Argumentative Essay
English 1101
OBJECTIVE: Compose an essay that successfully evaluates a piece of media based on criteria you offer.
- Select some work (video game, movie, song, painting, etc).
- Determine a set of criteria for evaluating that work. (In other words, articulate what makes some work from that genre of media effective/ineffective, moving/dull, worthwhile/not worth one’s time.)
- Analyze the work you choose and find specific qualities of that work to serve as evidence to evaluate it based on your criteria. Find two or more secondary sources to support some part of your reading/interpretation of the evidence.
- Compose a thesis that argues for your evaluation of the work and that gives specific reasons to support this evaluation.
- Compose an essay that presents this thesis, presents and explains your criteria, and then supports your thesis with detailed discussions of the evidence you find.
- Consider how the work relates to important social/political/cultural concerns or issues. Include a comment in the essay about the work’s relevance to those issues.
For more information about this assignment and for student examples, see pp.305-315 of the Guide to First-Year Writing.
Requirements: A 4 page essay including
- An instructor-approved work/piece of media
- Articulation of criteria for evaluating that genre of media
- A thesis that argues for your evaluation of the work based on your criteria
- Detailed evidence from the work that supports your evaluation (two or more secondary sources that offer additional evidence)
- A coherent organizational structure that supports your thesis
- Some comment about the work’s relevance to current social/political/cultural issues.
- MLA citation for all sources in an attached works cited page
- Proofreading and MLA formatting
WHEN:
Draft due 11/21 in class for peer-response workshop
Final due 11/21 at Midnight