Crafting an Argumentative Essay: Structure, Citations, and Evaluation

Task

Read the sources you identified in your bibliography assignment, pulling out key ideas found on both sides of the debate you are examining. Take careful notes during this stage of the research process. You should be clear about which authors are raising which points in which research sources, down to the page number(s). This is important for the citations that you will include in your paper. I strongly recommend you cite your sources as you draft your essay — this will save you time in the long run and help you avoid potential problems relating to plagiarism should you not do this carefully.

Then, select one of the patterns found in the Charlton and Barker piece, "How to Write an Argumentative Essay" (see Assignment folder in Brightspace) and use it as a template for structuring/organizing your essay.

Before submitting your essay, please double check that it meets the following criteria. Your paper should:

• A title, one that reflects the topic and the position you are taking

• Your name • Your student number

• The instructor's name

• The course name and number

• The date that you submitted your assignment

• Identify which template or pattern from the Charlton and Barker guidelines You followed for the structuring of your essay (i.e. Pattern #1 or Pattern #21 

1. Be written in 12pt font, double-spaced, and to a target length of 6•8 pages (not including the title page and bibliography). 

2. Contain margins that are 1" on all sides 

3. Be structured according to one of the templates/patterns listed in the Charlton and Barker reading, "How to Structure an Argumentative Essay". 

4. Include a minimum of 5 authoritative sources drawn from those ypti identified in your  bibliography assignment. Note that all the sources you use for this assignment must be accessible through the Langara Library. 

5. Include citations throughout your discussion referencing any and all information drawn into your essay that is not your own- footnotes are preferred, but you could also use endnotes. This is how social scientists show whose ideas, perspectives, and examples we are drawing into our writing, and as we move through our discussion of a topic. It also demonstrates to the reader the degree to which the arguments we are presenting are informed by research, and specifically, by whose research. Your citations must be organized and formatted using the Chicago citation style see: https://la ngara i brary/resea rch-help/ci ting-helo/chicago.html  

6. Include page numbers on the top, right hand side of the page. 

7. Include at the end of your paper, starting on a fresh page, a bibliography where the research sources you've referenced by way of footnotes in your paper are listed in alphabetical order by the author's last name. (Please do not include any of the annotations you prepared for the bibliography assignment). 

8. Upload the academic integrity statement with your assignment (see Assignment folder). 

• Presentation

• Organization

• Quality of evidence/appropriateness of research

• Sentence structure and clarity; and

• Format and referencing 

Note that no marks are attached to each criterion, rather, an evaluation is achieved by an overall assessment of the assignment. 

Your assignment is due on Sunday, November 14 by 11:59pm. Late assignments will be penalized 3% per day (including weekends and statutory holidays) and will not be accepted beyond one week past the due date (unless documented extenuating circumstances warrant). 

Late assignments will only receive a summary comment and grade at the end of the paper, whereas  assignments handed in on time will receive feedback throughout the essay, and a summary comment and grade at the end.