Freshman English Argument Project Requirements

You have been assigned a partner and a controversial issue. To successfully complete this project, you must...

1. Pick a side opposite that of your partner.

2. Brainstorm reasons that support the side you have chosen. You can do this even if you don’t agree with the side you have - part of being a good thinker is looking at both sides of an issue logically and without emotion. This is due 5/17 or 5/18.

3. You must gather seven facts that support your side of the issue. Note the following:
-The facts are due 5/21.
-The facts must come from three different sources.
-Your must have at least one each of the following forms of facts: statistics or numbers, an anecdote, and a quote.
-You must write down each fact separately on a 3x5 cards with the source listed on the back side.
-You must use The Opposing Viewpoints and Library Resource Center via the Judge website to help with some of this. Go to www.judgememorial.com. Click on the academics pull down menu and click on library. It is at the bottom.
-One of these facts must include a short interview with someone on your topic (5 questions minimum).

4. You must craft a clear thesis stated early in the essay.

5. You must use one of the lead and conclusion techniques we studied. Go to bairdenglish.blogspot.com to find these if you need to review. Your header must have the lead and conclusion techniques used.

6. You must cite at least three of their sources using the templates in “They Say, I Say”, citing according to MLA method. You can also find examples of how to do this on the blog.

7. You must use a bibliography as a separate page in your essay (use www.easybib.com).

8. The essay should be a minimum of eight paragraphs and use a one sentence paragraph at some place in the essay. There should be no charts, graphs, or pictures in the essay.

9. The essay must use at least two of the rhetorical devices studied this year: compare and contrast, cause and effect, narration, or definition. Use Models for Writers to review.

10. Somewhere in the essay, you must “plant a naysayer.” See They Say I Say for more details, but essentially you are putting in a counter-argument to your thesis and addressing it in your essay.

11. The essay should have an interesting title that is formatted correctly.

12. After the essay is completed, you will engage in a short debate on your topic. More details will follow, but what I am essentially going to ask you to do is to summarize your argument in a two-minute speech. After both you and your partner give your speech, you will each be provided a one-minute rebuttal, where you can respond to whatever your partner has said.

13. Bring your materials to class as we will write the essays in class 5/24 and 5/25. The finished (typed) essays are due on 5/29 or 5/30; the debates will begin this day as well.