Argumentative Essay Rules

Your final essay will be written in the argumentation/persuasion pattern of development.

It should be the culmination of the skills you’ve acquired throughout the semester, and
can draw on the other patterns of development that we’ve studied (narration,
description, compare/contrast, information literacy, citation, etc.). It will require you to
also exhibit your information literacy and citation skills, as finding and incorporating
support from academic sources will be a large part of your grade.

​ Approximately 4-5 pages

​ Proper MLA formatting – be sure to include a works cited and in-text citations
​ Three sources are required and one must be from the library databases
​ These will be the same sources that were submitted for your annotated
bibliography
​ Your essay must include: a clear thesis, background information on the issue,
three
identifiable main points/arguments, cited support for these arguments, and a
refutation
​
Learning Outcomes:
​ Demonstrate awareness that writing is a multistage, social process and utilize
revisions
​ Read and annotate texts for understanding and discussion - develop an
awareness of
audience and purpose
​ Analyze and synthesize ideas across multiple texts, exploring issues or
questions, so as
to develop your own ideas and fully explore the issue
​ Raise questions about the issue and integrate the texts as reference within your
own
argument
​ Demonstrate awareness of the complexity of ideas associated with issues or
topics.
​ Use proper tone when addressing your audience