Topic:
Language is a an important component that defines the heritage of a people. Villelabeitia and Al Kury are an insight into a pertinent problem facing the Arabic language in the 21st Cent. While modernists contend that Arabic is dynamic language and must change with the times, traditionalists maintain that the language of a culture is a fixed component that cannot be modified or tampered with.
Your assignment is to take a position on the above statement and write a well organized persuasive essay substantiated with credible evidence. A call to action is a necessary element of the persuasive essay.
Analyze in depth two significant premises. Support you analysis with credible evidence ranging from empirical and/or narrative research to case studies, testimonials and expert opinion.
The structure of the essay is provided in the essay plan on ilearn. Remember to show the counter points for each of your premises to make the essay a causal argument in your analysis You do not need to submit an outline but some may want to use it to plan their writing.
Documentation:
1. In addition to Villelabeitia and Al Kury, you are expected to document dictionaries/technical references that you will use to define important concepts that you think may be confusing to your audience, in addition to three more references that must be scholarly articles.
2. Your essay requires a List of References and not a Bibliography. Your resources must be a combination of online books and scholarly articles from the library database. Google articles are not allowed. Your textbook may also have some useful articles. Four to five resources excluding dictionaries.
3. To avoid unintentional plagiarism, remember to keep track of your quotations, paraphrases, citations and references. Proper documentation according to APA is expected.
Definition, Description, Illustration, Process and Comparison are all possible patterns you can use to develop your main ideas and major details.
The rhetorical situation of your paper:
➢ Your purpose is persuasive (obviously it must be informative too).
➢ Your audience is the Arab and Middles Eastern culture.
➢ The obvious context language use and the larger context is preservation of a civilization that is in danger of losing one of its defining components
Some issues to note:
➢ Clearly defined terms
➢ Fair use of information
➢ Avoiding logical fallacies that weaken your position
➢ Avoiding emotionally charged language
➢ Depending primarily on Logos for persuasion
➢ Documentation
Word limit is a maximum of 1200 (in the interest of helping you stay on task and remain concise)
Essay Plan:
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
1. Frame of reference
a. What is the issue???
b. What is the nature of the problem (cultural, political, educational, etc or even a combination of those)
B. Historical Background (you don’t want to get into the specifics but just general statements to help the reader understand the beginning and development of the controversy)
1. Far past (beginnings: when did the issue start becoming a controversy)
2. Near past (development, generally and briefly)
a. Development/lack of development of the controversy
b. Changes in the role/function of the controversy and topic
3 Presently
a. Clear statement of the current status of the issue (resolved/unresolved)
b. Division in attitude towards the claim (what are the existing ‘camps’)
c. Rationale for approaching the issue (why is it important to continue discussing this matter?)
C. Assumptions (while these are necessary in argumentation, it is good to know ahead of time on what basis are you making the claim?)
a. Assumption 1 (briefly)
b. Assumption 2 (briefly)
D. Claim : an eloquent statement that reflects your clear position on the controversy; avoid announcements and try to keep the personal pronouns out of it.
DEVELOPMENT
A. Premise 1 (Reason why claim is worthy of trust)
1. Definition of terms (this does not have to be a section on its own; definitions may be incorporated where needed; this is being audience conscious)
a. Denotation
b. Connotation
2. Narrative research and/or empirical research (evidence)
a.
b.
c.
d.
3. Expert opinion / Case Studies and / or testimonials (another kind of evidence)
a.
b.
4. One more strategy (process or illustration)
B. Premise 2 (Reason why claim is worthy of trust)
1. Definition of terms (this does not have to be a section on its own; definitions may be incorporated where needed; this is being audience conscious)
a. Denotation
b. Connotation
2. Narrative research and/or empirical research (evidence)
a.
b.
c.
d.
3. Expert opinion / Case Studies and / or testimonials (another kind of evidence)
a.
b.
4. One more strategy (process or illustration)
C. Causal analysis chain
1. If claim is faulty →effect 1→effect 2→ultimate effect
2. If claim is true → effect 1→effect 2 → ultimate effect (be creative and don’t just add the opposite)
D. Comparison as an illustration (a good strategy to make things clearer; the alternate form us simple to understand and more concise; use universal examples that the reader can relate to; choose to second i )
1. Criteria 1:
a. Item A
b. Item B
2. Criteria 2:
a. Item A
b. Item B
3 Criteria 3:
a. Item A
b. Item B
CONCLUSION
A. Summary of main points
B. Confirmation of the claim/your position
C. Future prospect
1. Call for action (mental, emotional, behavioral or a combination)
2. A suggestion of a process to implement change
3. Limitations of the paper (no need to get into details but a general statement e.g while this paper has tried to cover as many aspects of the issue, it remains limited in its scope)
4. Suggested further subtopic (this is usually a very relevant issue which will take the issue further; general simple statement e.g. further exploration of the X can enhance the chances of Y)
Review Sheet:
1. Assignment conventions are met:
• Personal information
• Margins
• Spacing
• Font
• Continuous page numbers
• Indentation
2. Final submission:
• Safe assigned by due date (with review sheet as first page)
Organization
1. Essay follows the essay plan
2. Introduction includes the background and the thesis statement. The purpose is apparent to the reader.
3. Background includes:
• frame of reference
• historical background to the issue
• assumptions
• a clear claim of the position
4. Development includes:
• two premises, each supported by definitions, a narrative research, case study/minimum of two major details
• 2 causal chains explored with major and minor details
• one other relevant strategy
5. Ideas are arranged clearly and logically to advance the thesis:
• Smooth flowing for thematic unity
• Effective linking for organizational coherence
6. Conclusion includes:
• summary of main idea
• confirmation of thesis
• call for action including a recommended process to follow
• the future prospect (limitation of the paper, and suggestion for further work)
Content
1. Claim is meaningful, reflects the mode of writing, expresses an attitude towards the topic and may point to the organizational plan.
2. The premises are significant, meaningful, clear and well supported with:
• denotations and connotations
• evidence that is sufficient, relevant and varying in types
• illustration
• one other relevant strategy
3. The causal chains are significant, logical and well developed
4. The illustration/comparison is meaningful.
5. Definitions (connotations and denotations) are relevant.
6. Content is meaningful at college level and goes beyond the obvious.
7. Content is audience aware, informative and persuasive.
8. Content is not source driven and reflects the writer’s voice.
9. Conclusion is meaningful:
• summarizes main ideas
• confirms thesis
• calls for action and provides a process
• a clear statement of limitations and a suggestion at a closer look at a relevant sub topic.
Language
1. Concise, says the most in the least number of words with topic-related diction.
2. Uses a variety of sentence types and at college level
• Free from the personal pronouns ‘I, my, mine, we, us, our, ours, you’.
• Gender-neutral language.
3. Proof read for:
• structure (run-on-sentences, subject-verb agreement, sentence fragments, comma splices, rambling, parallelism, number agreement)
• tenses
• mechanics (spelling, capitalization, punctuations, quotations marks)
Documentation
1. Meets the number of resources required by the assignment.
2. In-text citations meet APA format
3. Reference list meets APA format
• Separate page with the heading ‘List of References’
• Entries listed in alphabetical order and un-numbered with hanging indentation
• Entries follow APA format
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