English 12B

Unit 3: Documented Argument

Mastery Assignment: Documented Argument
Rough Draft Due: Tuesday, 5/17/16 Start of Class Hard Copy or Google Drive [andypet@umich.edu] 10 Mastery Points
Final Copy Due: Monday, 5/23/16 11:59 PM E-Mail or Google Drive [andypet@umich.edu] 100 Mastery Points
Assignment Introduction
Welcome to your final high school English assignment! Throughout the trimester, you have learned a wide variety of
strategies for reading, writing, and thinking analytically. From the active reading strategies you developed in the first
unit to the writing we did around representations of poverty in film and TV scenes in the second unit, 12B has been all
about critically engaging with texts in ways more complicatedand, frankly, more worthwhilethan merely liking
them or agreeing with them. Indeed, seeking nuanced positions on issues by disagreeing, challenging, problematizing,
modifying, and extending the ideas you read is one of the most important habits of thoughtful, fully conscious people.
Now that you have learned, practiced, and mastered the skills necessary to understand and meaningfully take part in
these kinds of critical conversations, it is time to put them all together to create a Documented Argumentan essay that
will require you to use credible research to generate and support an argumentative claim about a topic that you find
interesting. Writing your Documented Argument will take you through the entire writing process, from pre-writing to
revision, in a sustained, three-week journey. To be certain, this is a challenging task, but if you engage in the process
and put forth your very best effort, I am confident that you will leave this classand your high school English career
having developed a meaningful product of which you can be genuinely proud, and having practiced numerous, practical
writing skills that will serve you well in the future, no matter where your next stop is.
The Task
Your task is to write an analytical essay (of approximately 750-1000 words) in which you make and support a claim
about a topic of your choice (within some limits, of course).
Devising a Topic:
We will be doing some pre-writing activities during the first week of the unit (a Free-Write on potential topics of
inquiry, along with the Quick-and-Dirty Research and Preparing Your Topic for Research forms, all of which
are linked on the Course Website) that will help you with the task of selecting a topic. Clearly, you have a lot of freedom.
For some general guidelines, though, keep in mind that your topic should:
a) Be as specific as possible (Weak topic: reality TV; Better topic: representations of homosexuality in reality TV).
Coming up with a specific topic will help you to narrow in on sources to use in your Documented Argument,
and it will (immensely) help you in writing a clear and specific claim.
b) Lead you to authentic research questions that you can use external sources to investigate. If you cant craft
questions about your topic that you dont already know the answer to, why research that topic at all? Heres a
rule of thumb: if you can answer the questions you have about your topic with a simple Google search, its
either too broad (see above) or its not a viable topic.
c) Be interesting and meaningful to you in some way. Remember: our ultimate goal is for you to write a wellresearched argument that you care about and that you can be proud of once were done here.
Finding and Incorporating Evidence:
You will need to cite at least three (3) pieces of credible research in your Documented Argument (though you will
be finding and actively reading more than that in the weeks to come). At least one (1) of these pieces of evidence must be
direct evidence (such as a direct quotation from the source text) and at least one (1) must be indirect evidence (such
as a paraphrase). In either case, you must provide an in-text citation; see below, under Format and Structure, for
more information.
The sources you use will need to come from the databases found on the Michigan eLibrary, which is located at
mel.org/databases. For the Source Page, you were asked to utilize three of these databasesAcademic OneFile,
General Reference Center GOLD, and New York Times. You are more than welcome to continue using these three
databases, but know that the entire Michigan eLibrary database collection is now fair game (and that the pre-writing
tasks mentioned above will also provide you with some guidance in exploring this diverse range of sources). At least one
(1) of your sources, however, must come from a real-deal scholarly source, such as an academic journal.

