Description
State your chosen topic. Then discuss the following questions in one paragraph (200 words minimum):
Describe the topic you have chosen.
Why did you pick this topic? What is the pressing need to write about it?
Is there enough controversy or nuance that you can easily take one clear position on the topic?
Is the topic deep enough to write 15 pages about?
Is the topic being written about in recent, credible, academic sources?
How is the topic interesting and/or relevant to the average Parkland College student?
2) Find a news article from a recent, credible online news source (see list below) that discusses your chosen topic.
The article must have been published since December of 2019. *Please note that ONLY this article will have to be this recent. You will be allowed to use older research for future assignments
You must choose an article from one of the following sources.
The New York Times
CNN
BBC
The Wall Street Journal
Al Jazeera
Any other major news source, approved by me
Once you have found your article,
Post a link to it. State the author’s name (if available), the name of the news source, and the date of publication.
The Research Project
General Guidelines
The overall project for ENG 102 is based on building professional research skills, including finding, evaluating, and properly using primary and secondary sources to support your own argumentative position in a paper and correctly using MLA style for documentation.
For this assignment, you must choose a focused topic about a current controversy or issue on which you can take a strong argumentative position (either positive or negative) either 1) in your home country, or 2) in your field of study. You must get approval from me about your final topic choice.
Research Paper Assignment Goals
1) The main goal of this paper is to create a convincing argument about your position. The paper must be argumentative, not informational. The argument should be your own, original position, supported by secondary sources (other people’s research).
2) The paper must reach a minimum of 15 full pages; this does not include the Works Cited page. You may use up to three visual elements (picture, chart, graph, etc.), but each may not exceed 1/2 page in size, and they must be properly cited and listed in the Works Cited.
3) The paper must be properly formatted in MLA style.
4) The paper must use at least 15 credible, academic sources.
5) A clear argumentative thesis that follows the guidelines must be clearly stated and underlined or bolded in both the introduction and the conclusion.
6) The paper should be organized around three clear argumentative points (listed in the thesis) that are each developed in their own section in the paper (about 3-4 pages each using as many sources as needed to be convincing) with a clear argument and focus for each section.
7) Again, the overall paper must present a convincing argument about your position on the topic! You may use as many pages and as many sources above the minimum requirements as it takes to do this, as long as you follow the guidelines above.
We will be spending the rest of the semester working on this; smaller assignments will be due week to week, but the final paper will not be due until the end of the semester.
Sample Solution
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography and the Declaration of Independence both offer numerous basic Enlightenment thoughts that were incorporated and that have become a mainstay of American culture. In Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Franklin is viewed as a Renaissance man who has aced numerous attributes and his readiness to gain proficiency with various subjects, for example, history, theory and science have helped him spread Enlightenment thoughts to a wide crowd. His insight helped him build up the Library Company of Philadelphia which helped numerous Americans become instructed. Franklin stated, “These Libraries have improv’d the general Conversation of the Americans, made the regular Tradesmen and Farmers as astute as most Gentlemen from different Countries, and maybe have contributed in some degree to the Stand so commonly made all through the Colonies in Defense of their Privileges,” (Franklin “From The Autobiography” pg. 292). Franklin portrays the “New World” as a position of chance to work and develop as a person. He reviewed his initial life as “having emerg’d from the Poverty and Obscurity wherein I was brought up, to a State of Affluence and some Degree of Reputation in the World, and having gone so far thro’ Life with a significant Share of Felicity, the directing Means I utilized, which, with the Blessing of God,” (Franklin “From The Autobiography” pg. 248). He implies that on the off chance that you buckle down, devote yourself and trust God you’ll make something out of yourself. Religion was another huge factor that enlivened Enlightenment musings throughout Franklin’s life. His view on religion was receptive as he was a non-devotee, yet he despite everything had confidence in shrewdness and God, in which he needed individuals to have strict opportunity as he specifies, “This Respect to all, with an Opinion that the most noticeably terrible had some great Effects, induc’d me to maintain a strategic distance from all Discourse that may will in general decrease the great Opinion another might have of his own Religion; [⦠] new Places of love were ceaselessly needed, and [⦠] my Mite for such reason, whatever may be the Sect, was never won’t,” (Franklin “From The Autobiography” pg. 299). Franklin had a solid conviction that all individuals have normal rights, for example, life, freedom and the quest for satisfaction. He likewise searched out the Enlightenment Idea to look for a decent, glad and a profitable life. