Description Having raised specific questions/problems and found sources to enha

Description
Having raised specific questions/problems and found sources to enhance your understanding, the final goal of this course is to present your view of the issue in an argumentative essay. Your essay will not just report what you have found, but rather it will be an interpretation: an explanation of your perspective, supported by reasons and evidence. You will analyze your sources, extract pertinent information from them, and use that evidence to take educated positions. In other words, while the annotated bibliography was about what the sources are saying, this paper will be about what you have to say (with the help of your sources).
In preparing to write this paper, we will discuss how to craft a specific thesis, how to arrange the components of argumentation, and how to organize a coherent essay. The core of the essay will be your claim, but that claim will be backed up by sub-arguments, background, counterarguments, definitions, examples, and context. It is okay to not have all the answers here; I just want to see that you are taking a stab at answering the question you have posed.
Finally, the expectation for this assignment is that you will write in a mostly formal fashion. Your final paper for this class is your entry into a scholarly conversation. Academic discourse takes itself seriously (too seriously sometimes) and it asks that we source and measure our assertions. We will talk a bit about the strengths and limits of academic style and how one can craft one’s own professional voice without losing its uniqueness.
A word to the wise: Don’t wait to the last minute to actually start writing the essay. By taking your time and tackling it in parts, you will be able to go back and revise as you go.
Requirements
An 10-12-page analytical research paper (12-point, Times New Roman, double-spaced).
Reference to eight or more sources, with at least six being scholarly. Note: these sources can be the sources that you used in the Annotated Bibliography.
A complete and properly MLA works cited list and in-text citations.
Evaluation Criteria
A complete rubric is posted to Blackboard. You will be evaluated by the following criteria:
Demonstrates the ability to frame a research question, to answer it with a specific and contestable main point, and to support that point with reasons and evidence
Thoughtful engagement with approximately eight independently-researched sources (see requirements above)
Logic of the essay’s organization (sub-arguments, transitions, counter-arguments etc.)
Thoughtful response to teacher and peer feedback
Works cited list and citations
Spelling, grammar, and other stylistic concerns