. In this case, your thesis statement would identify the opposition and a weakness in this stance. An example of a thesis statement that identifies an opposing argument about bullying might be "Many teachers believe it is not part of their job to monitor student behavior for signs of bullying, yet they are the adults who are closest to the incidents and in a position to have a positive influence on children." Again, the body paragraphs will need to present information from two sources to support the thesis statement.
You are not required to address both a misconception and opposing argument; only one is required for this Assignment.In fact, not all arguments have strong oppositions, so you may find it easier to address a misconception about your topic. An example of a topic that lacks opposition is the argument that children should not be physically, mentally, or sexually abused. As there are misconceptions about child abuse, such as the idea that an abusive parent does not love his or her child, it would be sensible to isolate one misconception to provide research supported insights for the reader.