Argumentative Outline

Assignment 1

For this assignment you are not required to write a complete draft of your Argument Essay. Instead, you are to select a topic for your Argument Essay and write a detailed outline of your essay based on the model in the instructions document.

1. Review the Argumentative Outline Assignment_Instructions.docx document      attached for additional instructions necessary to complete this      assignment. 
2. Review the Outline      Grading Rubric to prepare your paper, but remember that I give full      credit for completing the rough draft on time.
3. Review the Student_AnnotatedSample_Salvaging-the-Old-Growth-Forest.pdf file as mentioned in the      instructions document for information regarding issue statements.
4. Review the Argumentative_ModelEssay.docx document to see a student example of a written and formatted essay.
5. Review the video (if needed) Submit an Assignment (Student) for instructions on how to submit your documents. 

Assignment 2

Take both of the quizzes

MLA and Argumentive

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY MODEL

This student’s essay is a third draft, so it still has some minor mistakes; nevertheless, this argumentative essay has on-topic, well-developed examples and is well organized. Plus, MLA in-text citations are properly formatted.

Jane Doe

Professor Smith

English Composition 1101

17 March 2014

Television is considered one of the most important inventions of the Modern world. Many people feel that television has helped improve their lives by entertaining them through reality based shows and educating them through learning channels. To many people, television’s entertainment value is, quite frankly, limitless. However, few people have stopped to analyze the harms of watching television. Salmon Rushdie, the author of “Reality TV: A Dearth of Talent and the Death of Morality” and Marie Winn, the author of “TV: The Plug in Drug,” both have mainly negative views about television. Television has proven to be harmful to society because of the dramatic increase in child obesity, unrealistic body images for girls, and increased depictions of violence. Comment by tparks: Opposition’s point-of-view Comment by tparks: Title of sources and authors Comment by tparks: Three –point thesis statement

First, television is harmful to society because of childhood obesity. For example, children who watch television in excess of three plus hours usually have very lethargic lifestyles. Plus, these children are often gorging on Twinkies and sugary filled donuts while watching their favorite shows. Winn states the television is a device that “allows for no communication or [physical] interaction” (235). Furthermore, television commercials often broadcast junk-food commercials like McDonalds and Burger King. These commercials are clever at appealing to lethargic children by enticing them with golden French fries and shiny yellow hamburger wrappers. As a result, children beg and plead with their parents to take them around the corner for a burger meal. While big fast-food companies are making large sums of money from commercials, children are suffering health-wise by becoming fatter and fatter. Comment by tparks: Topic sentence with transition word Comment by tparks: In-text citation Comment by tparks: Specific, on-topic examples

Second, television harms society because of unrealistic body images for girls. Rushdie states, “…decency and [self-respect] is rendered [useless] in today’s society” (240). Most music videos create a very unrealistic view of the average girl’s body. Most of the video girls are tall and slim. They have long hair and almond shaped eyes. They have small waists and wear tight-fitting designer clothes, all details that usually appeal to men. Men are usually fighting each other just to stand next to the girl in the music video. When young girls see the attention that the video girls attract from men, they want to emulate these video girls, so they harm their bodies trying to achieve the unrealistic model-like look. Many young girls have died from eating disorders in hopes of trying to attain the images that they see on the television screen. Overall, television can really distort a girl’s view of her body image. Comment by tparks: In-text citation

Third, television has harmed society with the increased depictions of violence. For instance, crime shows like 48 Hours depicts violent homicides. One past episode showed a woman strangled to death with a telephone cord. Rushdie states, “One murder is barely enough, ” especially to a society whose feelings have been numbed to television violence a long time ago (232). When non-thinking people see violence on television, sometimes they want to commit those same violent crimes in reality. Surveillance cameras have captured many violent people in the act of committing crimes; and unfortunately, these criminals imitate the moves and words that they see on television to commit violent crimes. Undoubtedly, if the American television broadcasters do not limit or alter the violent depictions shown on television, the American crime rate will continue to increase.

In conclusion, although television entertains many people, it also harms people. Television harms society by increasing childhood obesity. Children should be made to turn the television off and do more exercise. Plus, television harms society by creating unrealistic body images for young girls, and by showcasing too much violence. Everybody should work hard to improve the quality of television. Comment by tparks: Conclusion

Argumentative Essay (Outline) Assignment Instructions

For this assignment you are not required to write a complete draft of your Argument Essay. Instead, you are to select a topic for your Argument Essay and write a detailed outline of your essay based on the model below.

Argument Essay Prompts

In this assignment choose a specific issue in which two credible parties have documented the following:

· Clearly opposing positions, and

· Clear agendas.

