ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH ESSAY

ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH ESSAY

POSSIBLE ESSAY TOPIC

Does globalization strengthen or weaken nationalism

SOME GUIDELINES FOR ARGUMENTATIVE RESEARCH ESSAY

General Guideline on What to Do

· . The paper will include a clear argument or thesis, a strong analysis supported by evidence, and a forceful conclusion.

· An argument requires two elements: a clear position on the subject matter and supporting evidence (factors) that substantiate the claim.

· In subsequent paragraphs, they will explain these factors and demonstrate how they are related to their main argument.

· If you are working on an idea or a topic and feel that it has both strengths and weaknesses, they will take a position and explain its strengths (or weaknesses) only. While they are explaining their position on an idea, they will acknowledge the opposite viewpoint briefly in a paragraph or so before concluding the paper.

· In the concluding section, students will briefly summarize their findings and reinforce their position. At this point, they may include some relevant suggestions or recommendations to make their argument more appealing.

Length of Paper

· The paper will be about 1500 words (double spaced) long, no more, excluding the cover page and list of References. Include the ‘word count’ at the end of your concluding paragraph. Be concise and to the point. Include what is relevant to the main argument and leave out unnecessary detail or background information. (Note: The essence of writing a good paper is knowing not just what to include but what to exclude.)

Format and Style

· You will use an APA (American Psychological Association) style of reference and be consistent throughout the paper.

· You will use standard size 12 font and keep 1” margins on all sides, include the page numbers, a cover page, in-text or parenthetical citations, a list of references.

· Note:. An ordinary cover page with all identifying information (such as the running head, title of the paper, name of the student, and college name) is required.

· You will write their paper with proper sentence structure so that the ideas expressed are clearly understood. They will not not personalize their papers (e.g. I belive, I feel, etc.) and use any value laden or normative expressions such as “we all know” (feel, hope, believe, think, etc.), or conclude their paper with a judgmental overtone, such as “we are certain” or “absolutely wrong/right” or “we will overcome.”

· No paper requiring extensive corrections of grammar will be accepted..

References

· You will include at least 8 major academic sources in their paper. A combination of four scholarly books and four journal articles will be considered sufficient. While plenty of information is available on the web, most of it is not reliable. You are strongly advised not to use any obscure internet resources. They will use reliable search engines such as ‘google scholar’ and ‘academic search premier’ on the net to find scholarly journal articles and other relevant information on their essay topic.

· When you use any reliable website for reference purposes, they will provide a brief citation within the text and include the URL and the date of visit to the website in the reference section. No Wikipedia citations!

Citing Sources

· You will include at least 15 citations from the references/sources they have chosen in their paper.

· Whenever you use and/or copy the ideas or opinions written/expressed by others, you will use in-text or parenthetical citations. For paraphrased ideas, students will supply the last name of the author and year of publication. For direct quotations, a page number is also required.

· You will not use too many direct quotations.

Documenting Sources

· These are the kinds of material that need to be documented:

· All direct quotations, however short.

· All borrowed ideas..

· Specific facts, such as the results of a published study.

· These are the kinds of material that do not need to be documented:

· your’s own original observations, ideas, comments, arguments, interpretations, and conclusions.

· Specific facts that can be regarded as "common knowledge" in a field. For example, it is common knowledge that World War II ended in 1945. As a rule of thumb, if you find the same fact in three or more of your sources, you can assume it is common knowledge. If in doubt, however, document.

· When you take notes for their essay, these two practices will help them avoid involuntary plagiarism and document accurately:

Record the page from which paraphrased or quoted material was taken. If the passage continues to a new page, indicate the page break. On a separate card, record all the information that is required for Works Cited list. Last-minute trips to the library are tiresome and frustrating.