This module will introduce you to the Argumentative Research Essay. You will read and analyze Argumentative essays from your text and will follow a recommended process to prepare for your own Argumentative Research Essay. This RP will require approximately 4-6 pages of MLA formatted words [Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, double-spaced=250 words/page].
Module Objectives
Upon successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
Identify the important elements of an Argumentative Essay and an Argumentative Research Essay.
Choose a topic that you wish to research from among offered issues: Research Questions for Argumentative Research Essay (select one)
Write a basic proposal (a complete introduction) to your planned Argumentative Essay with a specific audience in mind. In longer research work, this is known as an Abstract; you will see these summaries as a prologue to many academic articles you will read in your research.
Perform appropriate academic research and offer a brief summary of articles you have chosen for your final essay. This is know as an Annotated Bibliography.
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English 1110: Critical Reading and Writing II (Context, Substance, Style)
Martha Wells & Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2012. All rights reserved.
5. Include the Abstract and the Annotated Bibliography in one file, label it with your last name and assignment number, and submit into Assignment #3.
When the writers of A Canadian Writers World suggest that you use informed opinions to support your arguments, they are referring to the opinions of experts, including scholars in the area. In university essays you are frequently expected to persuade the reader of a certain position (an argument), and to quote experts to support your position. These experts do not include wikipedia, or any other source that lends itself to unreviewed information.
You will employ information by scholars published in peer-reviewed journals, and journalists writing in newspapers deemed reliable. The latter can offer public opinion on a chosen topic. Your argument will rely on scholarly, peer-reviewed articles.
It has never been more important to ensure that we are dealing with the most reliable sources of information available. You do not need to be reminded of the abundance of false information out there! It is important to become critical thinkers.
To incorporate research into your writing process, you need to know how to do three things with outside sources:
Find them
Evaluate them
Integrate them
How to Find Sources
While there are many types of sources that a researcher can access [see Enhancing Your Writing with Research in Chapter15 of The Canadian Writers World], for this course you will research only major, reputable newspapers and scholarly/academic journal articles.
Before you proceed with research specific to your topic, you are required to complete the Desire2Learn tutorial entitled Library Research Essentials (LRE), which will guide you through the basics of using the MUN library catalogue to perform research. You will see the link to the LRE when you first log in to Desire2Learn.
Reliable News
There are many ways you can access reliable news online. Some of the best are as follows:
Major Canadian Newspapers
Best Canadian News Sources:Canadian News
Note that while many newspapers have online versions and some newspapers are published exclusively online, not all online news sources are newspapers. You may well find useful information on the websites for the CBC or the BBC.
Academic/Scholarly Journal Article
When you completed the Library Research Essentials (LRE) tutorial, you learned or were reminded of the difference between an academic and a non-academic periodical article. For this assignment, you will find academic journal articles that will help you to support your own arguments and to refute counter-arguments.
Employ the search strategies you learned in the LRE tutorial to find articles in subject-specific and other article indexes.