FR ESHMAN ENGLIS H CAPSTO NE ESSAY
IN STRUCT IONS FOR TH E ARGUME NTATIVE RESEARCH ES SAY (ES SAY 4)
LENGTH
The final draft of this essay will be 5 – 7 pages (excluding Works Cited Page)
AUDIENCE
This essay should be directed toward the community at large. Diverse cultural, ethnic, educational,
and political backgrounds must be considered. You may assume a common, concerned interest in
the health and sustainability of the community.
FORMAT
As with all essays in this course, you must use Modern Language Association Format for the
document. When citing sources, you must use MLA Documentation Style that you reviewed earlier
in this Learning Unit.
OVERVIEW
The organization of this essay will be similar to Essay 3 (The Argumentative Essay) in that you will
have in introduction; evidence paragraphs in support of your thesis; a refutation paragraph
identifying, discussing, and refuting the opposition; and a concluding paragraph. This time,
however, your supporting evidence paragraphs will be enriched and strengthened by the facts,
opinions, and ideas of other writers and experts. Also, your position will pertain to one of the topics
or issues relating to sustainable agriculture, business, or communities that you have identified and
explored in earlier assignments in this unit.
Once you commit to a topic, you may modify your position, but must avoid changing the topic itself.
It is crucial that you work through all the stages of writing on a single topic. As you inform yourself
about the topic from reading sources, you may discover that your position alters and perhaps
changes all together as you weigh authoritative evidence. This is not necessarily a sign that you are
not working well on this assignment! Indeed, the willingness to weigh evidence and gain new
insights is a valuable skill for a college thinker and critical reader. During your initial reading on the
topic, leave yourself open to these new ideas and information. Avoid becoming too rigid about the
particular position you wish to defend until you have gathered as much data and facts possible.
