Assignment:
Essay - Proposal for Argument of Fact
After reading Chapter 8 and 12 in Everything's an Argument, you will be creating a proposal for your final research topic. A proposal for a project is a great way to assess your reasons for undertaking the project or essay. It also is a great motivating factor when collecting preliminary research and organizing your initial claim and support. You will need to explain in your proposal why you are investigating this claim, what your claim is, how you plan to support your claim, and finally what your obstacles will be in writing your essay.
1. Once your rough draft is complete, follow the instructions to post and reply to the discussion board.
2. Once your rough draft is complete, submit it to Tutor.com to get feedback on the draft.
These steps MUST be completed by the middle of the week in order to get Tutor.com and peer comments in time to submit and use for revision.
• Intended Readers: The person who is permitting or funding your project. In this case, the instructor for this course.
• Goal: Convince the reader that you should conduct your project by giving them an overview of the project and what you aim to accomplish and why you chose this project.
• Format: MLA formatting will be used to construct a proposal and works cited page.
Topic Selection:
On page 173 in your Everything's an Argument textbook, there are a list of projects. For this paper, you will be focusing on either project #2 or project #3. You will be need to focus on one of these two topics:
1. Select a topic you know about that most people get wrong and use facts to correct the false ideas.
OR
2. Choose a myth that society holds and investigate the truth behind the myth. Create a claim based on your investigation and use evidence and examples from your investigation to support it.
The topic you choose should relate to a current topic that has reliable, documented research to support your claim. For ideas about topics, you should refer to "Chapter 8: Arguments of Fact" in your textbook especially pages 167-168.
Your Proposal must have
a formal outline (at least two levels of headings),
a brief analysis of your writing situation, and
at least 3 sources
Revising and Editing Checklist:
Use this list, to check that your essay is following the core grading criteria.
A. _____ Is the essay 1-2 pages with MLA formatting?
B. _____ Does the proposal fully answer the assignment given?
C. _____ Does the writer avoid grammatical errors?
D. _____ Is the proposal logically organized?
E. _____ Is the topic and focus of the clear throughout?
F. _____ Does the writer provide examples and evidence as support?
G. _____ Does the works cited include at least three credible sources?
Proposal for Argument of Fact Essay Rubric
Conventions
Does the essay use proper sentence structure, commas, pronouns, etc.? Does it avoid grammatical errors: fragments, contractions, tense shifts, spelling mistakes, etc.?
MLA
Format
Did the essay meet the assignment criteria in both format and appearance?
Correct MLA formatting? Page length? Proper citations?
Content
Organization
Does the essay meet the assignment criteria in terms of subject matter? Are the ideas presented appropriate for the assignment?
Does the essay avoid repetition? Does it employ tight, polished paragraphs containing one main idea in the correct format or are ideas just thrown together?
Coherence/ Structure
Does the essay have a clear, well-structured thesis?
Does each body paragraph include one main idea that points the reader back to the thesis? Are there effective transitions? Does every paragraph present a unified argument? (Does it "flow" well?)
Does the essay contain a strong backbone/ structure? Does it use the intro. well? Does the essay contain a solid conclusion that wraps up the paper?
Critical Thinking
Does the paper provide adequate proof for the argument? (Quotations or paraphrase, research, expert opinions, statistics, examples, details, etc.?)
How advanced is the essay? Does it explore new ideas that challenge both the writer and reader? Does the essay contain strong, unique ideas that go beyond surface-level?
Does the argument make a logical connection between the thesis, topic sentences, and examples/proof? (i.e. Does it "connect-the-dots" between claims made in the thesis and examples for that claim?)