Format and Structure:

Your essay should consist of three main components:

A brief introduction. In an initial paragraph, begin with a couple sentences of context on your topic. What are
you writing about? What questions are you investigating, and why do these questions matter? Since you are
writing about a topic of your own devising this time around, providing this context is important as a way of
situating your reader. With that being said, this is still not the time for fluff or useless filler: again, if youre
tempted to begin a sentence with Since the beginning of time or something similar, youre probably being too
general. Get right to the point: what is your topic and why should we care?
Your introduction should end with your claim. Remember: your claim should consist of a specific noun, an
active verb, and a specific modifier, and it should insightfully express a complex, nuanced argument on your
topic. As you develop your claim throughout the writing process, keep in mind that the best claims are often
those that move beyond simple agreement with existing ideas. Think about how you can challenge, revise, or
extend upon existing ideas and arguments about your topic. Also remember: the best claims often arise after
youve begun drafting and revising. Youll want to begin with a working claim, but you should always be open to
revisiting and revising it.

At least three (3) body paragraphs. Each of your body paragraphs should:
o
o

Begin with a topic sentence that summarizes how the paragraph is going to support your claim.
Present a specific piece of evidence from one of your sources. Make sure your evidence clearly
connects to and supports your claim in a way that you can explain; preface it with a sentence or two of
context regarding what it is and why youre using it; and provide an in-text, MLA citation.

You may present your evidence as direct evidence (direct quote) or indirect evidence
(paraphrase). As stated above, your paper should incorporate at least one (1) piece of direct
evidence and at least one (1) piece of indirect evidence.

General format for MLA citations: Authors Last Name (if not already mentioned in the
sentence) followed by the page number (if available); both of these elements should be in
parentheses after your evidence (whether its direct or indirect evidence).

Example: According to the assignment sheet for the Documented Argument, Your
introduction should end with your claim (Peters 2).
Explain the connection between the evidence and your claim using analysis. This is where you should
ask and answer the question, So what? about the evidence you are presenting: what does this
evidence imply? Where does it get us? Why does it matter? How does it support your claim?
Since this is a longer essay, it may at times be necessary and/or appropriate to introduce, present, and
analyze an additional, specific piece of evidence into a single body paragraph. This can be a good
move to make, as long as the evidence you use within each paragraph is clearly related and as long as
you ensure that you provide clear and explicit analysis with regard to how it supports your claim.

A brief conclusion. Again, this is not the place for useless filler. Write 2-3 sentences in which you summarize
the significance or stakes of your topicyou can think of this as asking So what? about your claim and body
paragraphs as a whole. If you like, you can also use this space to briefly comment on any gaps you have noticed
in the existing research on your topic: what questions remain to be answered? Where do we go from here?

Works Cited:
Your Documented Argument must also include an MLA Works Cited Page. Begin this page by centering the phrase
Works Cited (without quotes) at the top, and then include MLA citations, in alphabetical order, for each source you cite
in your Documented Argument. If you stay within the mel.org databases we have discussed, citations will be provided for
you at the bottom of the page in most cases, but it is important that you check them to confirm their accuracy. Please
also include the stable URL (or permalink; remember, you should not simply copy and paste the link from the address
bar) for each of your articles so that I can find them if need be. The Purdue OWL website is a great resource to use for
help with creating and formatting your citations, and, as always, I would be happy to help you with this at any time.
Word Count:
As noted above, your Documented Argument should be between 750 and 1000 words, not including the MLA Works
Cited page. While this is longer than the writing assignments you have completed previously in this course, it is still not
an incredibly large number of words. This means that you will need to strike a balance between a) presenting and
explaining your claim and evidence cogently, thoughtfully, and explicitly, and b) avoiding the sort of fluff, filler, and
unnecessary repetition that will ultimately weaken your argument.

Deadlines and Check-In Dates

As always, there will be numerous milestones along the way as you complete this assignment. These milestones are
intended to help you succeed in completing the Documented Argument, and, in fact, it is critical that you follow them.
Without engaging in the process as it is laid out here, you will likely have substantial trouble completing the
assignment. Please do yourself a favor and a) be prepared for class each day by doing the homework on the nights that it
is assigned and b) use your time effectively and productively on the work days I am giving you.
Because there are many check-ins, work days, and homework assignments associated with the assignment, please
check the Unit Calendar consistently for reminders about what is due and when it is due. You received a Unit
Calendar on the first day of the unit, and it is also available on the Course Website (tinyurl.com/english12b Unit 3:
Documented Argument Unit Calendar).
As you can see from the Unit Calendar, most of the first two weeks of the unit (up until 5/13) will be dedicated to
researching your topic and actively reading the articles you find through your research. From 5/13 to 5/17 (when the
Rough Draft is due), you will be drafting your essay, and then you will be revising until 5/23, when the Documented
Argument is due.
Reflexive Component
This time around, you will be completing all of your reflexive work around the Documented Argument in class (on 5/24
and 5/25), and you will give a brief presentation of your Reflexive Essay in class (on 5/26 or 5/27). We will talk about this
in more detail as the end approaches; for now, know that you will need to document and discuss your writing process, so
please hang onto your pre-writing, drafting, and revision assignments and documents along the way.
Mastery Revisions
Per the course syllabus, the Documented Argument may not be revised for mastery credit.
Extra Credit
Per the Extra Credit Policy explained in the Course Syllabus, you can earn an additional two (2) mastery points for
visiting the Writing Center with work from this course. You can (and should) attend Writing Center as often as you
wish, but the amount of extra credit is capped at six (6) points per trimester. Although we will have multiple in-class
revision days with tutors from the Writing Center (which will count for process credit), you are strongly encouraged to
visit the Writing Center for additional assistance. Remember: to receive the extra credit, you must submit your Writing
Center receipt to Mr. Peters or Mr. Austin after your session.
Documented Argument Scoring Rubric

Grade

A- A A+
[90 100]

B- B B+
[80 90]

C- C C+
[70 80]

Criteria
Clear, insightful claim that articulates a complex and nuanced argument related to the topic. Claim
consists of a specific noun, an active verb, and a specific modifier.
Rich analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are clearly and
thoughtfully explained. Meets all evidence requirements (see Finding and Incorporating Evidence
above).
Thoughtful organization clearly guides the discussion and allows for rich exploration of evidence
that aids in supporting the claim.
Clear prose throughout; very few grammatical and technical errors.
MLA format totally or almost totally correct. Fulfills the word count requirement.
Clear claim that articulates a complex argument related to the topic. Claim consists of a specific
noun, an active verb, and a specific modifier, but it may lack insight or originality.
Strong analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are for the most
part clearly and thoughtfully explained. Meets all evidence requirements.
Thoughtful organization generally guides the discussion, though it could be more precise.
Clear prose throughout, though some grammatical and technical errors may be present.
MLA format mostly correct. Fulfills the word count requirement.
Claim relates to the topic, but it may be vague or unclear
Some analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are often vague or
left implicit, and there may be too much summary or repetition. May fail to fully meet evidence
requirements.
Organization is acceptable, but may be difficult to follow at times.
Generally clear prose, but frequent grammatical and technical errors may be present.
May contain significant MLA errors. Word count requirement may not be fulfilled.

Documented Argument Scoring Rubric (continued)

Grade

D- D D+
[60 70]

Criteria
Claim attempts to address the topic, but it may be vague or unclear to the point of confusion.
Minimal analysis of supporting evidence. Connections between evidence and claim are consistently
vague or left implicit, and response may be highly summary-heavy or repetitive. Fails to meet most
or all of the evidence requirements.
Confusing organization that makes discussion consistently difficult to follow.
Frequent grammatical and technical errors that distract from and/or obscure meaning.
MLA components are missing or completely incorrect. Word count requirement is blatantly
unfulfilled.
No submission
Completely off topic
Not in English
Total Points for Documented Argument: 100 Mastery Points