ASSIGNMENT 3: (Week 5)
Assignment: Write an analytical argument about a non-fiction reading assigned by your instructor. Defend an arguable thesis about the reading, rather than just summarizing. Convince the reader that one of this reading’s assertions is valid or problematic. Go beyond the obvious. Support your argument with things you have read—including, if you choose, the text itself—or from your observation and experience. You will have 50 minutes to complete this assignment and an additional 15 minutes to proofread your work. You may use a dictionary, the text itself, and one page of notes.
Notes: In preparing to write this essay, it will be necessary to identify the text’s assertions (and the evidence used to support them) in order to defend or critique them. This in-class assignment is designed to allow you to apply the analysis skills you practiced in Assignment 2 to a text by analyzing and arguing about one of its principle assertions or claims.
To prepare for this in-class essay, you will need to reread and annotate the text many times. Preparation before the day of the in-class will have a direct effect upon the success of your essay. You should try to develop a thorough comprehension of the text’s claims and assumptions.
Although your instructor will give you a more specific assignment on the day of the in-class essay, you will be expected to be completely prepared to write about the text ahead of time.
Readings: The Writing Commons: General to Specific and Believing & Doubting
Page Limits: A minimum of 6 handwritten pages (double-spaced in an 8 ½ x 11” blue book)
% of Final Grade: 10%
Exam Date: ________________________
