Major Writing 3: Argument Essay

For this assignment, you will be writing an argument essay. You will state a claim or argument and support it with research, personal opinions, stories, and statistics. You may use your research and support from your first two major writing assignments. Your argument essay will have a strong thesis, an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

In this essay, I will be grading on the following things:

• An introductory paragraph that gets readers’ attention, clearly indicates the argument of the essay, and makes a point about that argument.
• Multiple body paragraphs which: 1) support the main argument, 2) use supporting information from your research, and 3) fully support and explain how everything in the essay relates to the point you are making.  
• These paragraphs should each contain a topic sentence to guide the reader and hold the paragraph together.
• A concluding paragraph that restates your point about the theme (in a new way), does not bring up any new supporting information, and answers the "So What?" question.
• Clarity, meaning that your sentences should make sense and be clear to read.
• Spelling, meaning that you check for all misspelled words including words that are often confused with others that sound the same (homonyms).
• Accurate grammar and mechanics. You may want to visit the writing center if you need help with grammar.
• Formatting, using the MLA or APA style guidelines.

Your essay should be 5-7 pages, have a works cited or references page, and be formatted correctly with APA or MLA style formatting. Refer to our book, Writing Matters, for help with that. 

This paper is due to me in class on Wednesday, August 6th. You will then post your paper on your blog. You will not get your paper back from me with corrections or a grade, because your paper is due to me on the last day of class.