The American Dream
Present the controversy and make an arguable claim with three reasons why your claim should be legitimately considered.
Requirements
Your Researched Argument Essay must meet the following requirements:
Have a clear introduction, organized body paragraphs, and a conclusion
Present a thesis in which you take a stance on your research question.
Support your stance/argument using the effective rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) that we have been examining in class.
Incorporate research to support your thesis by presenting and briefly summarizing various perspectives from other experts on your topic.
Address opposing viewpoints to make your argument solid.
Cite all sources, images, videos, etc. using MLA rules.
Your paper should be at least 7 pages long, NOT counting your Works Cited page.
Your Audience
You should write your essay for an educated, academic community: your peers and your instructor. Not only do you have the task of educating your audience about the selected topic/controversial issue, you need to persuade them to consider or agree with your point of view. Remember to define your terms to prevent your reader from misunderstanding how you are approaching your stance, and to recognize that some of the terms may mean many different things to many different people (the American Dream comes to mind here!)
To accomplish these rhetorical tasks, assume that your audience depends on you to adequately inform and persuade them. The audience is relying on your quality research and effective rhetorical presentation of the topic to see the issue from multiple perspectives. While your audience may or may not agree with your position, they should at least be persuaded to consider or respect your perspective after reading your argument essay.
