Writing Homework Help

Purpose: As humans, we wonder about many ideas and concepts and realities, and one of the more ethereal and yet basic concepts we wonder about is that of happiness. In this anthology, Pursuing Happiness, you have had an opportunity to consider scholarly articles and trade articles from a variety of perspectives—economics, sociology, psychology, theology, religious viewpoints, and other views. As you read all of these works, some published in major academic journals, you hopefully began to notice that this topic of “happiness” is a real life topic and many people dedicate their careers and lives to the academic pursuit of discovering what happiness means. Your job as a writer is to explore and write an argumentative essay that has a counterargument and an argument in it so that you create a reasonable rhetorical analysis of this topic.

Task: Your task is to write an argumentative essay with a Rogerian thesis statement which explores some debatable angle on this substantive topic of happiness. In order to write this essay, you will create a few things first.

1. An introductory “hook” paragraph, which leads the reader to want to learn more about this topic. A hook could be an anecdote, a study, a quotation from a wise philosopher, a biblical quotation, or it could be something that the average reader will connect to. Whatever you do in the opening paragraph, do NOT be boring. At the end of the first paragraph, you will place your Rogerian thesis, which is a debatable thesis, and it may look something like this: (Do NOT copy these thesis statements as they belong to former students in another class—you have to create your own Rogerian thesis statement).
2. Although Martha Nussbaum makes a philosophical argument for what happiness is and is not, other writers such as Gretchen Ruben and others contend that happiness is dependent on money and how one spends and uses it.
3. Although some scholars argue that the pursuit of sexual pleasure is irrelevant, C.S. Lewis and others argue that the pursuit of sexual pleasure is not privileged unless we are not serious about legal/moral standards which apply equally to everybody.
4. Once you have your thesis statement, you should be using online scholarly articles to help support your thesis and substantiate both your argument and your counterargument.
5. Do not create a Rogerian Thesis statement and forget to defend the opposing position, which you have stated in your thesis.
6. Create 4 to 5 pages of argument using borrowed text, in-text citations, and your commentary on quotations and summaries and paraphrases. Never lose your voice. Just because other folks are famous or published or have Ph.D’s does not mean they have a right to dominate your paper. Instead, you use their published ideas to support your positions.
7. Always create a closing paragraph with a transition phrase such as: In closing, Lastly, Finally, In sum, In conclusion. (There may be more on my list of useful transitions in Canvas).
8. Once you have your rough draft complete, bring it to class and share it with a peer during the peer-review session. Never miss out on an opportunity to listen to and read a classmates writing—we all become better writers and listeners by doing this common practice.

Criteria for Success:

1. Be sure that you get your paper to the Tutors in Tutoring on Canvas ( See the Dashboard on Canvas). You register for this service, and sign up for tutoring via the English Writing Center at Grossmont College.
2. Read your paper aloud to yourself. Are you interested in your paper or is it just another assignment? If it’s just another assignment, it may be boring for you to write and alas, boring for me to read and grade. Avoid being boring. Use the Rogerian Thesis statement to really dig deep into this topic of happiness so that you have an intriguing paper. A thoughtful paper which you are proud to share with a peer and with me.
3. Bring a rough draft to class to share with a peer on the Rough Draft Date noted in your syllabus( Due Friday, April 30 at 11:59 PM for Peer-Review).
4. Submit your paper electronically on the due date (Friday, April 30 at 11:59 PM ) Read your syllabus and review your zoom notes for any reminders of this date. All final drafts, whenever they are due, are due on or before 8:00 pm. If you miss this deadline, I do not have to reopen Canvas for you as it is your responsibility to upload your paper. As class is totally online, you need to take the responsibility to upload your paper in a timely manner.

Assignment: Write an argumentative essay with a thesis statement which makes an argument for or against the necessity of happiness in human lives. As one writes, one may consider some of the following questions to help you in your research. A. What are some of the philosophical and sociological and economic rationales about happiness? B. When people are deprived of happiness, for whatever reason, what are some of the results? C. How are communities of people working to make happiness achievable? D. What organizations and communities of people around the world and/or in the U.S. are working to achieve a happiness parity for all people? Students should include in their arguments the debatable components regarding happiness mentioned in some of the essays in our text as well as the perspectives that students reach after using the Grossmont College databases and library.

Materials Needed: Students must use at least five sources to include two essays from the text, Pursuing Happiness, and three other collegiate level resources from the Grossmont College library and/or databases. In addition, Internet sources that may be used are credible government and education sources. No Wikipedia, Cliff’s Notes, Spark’s Notes, or random google websites permitted. A Works Cited page is required.

Thesis Statements: All thesis statements should be formatted in the Rogerian style format in order to include the student’s argument and the counterargument. Models for this thesis format are on Canvas for student viewing.

Avoid: Students should avoid all uses of first person, “I,” second person, “you,” and all forms of the conversational third person such as “we, us, and our.”

Font Size and Spacing: All papers are to be typed and double spaced throughout. Students should use Times New Roman, 12 inch size.

MLA: All papers are to follow the MLA format and documentation methods as noted in https://style.mla.org/ (Links to an external site.)