Choose the position you agree with and argue that position using:

· Three separate lines of reasoning to support your position

· Research to support each line of reasoning (example, testimony, and fact/data, or any combination) that supports your position

· Research about the opposing position’s views

· Presentation of the opposing views, along with lines of reasoning to refute them

Final Draft Essay Requirements

This assignment requires an “issue statement” (refer to the Student_AnnotatedSample_Salvaging-the-Old-Growth-Forest.pdf file for further explanation about issue statements).

This assignment requires a two-part thesis:

· Statement of position; and

· Forecast (essentially a “preview”) of your lines of reasoning

The assignment also requires:

· A minimum of three credible outside sources formatted on a source page (MLA, Works Cited)

· MLA citation style for the paper

· Minimum of four (4) FULL pages not including the Works Cited page

Writing Tip #1

This Argument Essay is a Classical Argument Essay aimed at both arguing the author’s thesis and refuting the opponent’s thesis. It is NOT a Persuasive Essay, where the purpose is to persuade without necessarily arguing against an opposing perspective. The difference is that an argument essay tries both to persuade and refute against an opposing view.

With this in mind, you should not choose a generic issue that has no credible opposing view – like “energy conservation” – for a Classical Argument essay. One can try to write a persuasive essay that makes an appeal to a reader to conserve energy. But unless you can find a credible opponent with an active agenda opposing your appeal (“We should NOT conserve energy”), then you cannot write a Classical Argument essay.

Writing Tip #2

It can be helpful to look into current legislation under debate everywhere from your city council, state legislature or even at the federal level. But be careful with large issues. Students often like to take them on, but they can be too unwieldy for a short assignment like this.

Writing Your Argument Essay

To get started writing your essay:

1. Review What is an Essay?

2. Take time to review possible subjects.

3. Use prewriting to help you narrow your topic.

Remember that “story starters” are everywhere. Think about issues that come up in status updates or “likes” on social media. What issues are being debated in student forums on your campus? What are the headlines in the college paper? Your local television news or newspaper website? Your topic may be closer than you think!

Assignment Instructions

1. Review the grading rubric as listed on the following page.

2. Choose a writing prompt as listed.

3. Create a prewriting in the style of your choice for the prompt. Review the prewriting videos on the My Writing Process: Prewriting and Draft page if needed.

4. Create an outline using the outline below as a guide. Papers submitted that do not meet the requirements will be returned to you ungraded.

5. Submit your detailed outline as a single file upload.

Argument Essay Outline

1. Issue statement

2. Two-part thesis (assertion plus forecast)

3. Opponent’s first claim

· One sentence summary of opponent’s source support

4. Opponent’s second claim

· One sentence summary of opponent’s source support

5. Your first claim with “keyword”

· One sentence summary of your source support #1

· One sentence summary of your source support #2

6. Your second claim with “keyword”

· One sentence summary of your source support #1

· One sentence summary of your source support #2

7. Your third claim with “keyword”

· One sentence summary of your source support #1

· One sentence summary of your source support #2

8. Conclusion: Summation of arguments and why should we care? What’s at stake?

Please Note: a “one sentence summary” is the same thing as the first sentence in a normal summary, i.e., author, title, source, and “main point” of the source.

Requirements

· Be sure to:

· Choose a specific issue in which two credible parties have documented clearly opposing positions and clear agendas

· Choose the position you agree with and argue that position using the following:

· Three separate lines of reasoning;

· Each line of reasoning will support your position with research (example, testimony, and fact/data, or any combination) that supports your position; and

· Research about the opposing position’s views

· Present the opposing views and refute them.

· Include a two-part thesis with:

· Statement of position; and

· Forecast of your lines of reasoning

· Develop an enticing title that implies your position.

· Use a sympathetic appeal and/or cited research in the introduction to establish the issue.

· Avoid addressing the assignment directly. (Don’t write “I am going to argue about…” Instead, introduce the issue in a more compelling way that makes the reader care.)

· Your voice should be professional and scholarly.

· Package your source material with appropriate signaling and commentary.

