Reference no: EM132725032

Argumentative Research Essay

Topic - Alberta has been exposed to hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which is a type of mining for natural gas. Many argue that "fracking" will pollute groundwater supplies, while industry argues that it is perfectly safe. Is it? Should the government step in? You will need to examine specific, academic research on the environmental affects (specific studies) of the practice for this topic.

Formatting Your Essay
Your essay should be double spaced and should be written in an Arial font of 12 and follow APA style. Use left align (ragged) rather than full (justified) alignment.

Aside from your thoughtful title, your title page must include your name, your student number, the date, and a word count (excluding the title page and references page). Place this information in the center of the page. Do not worry about the APA guide for your title page aside from the fact that it should contain a page number in the top right corner.

Do not use headings throughout your essay.
The required word count for this essay is too high for a five paragraph essay: you will need more than three body paragraphs. Remember that the number of body paragraphs does not necessarily match the number of subtopics in your thesis. Please review the word count analysis page.

You must use one of the topics provided; otherwise, your essay will be returned to you with a grade of zero. Be sure to narrow your focus as the topics are broad. The topics are meant to be a starting point for you.

Conduct your research. You will complete this task initially through an annotated bibliography (assignment 2).

Devise a thesis statement. You will also complete this task initially when constructing an annotated bibliography.

Support your claims. Each paragraph should be devoted to explaining and supporting a particular subtopic within your thesis. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence, and each body paragraph (excluding the first) should have a smooth transition connecting it the preceding paragraph. This process is covered in module 9.
Conclude your essay. Maintain interest and offer an overview of your thesis. This process is also covered in module 9.
Things to Watch Out For
Be sure to narrow the focus of your topic. You must write your own focused thesis. The topics provided are general in nature.
Be sure to mention the other side of the argument in your introduction. Limit this to a clause or a sentence. You must use a limited refutation in this essay due to limits in length.
Avoid quotations unless paraphrasing/summarizing is not possible. Review here.
Back up all claims with valid research, and avoid the first person point of view in the body of your essay. Please review Valid vs. Invalid Research from module 5.

PROOFREAD YOUR WORK: Examine your notes and the modules we have covered. Everything we have learned thus far should be applied to this essay:
Proper punctuation and grammar
Concise and clear sentences
Strong thesis statement
Unified paragraphs
Paragraph transitions
Properly integrated support
Title page and references page

Make sure your essay meets the requested length: You WILL be docked the percentage you are short or over.

When you hand in your essay to the appropriate drop box, avoid writing in the text box unless you have something important about the assignment to communicate to your instructor. An example of this would be a resubmission (an updated copy that you would like your instructor to mark instead of a previous submission) or something similar.
Make sure all parts (title page, essay, references page) are all in one Word file.
Please bold face your thesis statement to make it easy to identify.

1700-2000 words,