Instructions
Read the following argument examples in this activity.

Argument 1
Dick and Jane have insured their house and cars with Farmer’s Mutual for 10 years. During this time, they filed only one claim for $500, and the premiums have risen 100%. Two weeks ago, while backing out of the garage, Jane damaged the right fender. They didn’t fix it, and yesterday, while Jane was parked at the supermarket, someone hit the right side of the car, damaging everything but the right fender. When Jane checks the insurance policy, she discovers that while the supermarket accident is covered, the damaged right fender is not.

Jane says, “Let’s claim that all the damage happened at the supermarket. It’s only fair. The insurance company has made thousands of dollars from our premiums alone, not to mention all the other people they insure, so they’ll hardly miss the few thousands that their repairs will cost. Many of their friends have done the same – included items that were not part of actual collision damage. It’s unlikely that they we will be discovered, because the fender could easily have been damaged in the collision.”

Argument 2
In a world where medical resources are in ever-shorter supply, allocation of those resources is becoming an issue. Critical care units (ICU) put heavy demand on hospital resources. Adult medical intensive care units (MICU’s) are often occupied by elderly patients in the final stages of chronic illnesses. Neonatal ICU’s, however, are reserved for premature infants that need critical care in the first few days of life. Surveys of mortality rates in relation to amount of care for both units show that on a cost/benefit basis, outcomes for NICU patients are statistically better than those for MICU patients. Since hospitals should prioritize outcomes, it is clear that resources should be allocated more heavily to the NICU.

Using the examples in the introduction of this activity, address the following:

1. Briefly analyze each argument as follows:
   • State the issue and the conclusion.
   • For each argument, analyze the argument:
     • State if it is deductive or inductive.
     • Explain how the argument follows the form of an inductive or deductive argument.
   • Reference words, phrases, the structure of the argument, or any other facts or observations you believe support your claim.
2. Diagram the argument.

Writing Requirements (APA format)

• Length: 1-2 pages total (not including title page or references page)
• 1-inch margins
• Double spaced
• 12-point Times New Roman font
• Title page

 

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ENGL 1020: Composition/Analysis    

University of Memphis

Argument Revision Assignment 

I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers.” — Vladimir Nabokov, Speak, Memory, 1966

“I don’t write easily or rapidly. My first draft usually has only a few elements worth keeping. I have to find what those are and build from them and throw out what doesn’t work, or what simply is not alive.” — Susan Sontag

“Put down everything that comes into your head and then you’re a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff’s worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.” — Colette, Casual Chance, 1964

“By the time I am nearing the end of a story, the first part will have been reread and altered and corrected at least one hundred and fifty times. I am suspicious of both facility and speed. Good writing is essentially rewriting. I am positive of this.” — Roald Dahl

“The best advice I can give on this is, once it’s done, to put it away until you can read it with new eyes. Finish the short story, print it out, then put it in a drawer and write other things. When you’re ready, pick it up and read it, as if you’ve never read it before. If there are things you aren’t satisfied with as a reader, go in and fix them as a writer: that’s revision.” — Neil Gaiman

Overview: 

As the above quotes from famous writers explain, successful writers are successful revisers. Writing courses often don’t build in time to allow for revision, leaving the false impression that effective writing can actually happen in a few days or weeks. Thus, your final and major project of this course asks you to take all that you have learned about writing processes, composing, and research in order to revise your researched argument.  You may use writing you produced in your first draft, but if the paper does not change significantly, then your essay grade will be lowered. Your goal for this paper should be to improve your argument and to improve your presentation (tone, sentence structure, organization) of that argument. This paper should be a minimum of eight pages and use a minimum of eight sources (five of which have to be academic/government). 

What is revision? Revision involves making global changes to your writing. It involves deleting, moving, and rewriting large parts (if not all) of your previous drafts. It often means doing new research, finding new ways to discuss your topic, and even starting fresh—only pulling words from your first draft when absolutely necessary (and even then those words might need to change). Revising is not the same as editing and proofreading. Editing and proofreading focus on sentences, words, and correctness. Revision focuses on making meaning and on the overall organization and development of your argument.

This is the culmination of all of our work this term and is worth 35% of the semester grade.

The Process: 

This assignment is going to ask you to complete a number of steps in order to improve your essay. 

1. Create a reverse outline of your argument. 
2. Create a revision plan and meet with your instructor to discuss it. 
3. Do new research. Find new sources to support your argument (the reverse outline should help you identify the type of research you need to do in order to support your claims). 
4. Rewrite and revise! 
5. Edit and proofread. 

Requirements: 

• Eight to ten full pages (excluding works cited)
• Must include eight sources, of which five must be academic or government sources 
• MLA format 
• Topic related to Memphis (unless you are out of the area, in which case you may argue a topic in your own area.)