Grading Rubric: Argument Essay Outline

Criteria	Ratings	Point Total: 50
Ideas	15 pts: The outline demonstrates outstanding idea development.12 pts: The outline demonstrates above average idea development.11 pts: The writer sufficiently defines the topic, even though development is still basic or general.9 pts: The outline has an idea that needs to be developed.0 pts: There is no coherent idea.	15 pts
Content	15 pts: The outline demonstrates outstanding evidence of supporting the main point.12 pts: The outline demonstrates above average evidence of supporting the main point.11 pts: The outline demonstrates sufficient support of the main point.9 pts: The outline requires more supporting evidence of the main point.0 pts: There is little content supporting the main idea.	15 pts
Organization	15 pts: The organization is outstanding and showcases the central theme. The presentation of information is compelling.13 pts: The organizational structure is above average.10 pts: The organizational structure is strong enough to move the reader through the text without too much confusion.8 pts: The writing needs a clearer sense of direction. The internal structure is weak.0 pts: The organization is poor.	15 pts
Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions	5 pts: The writer demonstrates an outstanding word choice selection, flow and cadence, with well-built sentences and strong grasp of standard writing conventions.3 pts: The writer demonstrates above average word choice selection, flow and cadence, with well-built sentences and strong grasp of standard writing conventions.2 pts: The writer demonstrates sufficient selection of words. The text tends to be more mechanical and contains some errors of standard writing conventions.1 pts: The writer demonstrates a limited vocabulary and lack of fluidity. Errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, usage and grammar repeatedly distract the reader and make the text difficult to read.0 pts: No marks.	5 pts

CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL

· Provided by: Lumen Learning. Located at: http://lumenlearning.com/. License: CC BY: Attribution

CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY

· Authored by: Daryl Smith O’ Hare and Susan C. Hines. Provided by: Chadron State College. Project: Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License: CC BY: Attribution

· Authored by: Paul Powell. Provided by: Central Community College. Project: Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License: CC BY: Attribution

Argumentative Quiz

Why is it important to address opposing point of views within your argumentative essay?

		because if you do not, your readers may become angry
		because you should deal with the whole argument, not just half
		because doing this will help you meet the page length requirement for your essay
		because it is a part of the process of argument

Which of the following statements is an appropriate claim for a brief argument project?

		In many parts of Europe, children start learning second languages in elementary school.
		Because instantaneous communication and international trade are important for businesses, business students should learn to speak more than one language.
		Many governments pay young college graduates from English-speaking countries a salary and expenses to come live in their country for a year and teach English.
		In the United States, most students do not begin studying a foreign language until age 14.

Which of the following statements is an example of expert testimony used as evidence?

		In the United States, there are approximately 500,000 miles of long-distance pipelines.
		On the face of things, it would seem as if pipeline transmission would be quite dangerous, simply because there are so many pipelines.
		According to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, pipelines are undoubtedly the safest way to transport petroleum products.
		A massive derailment in North Dakota ignited the train’s contents and sent a fireball 100 feet into the air.

Which of the following statements is an example of numerical data used as evidence?

		Most people would agree that health care expenses are rising rapidly.
		According to the Health Institute of America, health insurance is defined as “coverage that provides for the payments of benefits as a result of sickness or injury.”
		Health-insurance premiums have risen by more than twenty percent over the past three years, although the rate of increase has slowed this year.
		One of our employees has been unable to purchase health insurance in the past but will now be able to afford it.

What is wrong with the argument in the passage below?

New York City’s stop-and-frisk policy should be retained because it has been extremely useful in fighting crime. Under this policy, police can stop a person and frisk him or her if they merely suspect the person might have been involved in a crime. Since the policy was instituted, the crime rate has fallen precipitously—according to the official New York Police Department crime statistics, the overall drop is more than 80 percent.

		It misuses a statistic to overstate the amount of crime committed in New York City.
		It assumes that because one person commits a crime, others will do so as well.
		It uses an incorrect appeal to the New York Police Department as an authority.
		It assumes that the police policy was the cause of the drop in crime.

Including ONLY the part of a quotation that supports your point makes your argument _____.

		unconvincing
		objective
		engaging
		scholarly

Which of the following is an appropriate claim for a brief argument project?

		Training a dog is often necessary; after all, owners want dogs with which they can pleasantly share a house, a car, or a walk.
		Collars that deliver electrical shocks to the neck of a dog are a cruel and unnecessary form of training; therefore, they should be banned for use by the general public.
		Aversive training techniques can cause damage to dogs, and there are many alternatives to this type of training.
		Rewards and punishment can be used to train dogs, and both have positive and negative aspects.

Facts and data that support reasons in an argumentative essay are called _____.

		evidence
		position
		reason
		counter

The following excerpt is from an argument project. Choose the sentence that expresses a debatable claim.

Because whole grains are an essential part of a healthy diet, we should eat them. Things have changed since the 1990s. Back then, people were warned to avoid “carbs” if they wanted to maintain a healthy weight. Today, most nutritionists believe that whole, unrefined grains are one of the keys to a balanced and healthy diet.

		Things have changed since the 1990s.
		Back then, people were warned to avoid “carbs” if they wanted to maintain a healthy weight.
		Because whole grains are an essential part of a healthy diet, we should eat them.