Researched Argument Draft

Overview: For your next major assignment, you will write the
first draft of your researched argument. You can choose your
own topic; the only requirement is that it your topic somehow
involves Memphis. As you choose your topic, make sure you
choose something you are genuinely interested in, as you will be
working with this topic in different forms (draft; new media;
final draft) for the remainder of the semester. While there are
obvious choices (The Blues, Beale St., Elvis, BBQ, etc) you can
localize just about any topic you care about. For example, if you
are interested in healthy eating, then you could do research on
food deserts or school lunch programs in Memphis. If you are
interested in business, then you might do research on FedEx or
Autozone and use that research to argue that Memphis is a great
place to start a business.
Purpose: Successful writing doesn’t happen overnight,
especially when research is required. Writing is a slow process,
and this assignment is the first of three that will help you
develop an argument, improve your writing process, learn to
revise, and think about how arguments change when the genre
or audience changes. While this is the first draft of a much
longer project, you should turn in something you are happy with
and think is complete. In order to produce your best writing, you
need to revise, and revision requires space from your first draft.
The Process of Developing your Argument: Researchers don’t
begin with a thesis; they begin with a question, a hypothesis, or
even just a hunch. They then do research to either answer their
question or prove their hypothesis. You should do the same. You
don’t need to know what you want to argue yet:
1. You need to choose a general topic. Review “Choosing a
Topic” pp. 361-4 WM.
2. You need to do research and read about your topic.
Review “Conducting Academic Research” pp. 365-74
WM.
3. After you have done research, you can begin to develop
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NextPurpose: Successful writing doesn’t happen overnight,
especially when research is required. Writing is a slow process,
and this assignment is the first of three that will help you
develop an argument, improve your writing process, learn to
revise, and think about how arguments change when the genre
or audience changes. While this is the first draft of a much
longer project, you should turn in something you are happy with
and think is complete. In order to produce your best writing, you
need to revise, and revision requires space from your first draft.
The Process of Developing your Argument: Researchers don’t
begin with a thesis; they begin with a question, a hypothesis, or
even just a hunch. They then do research to either answer their
question or prove their hypothesis. You should do the same. You
don’t need to know what you want to argue yet:
1. You need to choose a general topic. Review “Choosing a
Topic” pp. 361-4 WM.
2. You need to do research and read about your topic.
Review “Conducting Academic Research” pp. 365-74
WM.
3. After you have done research, you can begin to develop
your argument and figure out your thesis.
4. Next you should remember what you learned about
developing arguments in the rhetorical analysis
assignment. What is the Rhetorical Situation? Who is
your audience? How can they be persuaded? What kind
of supporting evidence do you need to in order to
convince them? Are there places you can go or people
you can interview to support your argument? Since you
are writing about a topic related to Memphis, you can
conduct interviews and do other kinds of primary
research to support your argument.
5. Write. Draft. Revise.
Requirements:
Approximately six pages (excluding works cited)
Must include five academic or government sources
MLA or APA format
Topic related to Memphis
Topic Proposal Due: 02/21