This document provides instructions for an argumentative essay assignment. Students must choose a topic from a list of approved topics where two credible sides have opposing positions. They must then write an outline arguing one side of the issue using 3 lines of reasoning supported by research, while also addressing the opposing viewpoints. The outline must follow a specific format and include an issue statement, 2-part thesis, claims from both sides with source summaries, and a conclusion. Students are provided with detailed requirements and a grading rubric for the outline. The document also includes examples of problems for students to practice calculating probabilities and areas for standard normal distributions.

1. Argumentative Essay (Outline) Assignment Instructions
For this assignment, you are not required to write a complete
draft of your Argument Essay. Instead, you are to select a topic
for your Argument Essay and write a detailed outline of your
essay based on the model below.
Argument Essay Prompts
In this assignment choose a specific issue from below in which
two credible parties have documented the following:
· Clearly opposing positions, and
· Clear agendas.
Choose the position you agree with and argue that position
using:
· Three separate lines of reasoning to support your position
· Research to support each line of reasoning (example,
testimony, and fact/data, or any combination) that supports your
position
· Research about the opposing position’s views
· Presentation of the opposing views, along with lines of
reasoning to refute them
Argumentative Essay Approved TopicsThe following is a list of
approved broad topics in which you will select only one. You
will be responsible for creating your own paper proposal via
memo. Any papers that do not directly relate to one of those
topics will not be recognized and receive a grade of zero.
Gender roles
Male pregnancy research/experimentation should be embraced.
Stay-at-home mothers/fathers should receive a tax credit.
The notion of traditional gender roles is passé.
Education
Extracurricular activities on the college level should be made
obligatory.

2. Grades cannot measure, in total, students’ intelligence and
performance.
Single sex colleges/universities are best for education.
Business
Office dress code can boost employees’ performance.
Delegating responsibilities is the key to effective management.
HR managers should use lie detectors for interviewing
applicants and employees.
Politics
Voting apathy will not change.
Music and movie stars should not support any political parties.
Global Perspectives
In first/second world countries, print media is now considered
to be “a thing of the past.” The globalized world needs a global
language.
Online dating is a poor basis for a relationship.
Medicine
Important medical decisions should only be made by medical
professionals. Placebo effect’ should be used for curing all
diseases at their initial stages.
Language & Literature
Grammar rules should be updated to reflect today’s
conversational tone. Prospective college students should have a
required reading list.
Only certain books should be banned from libraries and college
classrooms.
Draft Essay Requirements
This assignment requires an “issue statement” (refer to the
Student_AnnotatedSample_Salvaging-the-Old-Growth-

3. Forest.pdf file for further explanation about issue statements).
This assignment requires a two-part thesis:
· Statement of position; and
· Forecast (essentially a “preview”) of your lines of reasoning
· Your one sentence thesis statement should contain the
following: topic, stance/claim, and direction.
The assignment also requires:
· A minimum and maximum of three credible outside sources
formatted on a source page (MLA, Works Cited)
· MLA citation style for the paper
· Minimum of 3 FULL pages not including the Works Cited
page (Works Cited begins on page 4)
· Works Cited page listed at the end of the essay (last page of
the essay)
Writing Tip #1
This Argument Essay is a Classical Argument Essay aimed at
both arguing the author’s thesis and refuting the opponent’s
thesis. It is NOT a Persuasive Essay, where the purpose is to
persuade without necessarily arguing against an opposing
perspective. The difference is that an argument essay tries both
to persuade and refute against an opposing view.
With this in mind, you should not choose a generic issue that
has no credible opposing view – like “energy conservation” –
for a Classical Argument essay. One can try to write a
persuasive essay that makes an appeal to a reader to conserve
energy. But unless you can find a credible opponent with an
active agenda opposing your appeal (“We should NOT conserve
energy”), then you cannot write a Classical Argument essay.
Writing Your Argument Essay
To get started writing your essay:
1. Review What is an Essay?
2. Take time to review possible subjects.
3. Use prewriting to help you narrow your topic.Assignment
Instructions

4. 1. Review the grading rubric as listed on the following page.
2. Choose a writing prompt as listed.
3. Create a prewriting in the style of your choice for the prompt.
Review the prewriting videos on the My Writing Process:
Prewriting and Draft page if needed.
4. Create an outline using the outline below as a guide. Papers
submitted that do not meet the requirements will be returned to
you ungraded.
5. Submit your detailed outline as a single file upload.Argument
Essay Outline
1. Issue statement
2. Two-part thesis (assertion plus forecast)
3. Opponent’s first claim
· One sentence summary of opponent’s source support
4. Opponent’s second claim
· One sentence summary of opponent’s source support
5. Your first claim with “keyword”
· One sentence summary of your source support #1
· One sentence summary of your source support #2
6. Your second claim with “keyword”
· One sentence summary of your source support #1
· One sentence summary of your source support #2
7. Your third claim with “keyword”
· One sentence summary of your source support #1
· One sentence summary of your source support #2
8. Conclusion: Summation of arguments and why should we
care? What’s at stake?
Please Note: a “one sentence summary” is the same thing as the
first sentence in a normal summary, i.e., author, title, source,
and “main point” of the source.Requirements:
· Be sure to:
· Choose a specific issue in which two credible parties have
documented clearly opposing positions and clear agendas
· Choose the position you agree with and argue that position
using the following:
· Three separate lines of reasoning;

