Research Paper: Rogerian Argument Section Assignment

by

ILO: 

  • Construct a text that incorporates critical reading, analyzing, and interaction with sources.
  • Construct a text that demonstrates an understanding of the elements of argumentation.
  • Show fluency within the various stages of the writing process.

Instructions 

  • This week you’ll be writing the argument section of your researched argument paper. It is the “meat” of the paper, so it will be the longest part (minimum of 1,800 words). It will immediately follow your background section, which you wrote last week, so begin with a transition. This week’s writing will include the following sections:
    • Laying out positions: You will have at least two positions that you explain. Some questions may have more than two possible answers. Some will have a large number of possible answers. Here you want to limit to no more than four positions; any more would be confusing for the reader. Your reader should not be able to discern which position you agree with at this point. Make every attempt to lay the positions out in a fair and balanced way. Include information about the context and assumptions of those who hold each position.
    • Common ground: Here you will refer to what’s at stake (from the background section) and what is valued in common by the stakeholders. For example, if I’m writing about the best way to prepare lower-performing students for college, I will have just outlined several options, and for common ground, I’ll say that everyone wants students to be prepared, wants students to have self-agency, and so on. The more values you can find that everyone agrees on, the better. 
    • Solutions that can provide what people see as important (the common ground). Here you list several possible solutions and describe why they can be a win/win for all stakeholders and how they could be implemented.
    • Include a Bibliography or References page that just incorporates the sources you use in this section (Zotero can do this for you).
  • The total number of words in these three sections will be at least 1,800.

Due Tuesday, 11:59 PM EST.