Academic Argument: Adding Your Voice to the Conversation

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CO150

2009-2010 Syllabus

Academic Argument: Adding Your Voice to the Conversation

Overview: Now that you have researched and explained an issue, you are ready to write an argument. The argument you write for this assignment will be an academic, source-based argument. You may use the sources you and your group members found, but you should continue to find new sources to support your argument and represent the conversation on the issue. Furthermore, your argument should add something unique or new to the conversation and not just repeat someone else's argument.

Purpose: The purpose for this assignment will depend on your intended audience. It will most likely fall into one of the following general categories.

To convince undecided readers to accept your thesis.
To make opposing readers less resistant to your thesis
To convince readers who agree with you to take action

Audience: The audience for this argument has two levels to it. First, there is your general academic audience who expect a clear, logical argument that remains focused on proving a thesis. These readers, being in some way connected to the academic community, expect that an argument is well-researched and that the argument is supported with reasons and evidence. They want to see that you are familiar with the conversation on the issue and how your argument contributes to that conversation. In addition, such readers require full citations for all sources you use. Your audience also expects your writing to be free from errors. You’ll need to consider these readers' expectations as you write your argument. The second, more narrowed aspect of your audience will be specific stakeholders (such as an academic discipline or group) within the academic realm of the conversation surrounding your topic and your issue.

Issue & Sources: Write your argument about the issue you just investigated or on an issue another group member just investigated. You may use the sources from your annotated bibliography or those of your group members, but you should continue to find sources to fit the rhetorical situation (which will change as you make rhetorical choices about purpose and audience specific to this assignment).You should include a total of five peer-reviewed scholarly sources, and at least one instance of field research: an interview that you conduct with a relevant and authoritative expert here on campus or in Fort Collins.

Author: Present yourself as a knowledgeable, fair-minded, credible and, as appropriate, empathetic person. You do not need to be an expert on your issue to write an argument, but you do need to have confidence in what you do know and believe about it. Show that you approach the issue with enthusiasm, intellectual curiosity and an open mind.

Strategies: An effective argument achieves its purpose with its audience and is appropriate for an academic context. To achieve your purpose with your audience, be sure to:

Be active in class as we discuss sample arguments, argumentation techniques, and work on writing this paper as a process.
Conduct an effective research process by continuing your annotated bibliography and selecting the best sources for your argument.
Begin the search for your local expert as soon as possible—professors at CSU, for instance, enjoy talking about their areas of expertise, but often require a great deal of advance notice in order to make an appointment.
It’s a good idea to use your local expert to help you clarify or compare apparent inconsistencies in your secondary sources (or to get ideas for additional useful sources), but be sure to spend some time before your appointment preparing several open questions that will give your expert plenty of room to feed you useful information. Consider these questions directed at an Economics professor here at CSU:
CLOSED (limited yes or no response): Do you like Obama’s cap-and-trade plan?
OPEN (allows room for interpretation): How does Obama’s proposed cap-and-trade plan compare to similar systems in Europe?
Spend time developing a thesis statement and reasons and be sure you have gathered enough credible and convincing evidence to support your reasons.
Rely on appeals to facts and reasons (logos) and character (ethos), avoiding logical fallacies. You may, however, use some appeals to emotion (pathos) in your introduction and/or conclusion to show the significance of the issue and motivate readers to read on.
Organize your argument effectively to best support your claims and reasons.
Use appeals that suit the rhetorical situation.
Become well-informed on other stakeholders in the conversation, including viewpoints different from your own. Accurately and fairly represent and respond to such alternative viewpoints on the issue.
Demonstrate that you have conducted effective inquiry into the issue by summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting appropriately and by documenting sources correctly in MLA style. This will bolster your character appeal with your audience.
Give yourself enough time to draft, revise and polish your argument.

Details:

Format: Your paper should be formatted according to MLA conventions. This includes MLA-style heading and page numbers, parenthetical citations within your paper for all sources used (quotes, paraphrases, facts, ideas, etc.) and a Works Cited page at the end of your paper (see our web links for help, if needed.)

Submitting your argument in a pocket folder specified with supplemental materials noted in class.

Length: 5 to 7 pages, double spaced (not including Works Cited).

