Questions we Can Help you to Answer

Paper Instructions:

Academic dishonest should be considered a felony, punishable by the goverment's law enforcement

Directions:
1.
Pick a term/symbol/image to define.
(See below for examples.)
Note: The term must be arguable. This means that you will be able to find credible sources that disagree with your definition. For example, arguing that “racism” should include racist com ments directed toward
Mexican-Americans does not meet the requirements for this assignment, because that is already the legal, commonly-held definition and there isn’t a rational counter argument.
2.Research your term. Start with the dictionary(the OED is a great source)
. Then look at opeds and reliable blogs. Use the Valley Library. Remember to look for sources that agree and disagree with you.
3.
Make an argument that rests on the definition of your term.There are two big moves in this paper: you need to both define a key term and build an argument around that term. For example, “Abortion should/should not be illegal” is
not a good thesis for this essay, because although
abortion is a controversial topic, none of those words are controversial (we all
agree on what “abortion” and “illegal” mean). However, “Abortion should/should not be illegal because it does/does not end a human life” could work well; you would then need to define “human life” and when it begins before making your point that because of this, laws should or shouldn’t be changed.
Similarly, “A sport is....” is not an argument in and of itself. Instead, you could argue that NASCAR is/is not a sport; you would then need to define “sport” and show how NASCAR meets that definition.
4.
Create your definition, an argument that rests on that definition,and start writing.
Your paper should include
the following elements:
•
Awareness of a specific audience and publication for which you will be writing
and consideration of how your identification of that audience informs your definitional argument
•
A strong and engaging introduction that grabs the reader’s interest
•
Clear thesis (claim and reason) involving a matter of definition
•
General definition of key term that
is acceptable to readers–do more th
an quote the dictionary
•
Support/explanation/defense of the terms
of the definition
–
why is this a good definition?
•
Support of claim in terms of the definition (does the claim meet the criteria set out in the definition? compare/contrast claim and definiti
on)
•
Consideration of alternative views and counterarguments, such as any objections
that a reader might have to claim, criteria, or evidence, or
the way the definition is formulated (rebuttals)
•
A conclusion of your argument that explains the implications of your definitional argument (so what? who cares? what would happen if your definition were adopted?)
•
Credible sources
•
Ideas from at least 3 credible sources (no Wikipedia) must be incorporated into your essay
•
Must be opeds, credible blogs, or up to 1 dictionary
•
Make sure to introduce the author/site and state why he/she/it is relevant to your argument
•
In text
citations for every quote, fact, and reference
•

Final Step: