Write a Research Question, Thesis, and Outline

ASSIGNMENT: Following the Topic Selection Guidelines below, choose an argumentative topic to research. This will be your topic throughout the entire course, so the activities required for this assignment will provide the foundation for your future Touchstones. The topic for an argumentative research paper must be a debatable topic, meaning that it involves conflicting viewpoints. Additionally, it cannot be a topic that is already decided or agreed upon by most of society. You will need to take a firm position on the topic and use evidence and logic to support the position. Touchstone 1.2 includes a research question, a working thesis, a detailed outline, and a reflection on this pre-writing process.

Requirements

The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:

Double-space the outline and use one-inch margins.
Use a readable 12-point font.
All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
Composition must be original and written for this assignment.
Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition.
Submission must include your research question, working thesis, outline, and reflection questions.The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment:
Purdue Online Writing Lab’s APA Formatting and Style Guide
This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types.
Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style
This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The “References,” “Punctuation,” and “Grammar and Writing Style” sections will be the most useful to your work in this course.
APA Style: Quick Answers—References
This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types.

Dominique,

The outline should be just an outline. It should have brief labels for the headings and sub headings. All of the detail that is included in your assignment is a distraction.

The outline is a way to organize your essay and determine which areas (e.g. your sub-points) will require researched evidence as support.

❒ Headings: one for each paragraph with a brief label of the paragraph’s controlling idea(s); at least 7 body paragraphs, an introduction, and a conclusion

❒ Introduction includes your working thesis.

❒ Body paragraphs should each have their own unique title and key points.

❒ Conclusion includes notes on your final thoughts.

❒ Subheadings: two to five for each paragraph, below each heading, indicating key points that support the controlling idea

❒ Sources: one to three for each subheading, as relevant, indicating the support for the key point

❒ For each source, include the author’s name and the idea or information relevant to your argument (e.g. “Lappé on mono-cropping corn/soy and production”).

The assignment is being sent back to you. Please review the sample assignment in the unit as a guideline to your outline.