Essay 1.1 Guidelines
This essay is a practice in-depth reasoning and ethical argumentation. This essay is a logical
response focused around a yes/no question at issue that is of interest to you and does not have an easy answer. An enthymeme in its correct form must be included in your essay. This essay relies SOLELY upon an enthymeme, logical reasoning, and in-class discussion. It will not quote assigned readings directly at this time. The goal of this assignment is to help you to feel comfortable with all of the enthymematic components, while relying upon your own reasoning as a credible academic, and to begin focusing your arguments into a provable scope.
For this first essay, I am asking that you examine a “local” issue that your discourse community may participate in (for example the UO campus, college life, dorm life, major department, admissions etc.). I recommend you to use this enthymeme “Homework should be assigned to students regularly by UO professors because it can help students to review and learn”. (UO means University of Oregon). To be clear, your essay should not attempt to prove something on behalf of “society.” The word “society” should NOT be in your essay.
Format:
– Three pages, double-spaced in MLA format and a Works Cited
– You should use 2 academic sources in MLA style (The sources must be found in Google scholar or other academic databases) and cite them in MLA style
– Includes question at issue as the TITLE
– Includes enthymeme with logical unstated assumption UNDERLINED IN YOUR ESSAY
To better understand the concept of enthymeme, I uploaded the document Introduction of Enthymeme.pdf for you. The enthymeme can be a sentence with xxx because xxx structure. My professor cares a lot about the format of enthymeme so please be 100% correct
Structure:
This is an argumentative essay, NOT a reading response. If you restate an author’s thesis, it is likely that you will not do well. You must come up with an original claim that DIFFERS from the authors we have read in class. Additionally, DO NOT WRITE A 5-PARAGRAPH ESSAY with a thesis and three main points. Instead, focus on the parts of your enthymeme. There is no requirement for the amount of paragraphs you must have, however, here are a few that you must include:
– An introduction paragraph that addresses WHY you are interested in the topic and what
sparked the need for further investigation (i.e. what inspired you to address your topic).
State your enthymeme at the end of the first paragraph and UNDERLINE it.
– A paragraph that defines any of the vague terms in your enthymeme (if you have any)
– A paragraph, which states WHY YOUR DISCOURSE COMMUNITY should care about
your topic. You might also consider addressing the larger consequences of your topic.
What might happen if your question goes unaddressed?
