Humanities Homework Help

Argument Essay Rubric

NOTE: This essay will serve as the second portion of your research paper. Be sure to use the same topic you wrote about for your expository essay; (subject needs to be on Homosexuality & the original expository essay is attached)

This essay will focus on convincing your readers that specific action should be taken regarding the problem or issue discussed in your expository essay. Consider what you wrote about in your expository essay as a problem to be addressed, and then use this argument essay as a way to spell out how you think that problem should be solved. To write an effective argument essay, you should formulate a thesis that addresses the question of WHAT needs to happen and WHO is in a position to do something about it. For example, “There should be greater awareness of the issues of food accessibility” would be a vague thesis statement, as the statement does not clearly identify who should do something and what they should do. A better statement would be, “Community organizations in major cities should create public awareness campaigns to draw attention to issues of food accessibility.” Note how this statement aims to achieve a similar goal as the first statement, but it clearly identifies WHO will take the action and WHAT the action will be.

Other considerations that your essay should address include the following:

What is at stake, or why does the topic matter?

Who is affected by the issue, and how are they affected?

Why is the solution you identified in your thesis the ideal way to address the matter?

Why is the group or individual you identified in your thesis the right group/individual to solve the problem?

What are some relevant counterarguments–who might disagree with you, and why are you right?

Acknowledge points of agreement you may share with those who have different views. (For example, no matter how a person feels about gun control, they are likely to view school shootings as a bad thing.)

Your argument essay should be a minimum of 6 pages in length (1500 words) and include a Works Cited page with 3 reliable sources. The entire document should be properly formatted in MLA style. You should be sure to include well-formed introduction and conclusion paragraphs, and your body paragraphs should be well-organized with clear topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph.