Persuasive Research Argument

Grissom
AP Lang

Persuasive Research Argument

This piece is first and foremost an argument.  Choose something that means something to you, something you don’t mind delving into for the next month or so.  Choose something that you can conduct research on and has an action purpose.  Your job is to persuade your audience to do what you want them to do (change a law, implement a program, get rid of a problem, quit doing something that annoys you, whatever).  You’ll use your research, structure, organization, style, and voice to convince them.

Objectives:

• Apply knowledge of appeals and fallacies to write a persuasive argument
• Evaluate the credibility of various sources of information and use them effectively to add merit to an argument
• Expand knowledge and experience with primary and secondary research
• Correctly use MLA citations (parenthetical and works cited)
• Fit a mass of information into a tightly-written essay

Requirements for the Argument:

1. Use at least one strong primary source in addition to several secondary sources.  Your primary sources must be conducted and included in a way that is as reliable as possible for our situation.  
2. Your secondary sources must be evaluated so that you know what kind of source you are using and you make conscious decisions about whether to include them or not.  You should always consider how each source will affect your ethos as well as your overall argument.
3. In addition to the normal secondary sources (book, website, EBSCO), you must also include an out-of-the-ordinary secondary source such as media, charts/graphs, pictures, etc.
4. Cite everything according to MLA style and include a works cited page.
5. Your final draft must be 500-750 words; therefore, be concise!

Requirements for the Process:

1. Submit a detailed research proposal and get it okayed by me.
2. DO NOT begin ANY primary research without submission AND approval from me first.
3. Complete and submit a web assessment using the questions on p. 415 of your textbook for each website you use.
4. Submit a draft of your argument to me by the deadline for individual feedback or class workshop.
5. Submit a draft of your argument by the deadline for peer review.
6. Attend a minimum of one MLA workshop with your works cited page (refresher does not count).
7. Submit your revised, polished final draft on time.

Getting Ready:
Solidify your topic, purpose, and audience by tomorrow.  You need the next few days to conduct your preliminary research before writing your research proposal.  Check out the EBSCO database, other IHS subscriptions, Dunn Library at Simpson, and credible websites.  Don’t dismiss print sources--they have a certain level of credibility that many web sources do not.  Also consider “alternative sources” such as media, visuals, or local sources (i.e. student handbook).  Find some sources of info to start with--get an idea of what is available AND where you might go with your argument.  Be sure to evaluate these sources—I’m not just grading you on having research, but also on the quality of sources you choose as support for you argument.  Your textbook clearly spells out what to look for in quality sources and you’ll eventually need to conduct a web assessment using the guidelines on p. 415 of your textbook.

Research Proposal:
This is a detailed, organized plan of what you intend your argument to be and what kind of research it will include.  Your proposal should include detailed answers to ALL of the questions below:

1. What is your argument?  In other words, what are you going to write about, who is your audience, and what will your purpose be (action you want your audience to take)?
2. What are the reasons your audience should do said action? You should have a minimum of two but no more than four.
3. What are the warrants for those reasons?
4. What support will you use for those claims and warrants?  Explain your own reasoning and also tell me about the sources of information you’ve already gathered and how they will help you.
5. What will you do for your primary research?  What kind of information do you want to gain from that source?  IN ADDITION:  Either now or later you will need to submit the following based on the type(s) of primary research you conduct.  Be sure to read the section of your textbook that addresses the type of research you plan to conduct.  You CANNOT begin your primary research until these items have been submitted AND approved by me:
1. Interview (p. 371-372)
1. Name of interviewee
2. Qualifications of interviewee
3. Questions you plan to ask
2. Observation (p. 370)
1. Description of what you plan to observe
2. Date(s), location(s), and time(s) of planned observation
3. Will there be specific people involved?  Will you need any special permission and how will you go about getting that?  If you will just be observing general public/activity, how will you address any questions you get?
4. What data will you record?  Submit your format for recording and organizing what you see.
3. Experiment (p. 374)
1. What experiment will you conduct?  Give a detailed description of what you plan to do.
2. What people will you need to include and how will they be chosen?
3. What equipment or permissions do you need in order to conduct this experiment?
4. How will you establish controls thereby limiting the factors you are testing?
4. Survey (p. 373)
1. Who will you survey?  Your sample must include at least 50 people, but more is strongly encouraged.  They must be randomly chosen--a survey cannot be just people you know or run into.  It must be planned, random, and reliable.
2. How will you distribute your survey?  What permissions will you need?
3. Submit a copy of your survey.  Keep in mind that you cannot have open-ended questions.  The purpose of a survey is to gather comparable data.  Your questions must be yes/no, multiple-choice, true/false, ranking or scale response, or items to check in a list.  You may provide a space for comments but remember that whatever information you gain will not be comparable data--it can only be used for quoting.

Process and Deadlines

• The Google calendar outlines all lab days, MLA workshop days, and deadlines.  
• Deadlines are also listed in Turnitin. NOTE:  You are required to turn in ONE draft for me to read.  In Turnitin, you have three opportunities to do so.  When you are ready to submit, upload to the draft that is currently open.  This will allow me to give timely feedback--you will only have to wait a few days to see your feedback.  Check back after the Post Date to see the comments on your draft.
• All students must submit to the February 14 deadline in order to be in the pool for the peer review.
• I will choose some drafts to workshop in class.  You can volunteer for this by sending me an email to let me know you have submitted something you’d like to go over in class.  Otherwise, I will choose pieces that I think will work well in class and that the whole class can benefit from.  I will remove the name from the piece in order to keep the writer somewhat anonymous, but obviously some people may know or guess who wrote it.  All notes and comments will be recorded and emailed to the writer after class.
• MLA Days are listed as optional on the Google calendar.  Attendance at ONE of them is required and in order to meet that requirement, you must have a copy of your works cited page with you either on paper or on a digital device that allows you to work with it.  These workshops will be student-driven.  Come with questions about sources you are citing or having trouble with. This is your opportunity for help.  Come prepared with questions to help you get what you need out of these sessions.
• The MLA Refresher is an exception to the above.  It does NOT count as your one required attendance and you do not need to bring a works cited page with you.  This will be a teacher-planned session in which I will walk you through the basics of works cited/MLA.  If you have a grasp of the basics, you do not need to attend.  If you’ve always sucked at your works cited pages and/or have no idea what you’re doing, make sure you DO attend that day.  The workshop is designed just for you. =)