Due:

Worth: 25% of your course grade

Academic Argument Grading Rubric (Instructor Version)

Excellent (5)	Satisfactory (4)	Unsatisfactory (3)	Weight
Logos. Appeals to logic in this argument are effective because: Central claim is clearly stated and appropriately qualified. Reasons effectively support central claim, and concrete evidence develops reasons. Connections between claims and reasons, and between reasons and evidence, are clearly stated. Argument is organized in a coherent, linear fashion. Background information and definition of key terms meets the needs of intended readers.	The appeal to reason is generally effective but would benefit from revision to clarify reasoning and/or to provide additional evidence and/or to explain how and why reasons and evidence supports your claim.	The appeal to reason is not effective because your reasoning is unclear or faulty and/or the argument lacks sufficient support, sufficient, relevant evidence, or connections between claim and support. The claim may change or is not maintained.	X15
Ethos. Appeals to character in this argument are effective because: Source authority and credibility is presented explicitly and cited formally. Tone and language are fair and evenhanded.	While your readers may have moments of doubt about your character, they will find you trustworthy.	Readers will be skeptical about your character because of the sources you cite, a lack of citation, how you deal (or don't) with other perspectives.	X10
Alternative Arguments: Specific alternative viewpoints are fairly represented and responded to effectively.	Alternative viewpoints could be better represented OR receive a more effective response.	Alternative viewpoints are not represented, are misrepresented, and/or do not receive an effective response.	X8
Conventions & Style: A well-informed, academic audience’s expectations are met effectively because: Correct MLA citations are used, in text and in Works Cited page. Prose is clear, direct, and free of sentence-level errors.	Your paper is generally readable but would benefit from more careful proofreading & editing and/or correct MLA citation.	Readers will have difficulty understanding your meaning or accepting your claim because your paper needs to pay closer attention to conventions and to readers' needs.	X5
Overall Effectiveness: The cumulative effect of this argument is one of thoroughness and unity, leaving well-informed readers likely to accept or at least consider your central claim very seriously.	Readers will be inclined to consider or accept your claim, but the argument and/or appeals could be more effective.	Readers are not likely to accept your claim—you may not have a clear sense of audience and/or purpose.	X12

Academic Argument Grading Rubric

Excellent	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory
Logos. Appeals to logic in this argument are effective because: Central claim is clearly stated and appropriately qualified. Reasons effectively support central claim, and concrete evidence develops reasons. Connections between claims and reasons, and between reasons and evidence, are clearly stated. Argument is organized in a coherent, linear fashion. Background information and definition of key terms meets the needs of intended readers.	The appeal to reason is generally effective but would benefit from revision to clarify reasoning and/or to provide additional evidence and/or to explain how and why reasons and evidence supports your claim.	The appeal to reason is not effective because your reasoning is unclear or faulty and/or the argument lacks sufficient support, sufficient, relevant evidence, or connections between claim and support. The claim may change or is not maintained.
Ethos. Appeals to character in this argument are effective because: Source authority and credibility is presented explicitly and cited formally. Tone and language are fair and evenhanded.	While your readers may have moments of doubt about your character, they will find you trustworthy.	Readers will be skeptical about your character because of the sources you cite, a lack of citation, how you deal (or don't) with other perspectives.
Alternative Arguments: Specific alternative viewpoints are fairly represented and responded to effectively.	Alternative viewpoints could be better represented OR receive a more effective response.	Alternative viewpoints are not represented, are misrepresented, and/or do not receive an effective response.
Conventions & Style: A well-informed, academic audience’s expectations are met effectively because: Correct MLA citations are used, in text and in Works Cited page. Prose is clear, direct, and free of sentence-level errors.	Your paper is generally readable but would benefit from more careful proofreading & editing and/or correct MLA citation.	Readers will have difficulty understanding your meaning or accepting your claim because your paper needs to pay closer attention to conventions and to readers' needs.
Overall Effectiveness: The cumulative effect of this argument is one of thoroughness and unity, leaving well-informed readers likely to accept or at least consider your central claim very seriously.	Readers will be inclined to consider or accept your claim, but the argument and/or appeals could be more effective.	Readers are not likely to accept your claim—you may not have a clear sense of audience and/or purpose.