Assignment 1: Persuasive Research Paper—Final Version

You have reached the finish line! Save your document as either an .rtf or .doc file. Name it Lastname_M5_A1.

By Friday, December 20, 2013, when submitting your assignment, it posts to both TurnItIn and the M5: Assignment 1 Dropbox. Because these papers must be graded within four days, you cannot turn in this paper late for partial credit.  

Assignment 1 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.	24
Quality of Support: You support your initial claim with the evidence you have gathered during your research, and moderate use of your personal experience. 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.	24
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. If the item cited contains quotes, you provide a page or paragraph number. You correctly quote and paraphrase, using the criteria in your text. You use p. for a single page and pp. for multiple pages.	24
Identifying Opposing Arguments: You present the strongest arguments against your claim; you avoid the “straw man” fallacy and argue as hard for the other side as you argue for your own.	30
Responding to Opposing Arguments: You evaluate each possible objection and reply appropriately; not all objections can be refuted but all must be addressed.	30
References Used: 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 have few or no sources that end in “.com” or “.org”.	28
Proprietary Database and Governmental Web site Usage: For governmental pages, you offer the exact address of the cited Web page, not the home page of the sponsoring organization. If your reader cannot access the page, you have included a complete citation to the page’s location, including DOI where possible. You have removed artifacts (underlining, colored text, etc.) from the URL and any period at the end of the citation.	10
Length and Substance: The paper meets the length requirements of 8–10 pages of actual text (excluding the title, abstract and reference pages). The work is not padded to meet the length designation, and the discussion in all areas is detailed but succinct.	10
Reference Page Format: Title (References) and text are in standard form, not bold, italics, or all caps, and in hanging-indent format. You have not used authors’ first names, only their initials. You have correctly capitalized the titles of your reference works. You have included all required information for each type of citation, according to APA style, and your text. You have used the appropriate abbreviations as presented in your text.	20
Abstract: Your abstract is titled “Abstract” and is not in bold-faced type; it contains 120 words or fewer and is numbered page two (with numerals in place of word numbers). The paragraph is not first-line indented and is double spaced.	16
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 left-aligned page number. For the rest of the paper, you have a running head with five spaces and then the numeral 1; 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.	20
Organization: You present your argument in a way that is easy to understand.	20
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 this class. Your tone should be college-level, without referring to yourself, or addressing the reader directly. Delivery should be objective, in the third-person voice.	16
Grammar and Mechanics: Use correct spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, apostrophe usage, and homophone. You present your argument academically.	20
TurnItIn	8
Total:	300