5. · Each line of reasoning will support your position with
research (example, testimony, and fact/data, or any
combination) that supports your position; and
· Research about the opposing position’s views
· Present the opposing views and refute them.
· Include a two-part thesis with:
· Statement of position; and
· Forecast of your lines of reasoning
· Develop an enticing title that implies your position.
· Use a sympathetic appeal and/or cited research in the
introduction to establish the issue.
· Avoid addressing the assignment directly. (Don’t write “I am
going to argue about…” Instead, introduce the issue in a more
compelling way that makes the reader care.)
· Your voice should be professional and scholarly.
· Block quotes are not allowed (anything that is three lines or
more).
· All college essays are formatted in MLA style (headers, page
numbers, etc.).
· Introduction, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusion (at least 5-8
sentences for each)
· Your introduction must begin with an attention grabber and
provide some background for your topic.
· All body paragraphs should have well-developed examples
that support and prove the topic sentence which supports the
thesis.
· You must quote from your source at least once in your essay
using correct in-text citation format.
· You may use direct quotes, but be sure to integrate the quote
seamlessly through the use of signal phrases and quotation
marks.
· If paraphrasing, please note that parenthetical citations are
required.
· Your conclusion should restate the main idea of your essay in
an interesting way.
· Provide closure to the essay.

6. · Academic papers require the use of formal language. Avoid
slang, contractions, informal/inappropriate usages, and biases.
· Use the third person point of view (he, she, one, a person,
etc.), not the first person point of view (I), or the second person
point of view (you).
Grading Rubric: Argument Essay Outline
Criteria
Ratings
Point Total: 50
Ideas
15 pts: The outline demonstrates outstanding idea development.
12 pts: The outline demonstrates above average idea
development.
11 pts: The writer sufficiently defines the topic, even though
development is still basic or general.
9 pts: The outline has an idea that needs to be developed.
0 pts: There is no coherent idea.
15 pts
Content
15 pts: The outline demonstrates outstanding evidence of
supporting the main point.
12 pts: The outline demonstrates above average evidence of
supporting the main point.
11 pts: The outline demonstrates sufficient support of the main
point.
9 pts: The outline requires more supporting evidence of the
main point.
0 pts: There is little content supporting the main idea.
15 pts
Organization
15 pts: The organization is outstanding and showcases the
central theme. The presentation of information is compelling.
13 pts: The organizational structure is above average.

7. 10 pts: The organizational structure is strong enough to move
the reader through the text without too much confusion.
8 pts: The writing needs a clearer sense of direction. The
internal structure is weak.
0 pts: The organization is poor.
15 pts
Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions
5 pts: The writer demonstrates an outstanding word choice
selection, flow and cadence, with well-built sentences and
strong grasp of standard writing conventions.
3 pts: The writer demonstrates above average word choice
selection, flow and cadence, with well-built sentences and
strong grasp of standard writing conventions.
2 pts: The writer demonstrates sufficient selection of words.
The text tends to be more mechanical and contains some errors
of standard writing conventions.
1 pts: The writer demonstrates a limited vocabulary and lack of
fluidity. Errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, usage
and grammar repeatedly distract the reader and make the text
difficult to read.
0 pts: No marks.
5 pts
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· Provided by: Lumen Learning. Located at:
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CC LICENSED CONTENT, SHARED PREVIOUSLY
· Authored by: Daryl Smith O' Hare and Susan C. Hines.
Provided by: Chadron State College. Project: Kaleidoscope
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· Authored by: Paul Powell. Provided by: Central Community
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Deliverable 02 – Worksheet
Instructions: The following worksheet is shown to you by a

8. student who is asking for help. Your job is to help the student
walk through the problems by showing the student how to solve
each problem in detail. You are expected to explain all of the
steps in your own words.
Key:
· <i> - This problem is an incorrect. Your job is to find the
errors, correct the errors, and explain what they did wrong.
· <p> - This problem is partially finished. You must complete
the problem by showing all steps while explaining yourself.
· <b> - This problem is blank. You must start from scratch and
explain how you will approach the problem, how you solve it,
and explain why you took each step.
1) <p> Assume that a randomly selected subject is given a bone
density test. Those tests follow a standard normal distribution.
Find the probability that the bone density score for this subject
is between -1.53 and 1.98
Student’s answer: We first need to find the probability for each
of these z-scores using Excel.
For -1.53 the probability from the left is 0.0630, and for 1.98
the probability from the left is 0.9761.
Continue the solution:
Finish the problem giving step-by-step instructions and
explanations.
2) <b> The U.S. Airforce requires that pilots have a height
between 64 in. and 77 in. If women’s heights are normally
distributed with a mean of 65 in. and a standard deviation of 3.5
in, find the percentage of women that meet the height

9. requirement.
Answer and Explanation:
Enter your step-by-step answer and explanations here.
3) <i> Women’s pulse rates are normally distributed with a
mean of 69.4 beats per minute and a standard deviation of 11.3
beats per minute. What is the z-score for a woman having a
pulse rate of 66 beats per minute?
Student’s answer:
Let
Corrections:
Enter your corrections and explanations here.
4) <b> What is the cumulative area from the left under the
curve for a z-score of -0.875? What is the area on the right of
that z-score?
Answer and Explanation:
Enter your step-by-step answer and explanations here.
5) <i> If the area under the standard normal distribution curve

10. is 0.6573 from the right, what is the corresponding z-score?
Student’s answer: We plug in “=NORM.INV(0.6573, 0, 1)” into
Excel and get a z-score of 0.41.
Corrections:
Enter your corrections and explanations here.
6) <p> Manhole covers must be a minimum of 22 in. in
diameter, but can be as much as 60 in. Men have shoulder
widths that are normally distributed with a mean of 18.2 and a
standard deviation of 2.09 in. Assume that a manhole cover is
constructed with a diameter of 22.5 in. What percentage of men
will fit into a manhole with this diameter?
Student’s answer: We need to find the probability that men will
fit into the manhole. The first step is to find the probability that
the men’s shoulder is less than 22.5 inches.
Continue the solution:
Enter your step-by-step answer and explanations here.