Claims about a debatable issue

Argument means “to make a claim about a debatable issue and to provide a reasoned defense of your claim”. For this academic argument assignment, you will be responding to an ENG 101 reading from the list below and argue why you agree and/or disagree (you may do both) with a claim that the author makes. (Note: you must use three sources—two given to you by me which includes the article you choose—and one you must research on your own). For example, you may argue for/against Laura Louis’ stance that violence against women must be acknowledged as a crime against humanity that will only be solved by the rejection of “patriarchy in all its forms” and for men to “convince the men around [them] that they have to do the same”(from “Michelle Marks is Dead, Brock Turner is a Rapist, & Men are still Blaming Literally Every Single Thing but Themselves for their Crimes Against Humanity”) or one of Amber Humphrey's claims about education that "anyone committed to learning must therefore engage with people, perspectives, ideas, and experiences that may at first seem strange, confusing, or problematic“ (from “College Students Refusing to Read Lesbian Memoir Don’t Deserve College”). Once you choose your article, we will work on in class analyzing your chosen argument and identifying the author’s claims, reasons, and evidence so that you can properly respond in your own tightly constructed argument essay. Assignment Focus. To write a successful academic argument in which you state what you think and why, consider the following moves: • Define your issue, demonstrating your awareness that you are entering a conversation that contains competing perspectives on the issue; • Make a focused claim about your issue (i.e., state an arguable thesis that locates your stance among the competing perspectives); • Provide reasons that support your thesis; • Provide evidence for each of your reasons (e.g., your own reasoning plus research if necessary); • Anticipate objections from people with other perspectives and, when necessary, provide refutations; • Be aware of the unspoken/unwritten assumptions (values and beliefs) underlying both your claims and reasons as well as the claims and reasons of competing perspectives. Because you have been writing thesis-support essays all semester (in the form of rhetorical analyses), you have in fact been writing argument papers all along; this assignment simply helps you conceptualize the strategies of argument that you have been using all along and adds to your knowledge. Academic argument entails telling your audience what you think and why. Most writing you do in the university will be to prove to the professor (your audience) that you can think logically, not necessarily persuading her to agree with you. [But please note: you never totally escape the persuasive function. In academic argument you may not be trying to persuade a professor to agree with you; however, you are trying to persuade her that you’re reasoning logically.] Purpose: • To familiarize you with the process of academic argument • To help you conceptualize strategies of academic argument so that you may use them consciously and, hence, more efficiently • To learn how to find and effectively evaluate a source • To demonstrate proper MLA citation Audience: Your professor and classmates Format: MLA Length: 3-4 pages RD due: 11/27 FD due: 12/6 Reading List for Essay 3: Choose One • “The Logic of Stupid Poor People,” Tressie McMillan Cottom • “Your Brain on Poverty: Why Poor People Seem to Make Bad Decisions” Derek Thompson • “’Separate But Equal.’ #AllLivesMatter and Rewording the Reign of White Supremacy,” by Madeleine Sweet • “A More Perfect Union” Barak Obama (Reading the World) • “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” p. 205 (Reading the World) • “Michelle Marks is Dead, Brock Turner is a Rapist, & Men are still Blaming Literally Every Single Thing but Themselves for their Crimes Against Humanity,” Laura Louise • “Young Women, Give Up the Vocal Fry and Reclaim Your Strong Female Voice,” Naomi Wolf • “College Students Refusing to Read Lesbian Memoir Don’t Deserve College,” Amber Humphrey • “Shakespeare’s Sister,” Virgnia Woolf (Reading the World) • ““Why Women (Sometimes) Don’t Help Other Women” Marianne Cooper • “Equality,” p. 571 (Reading the World) • “Lifeboat Ethics,” p. 582 (Reading the World) • “Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee” Eric Reid • “From Prison to Ph.D: The Redemption and Rejection of Michelle Jones,” Eli Hager Grading Criteria (And Peer Review Handout Sheet): 1. Purpose/Audience Negotiation: • How well is the issue from the reading defined in the introduction—i.e., how well has the writer acknowledged the complexity of the issue (think: competing perspectives)? • How well does the writer’s thesis present an arguable stance for the paper? • How well has the writer made an attempt to negotiate with the selected reading (via listening, finding common ground, refuting a claim, qualifying a claim, etc.), paying attention not just to its claims but to its assumptions as well? • How well does the writer address the teacher as an audience who is deciding not whether she agrees but, rather, whether or not the writer’s argument is clearly stated, reasoned, supported, and written? 2. Organization: Given the purpose and audience, • How rhetorically effective is the organization (a) of paragraphs in the paper and (b) of ideas in each paragraph? • How well does the thesis statement organize the paper? • How effective are the introduction and conclusion? 3. Development: • How effective is the argument—does the writer come across as logical? • How clearly are the writer’s reasons stated in each paragraph (often as topic sentences? • How well is particular evidence used to support each reason? 4. Writerly ethos: • How well does the essay employ an ethos of student expert, someone whose voice is dominant when talking back to the readings? 5. Readability • How effective are the choices about sentence punctuation, subject position, parallelism and transitions, action verbs, and clarity/conciseness? • Are there any spots where sentence shape (length, punctuation, wording, etc) interferes with meaning? • How effective are academic citation practices: i.e., MLA parenthetical citation and Works Cited page?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

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