English 1304

Instructor: Clay Zuba

Definitional or Evaluative Argument Essay

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st
Draft (optional): Due Wednesday, March 31st. Bring 2 copies to class.
Final Draft: Due Friday, April 9th.

Assignment: Write an argument that develops either a definitional or evaluative claim.
Your argument must receive approval from the instructor. The argument and research in
this essay may serve the basis of your proposal argument, due later in the semester.
1. Your essay must be at least 1000 words in length, and no more than 1250.
2. All due dates must be met in order to receive credit for the assignment
3. Peer review will be conducted on Wednesday, March 31st. You must participate
in Peer Review if you would like to turn in a rough draft..

A successful essay will contain the following features:
1. Contain an introductory paragraph which introduces the chosen subject,
demonstrates the relevance of the subject, and shows why the definitional term is
problematic. This paragraph will contain your thesis.
2. Meet the requirements, as outlined in your textbook, of the appropriate type of
argument.
3. Utilize all 3 sides of the rhetorical triangle of life (logos, ethos, and pathos) to
create an engaging and persuasive argument (Chapters 5 & 6).
4. Be multi-sided in nature (Chapter 7).
5. Contain a concluding paragraph which recapitulates your argument and closes
your essay for the reader. If writing a dialogic argument, this paragraph will
contain your thesis.
6. Each draft must be formatted according to MLA guidelines. It must be stapled.
For help with MLA style, refer to page 408 and the example pages 344-350. For
help structuring and writing your essay, see Chapter 11, and especially pages 228-
231.
7. Utilize at least 3 researched scholarly sources as evidence to support the
argument. Such evidence may be deployed in either the definition or match
section, but must be correctly cited according to MLA guidelines in both the text
and the bibliography. Newspaper and magazine articles may be used in your
paper as evidence, but these will not count toward your minimum 3 scholarly
sources. Note: Reference dictionaries are not acceptable sources for this
essay.

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Final Rubric:
Effective introduction, thesis, and conclusion: 10%
Development of definitional or evaluative criteria: 20%
Matching section: 20%
Overall Pathos: 20%
Overall Ethos: 20%
Overall language control: 10%
MLA format of paper: 5%
MLA format of citations and bibliography: 5%