Argumentative Essay
6-8 pages, typed, double-spaced
Full-length draft due May 26
In this essay you will argue for or against a policy recommendation for creating equity in California or a county or city in California. The policy recommendation should be specific enough so that a specific city, county, or state government can take a specific action in making the recommendation a reality. Your argument, as much as possible, should be based on research so that you can make a convincing argument for the specific city, county, or state government to take action.
Your essay should demonstrate that you are aware of different positions and opinions concerning the specific policy, law or rule that is the focus of your essay. You should demonstrate some historical awareness of how the policy, law, or rule has assumed its current form and/or historical awareness about how the groups affected have developed in a way that would require the policy, law, or rule to change. Your essay should be as up to date as possible. You should demonstrate awareness of the groups that would be affected by the change that you argue for and what the effects would be.
Most likely the overall structure of your essay will have two parts, a problem and a solution. You should develop each of these parts through several paragraphs.
Research Question
Your research question will take the following basic form:
Should [city, county, or state government] [policy proposal] by [changing a rule/allocating
resources/supporting a program]?
The policy proposal should be one of the policy proposals from the summary of policy
recommendations at the end of the 2012 edition of Landscape of Opportunities, a publication of the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network. You will need to go beyond
the proposals in this document by finding a specific rule, program, or action that
the government you are focusing on should or should not change in order to promote
equity.
Your thesis statement is your answer to your research question.
Outline
Your outline is a plan for a 6 to 8-page essay. Most likely the overall structure of your essay will have two major parts, a problem and a solution. You should develop each of these parts through several paragraphs.
Before you begin to write the first draft of your essay you will need to have an outline approved by me. Most likely your outline will answer the sequence of questions below. The structure of your essay, however, should depart from this sequence of questions if there is a good reason based on your thesis or the reality that your thesis represents.
- What is the problem?
- What is a solution?
- What is the strongest objection to the solution?
- What is an answer to the objection?
- What are limitations of the solution?
Note that you will probably need more than one paragraph for each part of your essay. For example, if you include a story about someone who has experienced the problem that you are writing about then you will probably put the story in its own paragraph.
Process
This is the process that you are required to follow in order to complete this essay:
Complete Journal 4 so that you know the general topic, the geographical scope, and
the initial research question for your essay.
Do background research in order to make a more specific research question.
Have your specific research question approved.
Write an intitial thesis and an outline. The initial thesis is your initial answer
for your research question.
Have your outline approved.
Write the first draft of the essay, and continue research when necessary while you
are writing your first draft. It is possible that your research question and thesis
might change as you do additional research.
Receive feedback on the first draft, revise the essay, and continue receiving feedback
and revising the essay until either the end of the quarter or the essay is an A-quality
essay.
I will evaluate your essay according to the criteria in the EWRT1A Essay Grading Rubric for De Anza College. To a large extent your research question will determine the quality of your essay. In this essay you are required to use MLA-style in-text citations and include a Works Cited page that does not count towards the 6-8 page requirement.