Assignment 2: LASA 2: Final Version of Your Argumentative Research Essay

This final paper represents five modules of planning, research, writing, and revising. The work you have done on your topic throughout this class has prepared you to proofread and revise your paper a final time before you submit it for grading.

Use the checklist, grading criteria, and other resources in this module to review and revise your work. In particular, be sure to check your work for content and cohesiveness.

• Does your paper have a clear argument that is expressed through your thesis statement?
• Do all of the paragraphs in your paper work to support that argument?
• Have you used appropriate resources to lend support and credibility to your argument?
• Does your paper address opposing points of view, and does it respond to those opposing points?

As you conduct your final revision, take into account any feedback you’ve received on earlier pieces of your paper. Also try to put yourself in your readers’ shoes as you review your work. After a number of modules dealing with this topic, you are probably quite familiar with the nuances of your own paper. As you review your work, think about how your essay might be received by someone who is not as familiar with the issues you discuss. Try to make your paper as clear and straightforward as possible so your points can be readily understood.
  
The final version of your paper should be between 8-10 pages in length and cite at least 8 reliable sources using APA format.

You may utilize the Grading Criteria posted below and the Argumentative Research Essay Checklist to make sure that your work is aligned with the assignment requirements.

By Sunday, March 9, 2014, submit the final version of your 8–10 page paper to the M5: Assignment 2 Dropbox. After doing so, review your TurnItIn results. If your score is not in the green range, be sure to make changes and resubmit your paper so that your submitted paper is in the green range, demonstrating appropriate use of citations.

Assignment 2 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Thesis Statement: You have a single, main point (a thesis statement), and all sentences in your paper directly relate to (and support) your thesis statement. Your main point is a clearly defined claim and is consistent with current research on the subject selected.	28
Quality of Support: You support your initial claim with credible evidence you have gathered during your research. You give full credit for any ideas that are not your own. You have explained within the text of the paper the reason for the use of any biased or non-academic source.	28
Presentation of Support: Your reader can easily determine which words are quotes, which words are summaries or paraphrases, and which words are your own ideas. You correctly cite every claim that is not your own or common knowledge and include all necessary information in an in-text citation. If the item cited contains quotes, you provide a page or paragraph number. You correctly quote and paraphrase using the criteria in your text.	28
Identifying Opposing Arguments: You present the strongest arguments against your claim; you avoid logical fallacies and argue as hard for the other side as you argue for your own.	28
Responding to Opposing Arguments: You evaluate each possible objection and reply appropriately using examples and research support when necessary; not all objections can be refuted but all must be addressed.	28
References Use: Personal communications are only cited within the paper, not on the references page. All other sources must match with a references citation for every source used in the paper and an in-text citation for every source listed on the references page. You primarily use university-level sources that are current and peer-reviewed.	28
Reference Page Format: Title (References) and text are in standard form (not bold, italics, or all caps), in hanging-indent format, and alphabetized. You have not used authors’ first names, only their initials. You have correctly capitalized the titles of your reference works. You have included all needed information for each type of citation according to your text.	28
Research Paper Format: Your title page is double-spaced, as is the rest of the paper. On the title page you have a header with the words “Running Head:” followed by your running head and a right-aligned page number. For the rest of the paper, you have a header that includes your running head and page numbers; headers are one-half inch from the top of each page, and all margins are one inch. The title is in standard text, is not bolded or in italics, and should be centered on the page. Dates are not part of the cover for APA papers.	28
Organization: You present your argument in a way that is easy to understand.	24
Style, Word Choice, and Audience: How do you say what you have to say? For this assignment, assume that your audience includes the members of the academic and professional community that you are writing about.	20
Grammar and Mechanics: Be sure to use correct spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, apostrophes, and homophones. You present your argument professionally.	24
TurnItIn: Your TurnItIn report indicates that you have appropriately cited any references used in your paper.	8
Total:	300

 

 

NAME: Impacts of a troubled youth.

 

THESIS: Children who grow up without a father figure have a higher chance of being incarcerated.

 

BACKGROUND: Positive male role models are important relationships needed for kids to succeed.

 

OBJECTIVE: My objective is for the reader to understand the effects it has on youth today when there is not a male role model or father figure.

 

SUPPORTING POINTS:
1. Positive male role models are important relationships needed for kids to succeed.
        a. Children need guidance and discipline which overall teaches and gives them structure.
        b. Certain things come more naturally to a man when instilling values such as; respect, work ethic and leadership.
        c. The prides of raising a boy to a man or teaching daughters how a woman should be treated are important lessons that a father instills.

 

 2. The affects that divorce has on a family are not just limited to the husband and wife but to their kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
        a. In situations like these the kids don’t understand the issues at hand and may blame themselves.
        b. Such a life altering experience can cause the youth to rebel, become depressed or seek attention from negative areas.
        c. Raising a child is difficult enough for two parents juggling work, home, family and personal issues but trying to do all of this as one parent can cause lacking one or more of these responsibilities.

 

3. Single parents are being forced to work more than one job to support and bring extra income to their families.
        a. Although this may be a way to keep the important necessities such as a home, food and clothes, this also leaves a void with kids growing up.
        b. Children are learning about important life lessons from other resources rather than their parental guardians.
        c. Family values have been distorted and pushed aside and this is being accepted by our society today.

 

COUNTER-ARGUMENTS:
1. Single parents out there that have raised successful children like president Obama.
2. There are resources like after school programs and boys and girls club that provide a positive environment.
3. Why does it have to be a male positive figure and not a female?

 

RESPONSE TO COUNTER-ARGUMENTS:
1. Yes there are successful single parent raised adults but the rates of single parents kids graduating high school are at 60%
2. The time you spend with your child teaching them life lessons are much more valuable to your child than anything outside the home.
3. A positive peer or parent can be either mom or dad, male or female. Both mother and father bring a difference in knowledge I which the youth need.

 

IMPLICATIONS: My statement in this essay is based on the significance of a family to a youth. I explain and show the effects of a single parent household on the youth and the effects of not having a father figure in the household.

 

TENTATIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY:

 

T. M Achenbach. (1991a). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

 

Astone, N.M.S.S. McLanahan. (1991). “Family Structure, Parental Practices, and High School Completion.” American Sociological Review 56:309-20.

 

Blau, D.M. (1999). “The Effect of Income on Child Development.” Review of Economics and Statistics 81:261-76.

 

Corak, M. (2001). “Death and Divorce: The Long-Term Consequences of Parental Loss on

 

      Adolescents.” Journal of Labor Economics 19:682-715.

 

Lang, K. and J.L. Zagorsky. (2001). “Does Growing Up With a Parent Absent Really Hurt?”

 

      Journal of Human Resources 36:253-73.

 

falseCadamy, Pam. (1999) “No Such Thing as a Bad Kid: Understanding and Responding to the Challenging Behavior of Troubled Children and Youth.”Intervention in School and Clinic34.5 (May 1999): 314.

 

Mills, R. C., Dunham, R. G., & Alpert, G. P. (1999) Working with high-risk youth in prevention and early intervention programs: Toward a comprehensive wellness model. Adolescence, 91, 664-660