Home

Touchstone 3.2: Draft an Argumentative Research Essay
ASSIGNMENT: Using your outline and annotated bibliography from Touchstones 1.2 and 2.2, draft a 6-8 page argumentative research essay on your chosen topic.
As this assignment builds on Touchstone 2.2: Create an Annotated Bibliography, that Touchstone must be graded before you can submit your research essay draft. Although unrelated by topic, Touchstone 3.1 must also be graded before you can submit your research essay draft.
Sample Touchstone 3.2
In order to foster learning and growth, all work you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any plagiarized or recycled work will result in a Plagiarism Detected alert. Review Touchstones: Academic Integrity Guidelines for more about plagiarism and the Plagiarism Detected alert. For guidance on the use of generative AI technology, review Ethical Standards and Appropriate Use of AI.
A. Assignment Guidelines
DIRECTIONS: Refer to the list below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines. Refer to the Sample Touchstone for additional guidance on structure, formatting, and citation.
1. Argumentative Thesis Statement
❒ Have you included a thesis in your introduction that includes a clear, arguable stance and supporting reasons?
2. Argument Development
❒ Are all of the details relevant to the purpose of your essay?
❒ Is the argument supported using persuasive rhetorical appeals and page/paragraph-numbered source material (i.e., direct quotations, paraphrasing, and summary)?
❒ Is your essay 6-8 pages (approximately 1500-2000 words, not including your references or reflection question responses)? If not, which details do you need to add or remove?
❒ Does the essay consist of at least seven paragraphs – an introduction, five body paragraphs (with at least one for the counterarguments and rebuttals), and a conclusion? Are the body paragraphs ordered logically to strengthen the argument, and do they all contain accurate evidence from credible sources?
❒ Do your topic sentences make original and supportable points? Do your topic sentences directly support your thesis statement?
3. Research
❒ Have you introduced, contextualized, and cited outside sources effectively using at least some direct quotation, summary, and paraphrase techniques and included page/paragraph-numbered parenthetical citations?
❒ Are the sources incorporated smoothly, providing the reader with signal phrases and context for the source information?
❒ Have you referenced a range of at least 7 credible sources, and does each source have at least one accurate in-text citation in the essay?
❒ Have you properly formatted your citations according to APA style guidelines?
❒ Have you included an APA style reference page below your essay and do the sources listed there match those cited in the essay?
4. Reflection
❒ Have you answered all reflection questions including specific and concrete examples that provide thoughtful insight in all responses?
❒ Are your answers included on a separate page below the main assignment?
B. Reflection
DIRECTIONS: Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions.
Provide one example of a place where you have used rhetorical appeals or source material to support your argument. How does this enhance your essay? (2-3 sentences)
Touchstone 4 is a revision of this draft. What kind of feedback would be helpful for you as you revise? Are there parts of your draft that you’re uncertain of? (3-4 sentences)
C. Rubric
Advanced (100%) Proficient (85%) Acceptable (75%) Needs Improvement (50%) Non-Performance (0%)
Argument Development and Support
Provide a clear argument with sufficient support. (40%)
The argument is thoroughly developed with highly relevant details to support it, including the use of rhetorical appeals and accurately cited direct quotations and paraphrasing. The argument is well-developed with relevant details to support it, including the use of rhetorical appeals and accurately cited direct quotations and paraphrasing. The argument is not fully developed; while it is supported by some relevant details, including rhetorical appeals and accurately cited direct quotations and paraphrasing, some aspects of the argument are neglected. The argument is poorly developed with irrelevant details that frequently distract from the argument; there is little evidence of the use of rhetorical appeals and/or direct quotations and paraphrasing. Source material included might not be cited. The argument is not developed and/or the composition is not argumentative; details are irrelevant and distract from the argument OR are not supported with accurately cited source material.
Research
Incorporate sources through effective quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. (30%)
Cites all outside sources appropriately; incorporates credible sources smoothly and effectively through some direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Primarily cites outside sources appropriately; incorporates credible sources effectively through some direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Generally cites outside sources appropriately; incorporates credible sources adequately through some direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Cites outside sources, but most are cited improperly; incorporates sources through some direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary, but the integration is not smooth and/or the credibility of the sources is unclear. Does not cite or reference sources accurately, or citation is consistently inappropriate and/or inaccurate, and/or sources are not credible or appropriate.
Organization
Exhibit competent organizational writing techniques. (15%)
Includes all of the required components of an argumentative research paper, including an introduction with relevant and engaging background information and an argumentative thesis, an adequate number of body paragraphs with topic sentences, a body paragraph addressing counterargument(s), and a conclusion with a concluding statement. Includes all of the required components of an argumentative research paper, including an introduction with background information, an argumentative thesis, an adequate number of body paragraphs with topic sentences, a body paragraph addressing counterargument(s), and a conclusion with a concluding statement. Includes nearly all of the required components of an argumentative research paper; however, one component is missing. Includes most of the required components of an argumentative research paper, but is lacking two components; sequences ideas and paragraphs such that the connections between ideas (within and between paragraphs) are sometimes unclear and the reader may have difficulty following the progression of the argument. Lacks several or all of the components of an argumentative research paper; sequences ideas and paragraphs such that the connections between ideas (within and between paragraphs) are often unclear and the reader has difficulty following the progression of the argument.
Style
Establish a consistent, informative and argumentative tone and make thoughtful stylistic choices. (5%)
Demonstrates thoughtful and effective word choices, avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a wide variety of sentence structures. Demonstrates effective word choices, primarily avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a variety of sentence structures. Demonstrates generally effective style choices, but may include occasional redundancies, imprecise language, poor word choice, and/or repetitive sentence structures. Frequently includes poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures. Consistently demonstrates poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures.
Conventions
Follow conventions for standard written English. (5%)
There are only a few, if any, negligible errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are occasional minor errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are some significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are frequent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage. There are consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, formatting, and usage.
Reflection
Answer reflection questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. (5%)
Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; consistently includes specific and concrete examples that provide thoughtful insight, following or exceeding response length guidelines. Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; includes multiple specific and concrete examples that provide thoughtful insight, following response length guidelines. Primarily demonstrates thoughtful reflection, but some responses are lacking in detail or insight; primarily follows response length guidelines. Shows limited reflection; the majority of responses are lacking in detail or insight, with some questions left unanswered or falling short of response length guidelines. No reflection responses are present.
D. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:
Composition must be 6-8 pages (approximately 1500-2000 words, not including your references or reflection question responses).
Double-space the composition 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.
Use of generative chatbot artificial intelligence tools (ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Bard) in place of original writing is strictly prohibited 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.
Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx.
Your annotated bibliography must be graded before your research essay draft will be accepted.
E. Additional Resources
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.