Crafting Impactful Arguments: A Guide to Passionate Problem-Solving Writing

ENGL 102 Writing Workshop II – Spring 2022 Argumentative Research Paper Guidelines Problem-based Writing through Passion & Purpose General Overview: For this argumentative research paper, you will first choose a problem that you feel passionate about -- something you feel a purpose or calling to change or awaken your audience to. You may build from your rhetorical analysis if you wish. Then, you will research multiple viewpoints of that problem and write a research paper that defends your stance on the issue, which you must state in your thesis. The writing process will be broken down into smaller assignments (listed under due dates below and in your syllabus). Follow these guidelines to succeed in this assignment. Thesis: Overall, your thesis can either argue that a problem exists (assuming you can prove your reader would be unaware of it), or argue what your audience needs to do about the problem – such as adopt or discontinue a behavior. Avoid a thesis that aims to merely change the reader’s mind, as this is a less active goal. Your thesis needs to be manageable enough to “debate on the page” for 8 to 10 pages, which means it cannot be as broad as “all school uniforms should be banned,”