Reference no: EM132388014
Argument Synthesis Essay Instructions
You will select an essay or chapter from the assigned readings that poses an ethical problem and put it into conversation with at minimum fiveacademic sources (4 academic essays and 1 podcast). You will then draft a research-based essay that:
1. Describes the ethical problem under consideration, citing the collected research as evidence.
2. Outlines the different facets of the ethical problem that you have identified, placing the collected essays and podcast into conversation by explaining how each essay or podcast defines the problem.
3. Evaluates trends in the cited research, using evidence to explain the causes for existing roadblocks.
4. Proposes a new solution that offers an alternative approach to the ethical problem you have described.
5. Anticipates counterarguments to your proposed recommendations and qualifies them according to your audience and purpose.
6. Uses MLA citation practices correctly.
A research essay does not exhort its audience as if it were an op-ed article. It is not interested in appealing to or replicating popular opinion. Instead, it is an attempt to produce insightful scholarly perspective by consulting published research that names and attempts to solve a relevant ethical problem. Remember, an argument does not replicate an existing perspective but attempts to invent a new perspective that responds more effectively to relevant ethical problems.
For additional help on how to begin this work, see Argument Synthesis: A Quick Overview.
In This Unit, We Assume...
• Academic research is a core transferrable skill for all undergraduate university instruction.
• Successful academic research takes into account multiple perspectives and draws them together under a unifying theme (ethical problem).
• Successful academic research describes and analyzes an ethical problem, citing relevant passages to support the writer's claims.
• Successful interpretations of ethical problems develop plans for future action and anticipate counterarguments in their justifications for implementation.
• The development of a critical perspective does not need to adopt a negative tone. It may extend a proposal by adding a new perspective to the conversation.
• The successful delivery of academic research requires strict adherence to academic conventions.
Instructional Goals
• Help you implement the descriptive and analytic strategies you learned in previous units.
• Help you track argumentative tendencies across multiple essays.
• Help you draw implications from multiple essays.
• Help you practice a form of research analysis that is precise in its argumentation.
• Help you develop new perspectives or courses of action from multiple essays.
• Help you learn citation practices, which includes grammar, when using multiple essays.
• Help you evaluate different types of academic research in the context of an argumentative purpose.
Questions for Consideration
• How are the selected research articles addressing a similar ethical problem?
• What are the potential consequences of not paying attention to the ethical problem that I have identified in this research?
• What predictable conclusions can I draw from this research and how can I develop a more innovative perspective?
• How do the previous strategies of argument description and argument analysis prepare me for this research assignment?
• How do citation and grammatical practices change when I am consulting more than one essay?
• What are the best sources for my argument?
Key Requirements
• 12-point, Times New Roman
• Minimum five cited essays
• Double-spaced, 1800-2100 words
• Follow MLA guidelines for citation and mechanics
• Include MLA in-text citations and Works Cited page