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson makes reference to the significance of these Enlightenment thoughts that the thirteen settlements battled for against England. Written in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson spreads out the most significant Enlightenment thought regarding normal rights in which he remarks that “all men are made equivalent; that they are invested by their Creator with natural and basic rights; among these are life, freedom, and the quest for joy,” (Jefferson “From The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson” pg. 340). Another Enlightenment thought that Jefferson expounds on is the possibility that individuals should have certain unalienable rights that the administration ought to never damage and remove, and that “to verify these rights, governments are established among men, getting their fair powers from the assent of the administered,” (Jefferson “From The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson” pg. 340). These thoughts are as yet important in the present society since they were made into laws that our legislature and country set as a rule to follow. It caused it workable for individuals to have strict opportunity in which the congregation and government were isolated. The administration is precluded from making any laws that meddle with the foundation of any religion, strict convictions and practices. These laws let individuals have common rights, for example, life, freedom and the quest for bliss which would not exist without the Enlightenment standards that have been a significant piece of America’s establishment.>
Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography and the Declaration of Independence both offer numerous basic Enlightenment thoughts that were incorporated and that have become a mainstay of American culture. In Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Franklin is viewed as a Renaissance man who has aced numerous attributes and his readiness to gain proficiency with various subjects, for example, history, theory and science have helped him spread Enlightenment thoughts to a wide crowd. His insight helped him build up the Library Company of Philadelphia which helped numerous Americans become instructed. Franklin stated, “These Libraries have improv’d the general Conversation of the Americans, made the regular Tradesmen and Farmers as astute as most Gentlemen from different Countries, and maybe have contributed in some degree to the Stand so commonly made all through the Colonies in Defense of their Privileges,” (Franklin “From The Autobiography” pg. 292). Franklin portrays the “New World” as a position of chance to work and develop as a person. He reviewed his initial life as “having emerg’d from the Poverty and Obscurity wherein I was brought up, to a State of Affluence and some Degree of Reputation in the World, and having gone so far thro’ Life with a significant Share of Felicity, the directing Means I utilized, which, with the Blessing of God,” (Franklin “From The Autobiography” pg. 248). He implies that on the off chance that you buckle down, devote yourself and trust God you’ll make something out of yourself. Religion was another huge factor that enlivened Enlightenment musings throughout Franklin’s life. His view on religion was receptive as he was a non-devotee, yet he despite everything had confidence in shrewdness and God, in which he needed individuals to have strict opportunity as he specifies, “This Respect to all, with an Opinion that the most noticeably terrible had some great Effects, induc’d me to maintain a strategic distance from all Discourse that may will in general decrease the great Opinion another might have of his own Religion; [⦠] new Places of love were ceaselessly needed, and [⦠] my Mite for such reason, whatever may be the Sect, was never won’t,” (Franklin “From The Autobiography” pg. 299). Franklin had a solid conviction that all individuals have normal rights, for example, life, freedom and the quest for satisfaction. He likewise searched out the Enlightenment Idea to look for a decent, glad and a profitable life. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson makes reference to the significance of these Enlightenment thoughts that the thirteen settlements battled for against England. Written in the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson spreads out the most significant Enlightenment thought regarding normal rights in which he remarks that “all men are made equivalent; that they are invested by their Creator with natural and basic rights; among these are life, freedom, and the quest for joy,” (Jefferson “From The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson” pg. 340). Another Enlightenment thought that Jefferson expounds on is the possibility that individuals should have certain unalienable rights that the administration ought to never damage and remove, and that “to verify these rights, governments are established among men, getting their fair powers from the assent of the administered,” (Jefferson “From The Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson” pg. 340). These thoughts are as yet important in the present society since they were made into laws that our legislature and country set as a rule to follow. It caused it workable for individuals to have strict opportunity in which the congregation and government were isolated. The administration is precluded from making any laws that meddle with the foundation of any religion, strict convictions and practices. These laws let individuals have common rights, for example, life, freedom and the quest for bliss which would not exist without the Enlightenment standards that have been a significant piece of America’s establishment.>
