Your paper will consist of 5 paragraphs of the following types, in order:
1. Introduction
2. Position
3. Opposition
4. Rebuttal
5. Conclusion
In the Introduction paragraph, you should educate the reader with background information needed to understand the arguments you will present in the paper. Also, your thesis should appear at the end of your Introduction. Your thesis is should be a single sentence that states what your position or opinion is.
Paragraph 2, the Position/opinion paragraph, you should present one or more fact-based arguments, with citations of your sources that support the position in your thesis. You must include at least 3 separate facts to support your thesis. Paragraph 3 should present arguments that oppose the position in your thesis. You must include at least 3 separate facts to support the opposition view. Do not purposefully present weak arguments of the opposing view? That would be what is called a straw man argument, where you present a fake position of your opponent just to show that you can easily knock it down. Your goal is to show that you understand the best arguments of those who oppose your view. (Note that when you can show that you understand your opponents views, your position is strengthened. If dont understand their arguments, how can you truly say that you know your position is the best?)In Paragraph 4, you will write your rebuttal. Your rebuttal needs to directly address the 3 facts in the opposition paragraph. Do not introduce new arguments in support of your thesis. Also, do not try to counter opposition arguments by stating new opinions or just restating your thesis. You need to meet facts with facts. State things, in Paragraph 5, that can be reasonably concluded from the arguments in your paper. Summarize the reasons that your arguments show that your thesis is more reasonable than the opposition view.
There should only be two opinions in this paper: Your thesis and the opposing view. The rest of your paper must present arguments based on facts. You will find these facts in your research for this paper. You need to tell everyone where you got your facts. This is called citing your sources.
You will need at least 5 good sources. You may use books, blogs, movie review, scientific journal articles, or websites. Note that websites from government agencies (.gov), non-profit organizations (.org), or educational institutions (.edu) tend to be more reliable that websites with addresses ending in .com. You will need to cite your sources in APA format. You will also need to list all the sources you cite at the end of your paper, also in APA format.
