Papers should be typed and double spaced with one and one quarter inch margins on all sides of the page. 12-point Times New Roman font is preferred, black ink is mandatory. There should be no cover page – you should put your name, the course and section, and the date in the upper left corner. You should then skip two lines and place the title of the paper in the center of that line. Skip two more lines and begin the introduction to your paper. All pages should be numbered at bottom center. Papers must be stapled.
This paper is a culmination of everything that you have learned this semester. The successful paper (a) will be an argument with a clearly formulated claim, reasons, evidence and support; (b) will contain summary, paraphrase, and direct quotations from numerous and varied sources properly documented in MLA style (including a Works Cited page); (c) will be clearly written with no obvious grammatical, syntactical, or typographical errors.

Assignment:
Write an argumentative research paper, properly formatted, that contains the following elements:
(1) An interesting yet descriptive title.
(2) An introduction that grabs the reader’s attention, explains the topic, and presents a clear statement of claim as well as an indication of how that claim will be developed and/or supported.
(3) A brief exposition (explanation) on the key issues within this topic, explaining them to a typical college age audience.
(4) A comparison of key sources and commentaries on the topic (at least two outside sources are required; sources should be briefly summarized and quoted from before they are compared to each other).
(5) An explanation of how your claim relates to other claims on this issue, followed by a logically developed, documented and reasoned argument in support of your claim (this will be the bulk of your paper; you may also want to incorporate appeals to emotion, need, character, or value). The support for your claim should include reference to at least two (2) more outside sources, not to duplicate those cited in the source comparison.

(6) A conclusion that restates your claim and summarizes the key points of your argument.
(7) A properly formatted MLA style works cited list that contains at least five (5) outside sources that have been quoted, summarized, or paraphrased within your paper.
(8) A smooth and clear writing style and careful attention to mechanics.