Due Dates: 

• Revision Plan Due end of week #13.
• Complete additional research and begin rewriting
• Conferences Week#14—continue researching and writing 
• Writers Workshop Draft due Thursday of Week #15 
• Final draft is due Sunday 11:59pm of Week #15

 

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You are required to submit the FINAL copy of this assignment, but you may first submit an optional DRAFT. This will allow you to receive qualitative feedback that can inform your revision. You should always avoid focusing solely on the grader’s DRAFT feedback; use the feedback as a supplement to the course lessons and your own revision ideas. Always expect to revise beyond what the DRAFT grader specifically notes. 

Option #1: Does Technology Promote Loneliness?

Develop a thesis statement built upon whether or not technology promotes loneliness. You should focus on either one form of hardware or one type of software. For example, you could target cell phones or laptops. If you want to look more into software, you could narrow your discussions to one type of social media or one gaming app. These are just a handful of a vast array of options you could choose.

Develop at least three strong arguments in addition to a counterargument and refutation (this resource can assist you in developing the counterargument and refutation). This organization should yield four body paragraphs. Using argumentative topic sentences that include your opinion for each section can help ensure the majority of your essay is argumentative. The beginning of a sample topic sentence might be, “First, Facebook does not promote loneliness because….” Then, be sure to support that claim with a point or two of researched data, followed by mostly original material that helps to explain how your research supports your claims as well as provides new insights and perspectives. Conclude each paragraph with a sentence that synthesizes the paragraph’s main ideas.

Sample Thesis Statement: Social media, particularly Facebook, does not promote loneliness because (add argument 1), (add argument 2), and (add argument 3), even though (add counterargument focus). *Note that a thorough thesis statement will include the counterargument in addition to your own arguments, but be sure to frame your counterargument as the opposition’s opinion so that readers do not think that you are changing your stance.

See The Top Ten Tips for College-Level Writing (Presentation) for more thesis statement assistance.

Use at least three credible sources (the author should be considered an expert on the topic in which he or she writes; try Google Scholar to search), such as books, articles, and websites, to support your thesis. Include a mix of cited paraphrases, summaries, and quotes in your argumentative research paper. Use MLA format (Tip: You will find useful MLA resources within the course topics, particularly in Topic 9) to create proper parenthetical citations as well as a Works Cited page at the end of your essay. For additional Works Cited assistance visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/ and use the left navigation menu to locate the type of reference you need.

Option #2: Is Citizen Privacy or National Security More Important?

Develop a thesis statement focused on determining if citizen privacy or national security is more important. You can choose any country or region. Your chosen topic needs to be specific and might address a question like the ones you see in these examples:

• Should officials make citizens’ privacy more of a priority than national security? Why or why not? 
• Is national security likely to pose a risk for citizen privacy? Why or why not? 
• You may choose another topic regarding the relationship between citizen privacy and national security as well; just be sure that your main thesis addresses the association between these two ideas. 

Develop at least three strong arguments in addition to a counterargument and refutation (this resource can assist you in developing the counterargument and refutation). This organization should yield four body paragraphs. Using argumentative topic sentences that include your opinion for each section can help ensure the majority of your essay is argumentative. The beginning of a sample topic sentence might be, “Primarily, exceptional national security is likely to reduce citizen privacy because….” Then, be sure to support that claim with a point or two of researched data, followed by mostly original material that helps to explain how your research supports your claims as well as provides new insights and perspectives. Conclude each paragraph with a sentence that synthesizes the paragraph’s main ideas.

Sample Thesis Statement: Ideally, a thesis would include the major assignment objectives for the essay, which in this case would be your claim/opinion, reasons why you have that opinion, and the counterargument: Implementing national security measures could lead to citizen privacy dilemmas because (add argument 1), (add argument 2), and (add argument 3), even though (add counterargument focus). *Note that a thorough thesis statement will include the counterargument in addition to your own arguments, but be sure to frame your counterargument as the opposition’s opinion so that readers do not think that you are changing your stance.  

Use at least three credible sources (the author should be considered an expert on the topic in which he or she writes), such as books, articles, and websites, to support your claims. Include a mix of cited paraphrases, summaries, and quotes in your argumentative research paper. Use MLA format (Tip: You will find useful MLA resources within the course topics, particularly in Topic 9) to create proper parenthetical citations as well as a Works Cited page at the end of your essay. For additional Works Cited assistance visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/08/ and use the left navigation menu to locate the type of reference you need.

More Tips 

Visit https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/argumentative_essays.html for more argumentative thesis statement assistance and to learn if your thesis is both arguable and narrowed.

