Argument Synthesis Essay on Sports and Society
Writing Assignment Instructions: Using the techniques learned in class, students will write a 3-4 page Argument Synthesis Paper answering the question “Has the culture of sports made more positive or more negative contributions to a particular aspect of society?” Students will focus their essay on one or two of the subtopics read about in class (e.g. sports celebrities, adolescents and sports, women and sports, sports and steroids, etc.).
The argument synthesis paper should include the following:
1) An introduction with a strongly argumentative thesis at the end (claim).
2) Support paragraphs in the form of reasons (topic sentences) and evidence (paragraph development). Students should use however many paragraphs it takes to convince the reader of all their main points.
3) Counterarguments, concessions, and refutations.
4) Use of sources from the folder on Courseworks, articles from reliable sources on the internet, and at least 2 print sources. These sources should be used to supply the evidence in support paragraphs or the opposing views in opposition paragraphs. All sources should be effectively cited within the article and at the end on the Works Cited page.
5) A conclusion with a restatement of the thesis, a summary of the main ideas, and a final thought.
6) A Works Cited/References page in APA style.
Submission Instructions: Students should submit drafts through New Courseworks. Late drafts will lose points. Early submissions are appreciated. The File Name for this paper should be: StudentNameArgumentSynthesisPaperD1.doc If students have trouble submitting.
Formatting[1]: The text for papers in this class should
• use 12 point font,
• be double spaced (2.0 spacing),
• have indents (tabs) at the beginning of paragraphs,
• be aligned to the left (no spreading the text across the page), and
• have 1” margins.
• cite any outside sources using either APA or MLA style but not both (see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ )
• have a bibliography at top of the paper’s last page (separate from the text) for cited sources
