Should sex education be increased in schools in an attempt to curb problems such as teenage pregnancy?

Composition II—Essay #1—Researched Position Essay

Length: 4-6 pages, not including title and reference pages (1000-1500 words)
Points: 100 for the final draft

This assignment invites students to compose a persuasive essay examining a narrowly defined, academic, beneficial, and credible topic invented with the help of the textbooks’ strategies and research accomplished in the class. The essay should build on one’s efforts atanalysis and writing during the course, concepts learned in Chapter One of Writing, and by using the Library’s resources like the “Topic” handouts and explanations. In line with the material discussed in class, the argumentative research paper invites you to establishyourmain persuasive claim (thesis), analyze the salient features of an issue, and developyour position on an issue using relevant and sufficient supporting evidence.The successful essay will begin to develop a “two-sided” persuasive approach discussing and supporting a defensible claim (thesis) about a controversial, but not over-wrought, subject—something about which there is substantive and rational disagreement.

Useful in developing such an essay would be to examine initially one’s own experiences, beliefs, attitudes and values; similarly, one might, through significant reading, uncover a contradiction or argue against popular opinion. Effectively persuasive essays invariably consider counterclaims and opposing arguments, and if presented sensitively, help establish the author’s ethos. This essay challenges you to persuade the uncommitted by confidently presenting and critiquing opposing claims and evidence while convincingly presenting one’s own thoughts. Perhaps the most important element for this essay is that the topic intrigues and concerns the writer—that it’s something the writer cares about.

? Specific Requirements: Including the standards found on the “Rubric for Writing Assessment” included below, and elements of effective persuasive essays discussed this quarter, and the textbook suggestions elaborated during the course, the research paper should be four to six pages in length, not including a Title and References pages. Additionally, the essay should incorporate quotations, summaries,and paraphrases using introductory phrasing and document sources in the text according to APA TheEasy Way!At least three different sources must be used with not more than one deriving from a non-Baker College Internet resource. Information gained from reference sources, such as an encyclopedia, (e.g. Wikepedia.org) or a dictionary will not count as a legitimate source. The essay is worth 150 points total (100 for final draft, 50 for research, drafting, peer review, etc.).

? Introductions: Catch the reader’s interest in the introduction by providing a short anecdote relevant to the paper; a revealing problem your research unveiled; a difficult question; a telling quotation; a misconception or stereotype that needs correction.

? Conclusions: Make the essay’s conclusions helpful and memorable for the reader. Remember to save something engaging or provocative for the end.

? Content: The essay will help you learn to construct an arguable claim, identify reasons and evidence, which are both relevant and sufficient, and to consider and respond to other writers’ positions. You will also begin to consider the rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos as the means of making arguments.

? Audience: Try to ignore any negative preconceptions about writing a research paper. If the topic has been chosen with care and interest, this will focus one’s efforts and the ethos will be persuasively communicated to the reader. Consider the audience to be classmates or family but not necessarily your instructor. Although the essay will be academic in nature, try to use a semi-formal tone. Please try not to be dry or boring as one might imagine an “academic voice.” Work to make the paper interesting for the writer and for readers. In other words, envision that the essay teaches the reader something while also attempting to guide the reader toward accepting a particular viewpoint toward the topic.

? Rhetorical Strategies: Try to apply persuasive writing strategies learned this quarter. In addition to using convincing reasons and articulating a definite position, does the essay stir a reader’s emotions? Is the train of thought rigorous? Can you appeal to your reader’s morals or ethics? Does the essay show readers that the writer—oneself as a researcher—is careful, responsible, and fair-minded with the presentation of information? Does the essay accurately represent competing ideas and claims fairly and accurately? Does the essay conform to conventions of written English in terms of grammar, mechanics, usage, and formatting?