A counter-argument section for this paper should explain what the opposition believes, and it is the opposite of the opinion you are arguing in your paper. For example, if you are arguing that anti-plagiarism software should not be used in college classes, then the counterargument would be that anti-plagiarism software should be used. Then in your refutation, try to prove the counterargument false, insignificant, or unimportant with researched information that is new to the essay (avoid recycling facts from a previous argument in the essay). 

This resource will help you craft your counter argument and refutation.

The guidelines and requirements for this assignment are as follows:

Format Requirements:

Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of your writing assignment with the following information:

• Your first and last name 
• Course Title (Composition I) 
• Assignment name (Argumentative Essay) 
• Current Date

Page Layout:

• MLA style documentation (please see the tutorial in the course topic)
• Last name and page number in upper-right corner of each page 
• Double-spacing throughout
• Title, centered after heading
• Standard font (Times New Roman or Calibri)
• 1″ margins on all sides
• Save the file as .docx  or  .doc format

Length: This assignment should be at least 750 words. 

Underline your thesis statement.

 

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Argumentative Strategies

11 unread reply.11 reply.

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

• Textbook: Chapter 3; pp. 100-107
• Lesson
• Minimum of 1 scholarly source (one of the listed pro-position articles)

Apply the following writing resources to your posts:

• Link (multimedia presentation): Citing References in Text (Links to an external site.)
• Link (website): APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.)

Initial Post Instructions

Part 1: Research & Review
Choose one of the following pro articles to review and discuss with your classmates. If you have a different pro article you would like to use, please discuss it with your professor in advance. All articles can be found in our library databases.

Topics

Pro-Position Articles

Patient Portals

Alpert, J.M., Krist, A.H., Aycock, R.A. & Kreps, G.L. (2017, March). Designing user-centric patient portals: Clinician and patients’ uses and gratifications (Links to an external site.). Telemedicine Journal And E-Health: The Official Journal Of The American Telemedicine Association, 23 (3), 248-253. 

Cosmetic Surgery

Jacono, A., Chastant, R.P. & Dibelius, G. (2016). Association of patient self-esteem with perceived outcome after face-lift surgery (Links to an external site.). JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, 18(1), 42-46. 

Cost of Cancer

Newcomer, L. (2014, October). Myths and realities in cancer care: Another point of view. Health Affairs, 33(10), 1805-1807 (Links to an external site.). 

Surrogacy

Jadva, V., Imrie, S. & Golombok, S. (2015, February). Surrogate mothers 10 years on: a longitudinal study of psychological well-being and relationships with the parents and child (Links to an external site.). Human Reproduction, 30(2), 373-379. 

Organ Donation

Ralph, A., Chapman, J.R., Gillis, J., Craig, J.C., Butow, P., Howard, K….Tong, A. (2014, April). Family perspectives on deceased organ donation: thematic synthesis of qualitative studies (Links to an external site.). American Journal Of Transplantation: Official Journal Of The American Society Of Transplantation And The American Society Of Transplant Surgeons, 14(4), 923-935. 

Private Hospitalization

MacAllister, L., Bellanti, D. & Sakallaris, B.R. (2016). Exploring inpatients’ experiences of healing and healing spaces: A mixed methods study (Links to an external site.). Journal Of Patient Experience, 3(4), 119-130. (Click on View Record in DOAJ to access full text.)

Workplace stress

Davenport, T.O. (2015). The good stress strategy: How managers can transform stress into fulfillment (Links to an external site.). Employment Relations Today (Wiley), 42 (3), 9-20. 

Part 2: Application
Evaluate how effective the article’s argument was using Toulmin’s model. Detail as many of the 6 components as possible:

1. Claim: What was the article’s main point? What’s the thesis?
2. Grounds: What kinds of evidence did the author use to support his/her argument? Provide an example.
3. Warrants: Did the author(s) successfully connect the evidence to the main point? How so?
4. Backing: How credible were the sources the author(s) applied? How does credulity affect your overall response?
5. Qualifiers: Did you notice any absolutes (all, every, each) or limiters (some, several, many)? How did they add or subtract from the argument?
6. Rebuttal: Did the author(s) present any points of opposition and counterarguments? How did it influence your reaction?

Note: If a section is missing completely from an article, spend of time discussing how its absence affects the overall success of the argument.

How will you apply a similar approach in your pro-position papers? Based on this assessment, what must you include and what can you avoid in your own argument development?

Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Here, we have an opportunity to compare research notes with our fellow peers.

• Did your peers discover something you missed?
• Do you agree with the stance in this article? If so, what other warrants or grounds might you add to validate the argument? If not, what qualifiers or rebuttals might you present to disprove the argument?

Remember, the goal here is to find multiple perspectives, but those perspectives should be both professional and respectful. Ask questions to keep the conversation going.

 

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