All papers should be structured according to the general directions and advice given in Chapters 2 & 3 of our writing text, Creating America: Reading and Writing Arguments (2002). If you use an approach that differs significantly from the book, you must exceed the book’s expectations and standards.
 

Weekly Seminar Papers:

Thus far, we have allowed wide latitude in the structure, form and content of your response papers. We now want to shift gears a bit to help you develop skills in argumentative writing.

For each seminar, bring to class two copies of a concise, typed paper (with your name, seminar date and seminar group - A, B, C or D - at the top) in which you:

1. Assert one main thesis or argument you would like to make about the assigned reading(s). Expository or argumentative thesis statements can take an "if…..then" form. The text segment on pages 42-44, titled "Developing a Core Assertion: The Thesis Statement," provides excellent guidance and advice. Normally, the very first sentence in your paper is your thesis statement. If for any reason you place your thesis statement elsewhere, please underline it.

2. Combine specific evidence or examples from the text with your own analytical reasoning to convince your reader that your argument is correct. Because the response papers are brief, you will want to avoid quoting text as much as possible. Put the arguments in your own words. Use evidence from the readings to support, not to make, your arguments.

3. Summarize and restate your argument as a conclusion in one or two comprehensive sentences at the end.

4. In order to move away from opinion pieces and to make your writing formal, do not use the first person (I, me, mine, we, us, our, ours) or the second person (you, your, yours). The analytical essay on pages 53-55 is an example of writing that uses only the third person (he, his, him, she, hers, her, it, its, they, their, them).
 
 

Term Essay (Due Week 10):

We will begin discussion and in-class troubleshooting on the term essays in Week 5. A general outline of expectations and standards are as follows:

Write a close, tight analytical argument that supports a particular position on a topic that is explicitly discussed in our common readings. This paper is not a report but an essay in which you argue some side of a controversial issue, providing reason and authoritative evidence (i.e., references to sources) for your side and countering objections likely to be raised against your position.

You are not required to draw on materials outside our common program readings, lectures and discussions. However, you will be expected to show knowledge, understanding and careful thinking about all material addressed in the program that is relevant to your paper topic.

Your paper should have a title which is either 1) a question which you answer in the paper and support with a line of analytical reasoning or 2) a complete sentence which states the thesis or conclusion of the analytical line of reasoning you present in the paper.

You should cite sources for all quotations and paraphrases or ideas you adopt from other sources. All papers must be typed neatly. They should be double-spaced, have reasonable margins and use a 12-point font. Your paper should be 8-10 pages long, excluding any bibliography.

This term essay is due at the beginning of the Writing Practicum on Tuesday of Week 10 (December 9). There is a 27-hour grace period, which ends at noon the next day (Wednesday, December 10). If you submit your paper after that time, your seminar leader may reject it. This will affect your credit severely. If your seminar leader chooses to read a late paper, it will be read after all papers submitted on time. If papers are not well written – not controversial, insubstantial, poorly argued, lacking pertinent material, marred by grammatical or spelling errors, or typed sloppily – you may lose credit or be asked to complete an acceptable re-write to receive credit.

We encourage you to use the writing tutors in the Writing Center, particularly to review drafts before you submit your essays to the faculty.