You will be writing a Persuasive Research Essay that will bring together all you have learned about your topic. Your Research Essay must meet all of the following requirements:
1. The essay must include a thesis statement which appears in the introduction and explains clearly the purpose of the essay. It should be obvious from the thesis statement which “side” of the issue you will take.
2. As you write be sure to keep in mind the rhetorical aspects we discussed in class (ethos, pathos, logos). Think about how you will address your audience (an informed audience, a novice audience, someone on the fence)
3. While the majority of the essay will be catered to your “side,” you must also address, refute, or concede the “opposition” at some point. You will have the opportunity to choose: you need to choose the important details to make certain that the topic, focus and organizational pattern work to your advantage.
4. Your essay must have a strong introduction and conclusion. We will talk about methods to create strong and creative intros and conclusions in class.
5. Your essay must have solid main points. All main points must relate to the thesis statement and must be backed up by outside sources. Write with specific, relevant and representative examples.
6. You are required to draw your own conclusions and to incorporate your opinion into this essay! However, all opinions should be backed up with facts and sources. Sources should not be used to do your thinking for you, but rather to strengthen your opinions.
7. Your essay must be entirely in proper MLA format, including in-text citations for all facts, proper quotations and paraphrasing, proper paper setup and an accurate Works Cited page. Class activities will help you understand the complex “rules” of MLA.
8. You must include a minimum of eight sources in this essay. You are permitted to include up to twelve sources. You will lose points if you use less than eight or more than twelve sources (as this is suggestive of not choosing appropriate sources). Each source should clearly relate to your focused research questions and thesis.

Please use a variety of sources. You must have:
A minimum of 2-3 online scholarly journals (from the library databases)
A minimum of 1-2 books
A minimum of 2-3 magazine articles and/or newspaper articles
Supplemental resources include but are not limited to:
Field research (interviews, surveys, observations)
Films, music, video and youtube clips
Photographic images
Websites
REMEMBER EVERYTHING MUST BE CITED!!!

We will have peer review sessions. Timely and appropriate participation will be part of your overall Persuasive Research Project grade.
o This project involves refining your writing through the Peer Review Workshops.
o You are expected to bring copies of completed, typed drafts on the due dates.
o The drafts aren’t expected to be polished, but they are expected to be complete, readable and coherent.
o The workshops will encourage you to re-work your paper to make it stronger and more effective.
o Your final grade is a reflection of your overall writing process…not just the “final draft” or finished product!!!!!
“Cosmetic” revision of your drafts will not be enough to receive a grade. In other words don’t re-see the merely superficial features of your essay and don’t stop at fixing up a few things here and there, changing a few words, correcting typos, or attending to sentence level errors. Concentrate on significant revision:
• Refine and focus your thesis statement
• Expand & develop your supporting assertions using new evidence, examples and illustrations
• Develop more fully your introduction and conclusion
• Significantly modify or change your thesis-and thus your purpose
• Change or refine your ethos, appropriately
• Rearrange the order of your paragraphs or revamp transitions
• Improve your style and/or tone appropriately
***MLA FORMAT: Your essay should be double-spaced in 12 point Times New Roman font. The margins should be one inch. The Works Cited page does not count towards the page count.

DUE DATES: (subject to change)
_______: Draft 1 due! Peer Review Workshop
_______: Draft 2 due! Peer Review Workshop
_______: Final Draft of Persuasive Research Essay Due!