Argumentative Research Paper

This research paper will require the completion of several assignments that will build to the final draft of your paper.

Process:

Research Question – the question you will be answering in your paper

Thesis Statement – the main point of your essay

Essay Outline – point-by-point explanation of what will be included in your essay

Peer Review – rough draft of essay

Final Draft – final draft of essay

Requirements

· A debatable topic

· A clever title

· A strong introduction, thesis, and conclusion

· Body paragraphs that focus on one idea and develop the idea stated in the topic sentences using relevant examples and strong details

· Includes one paragraph that presents a counterargument

· In text citations from 5-6 current sources. At least 2 of these sources must be accessed from the school’s database and/or library. All Internet sources must be credible.

· Third-person POV

· No major or distracting grammatical, spelling, or typographical errors

· 6-8 pages in length, double-spaced, 12-point font, Times New Roman, MLA format

· Works Cited page – (Works Cited is not included in page count)

Education	Economy/Work Place	Media	Internet	Criminal Justice/ Politics	Environment	Food/Agriculture
-Private Schooling -Standardized Testing -Charter schools -Cost of College -Young Women in STEM	-Minimum Wage -Wage Gap -Income Inequality -Tax Breaks -Longer Paid Maternity Leave -Health Benefits for Part-Time Employees	-Celebrity Culture -Reality TV -Video Games -Violence in Media -Racial Profiling	-Net Neutrality -Privacy -Hacking -Doxing -Bit Coin	-Prison System -Education in Prison -Three Strikes Law -Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices -The Electoral College -NASA Funding	-Air Pollution and Companies -More Public Transportation -Hybrid Cars Required	-Farming -Organic Foods -GMOs -Fast Food -Caged Animals -Overfishing

Possible topics (this is a list of suggestions—you are not required to write about these topics, but you must clear your topic with me before starting)

Prewrite:

Research Paper Outline

I. Introduction

a. Hook – use one of our strategies

b. Background information – general information about topic

c. Thesis statement – thesis should be arguable

II. Body Paragraph 1

a. Main Point / Topic Sentence

b. Evidence from an outside source

i. Introduce source properly (TAG)

ii. Source can be quotes, data, statistics that support main point

c. Explain how the evidence you provided supports your point

i. What does the quotation/evidence mean in your own words?

ii. What is the significance of this quotation or paraphrase? Why should anyone care?

iii. If you’ve said that something happens (like icebergs melting—how does it happen? How does it come to be the way it is?

iv. Can you give an example to illustrate this point?

v. How does it connect to or support your thesis?

***Steps b-c can be repeated

d. Linking statement / reword topic sentence

III. Body Paragraph 2

a. Main Point / Topic Sentence

b. Evidence from an outside source

i. Introduce source properly (TAG)

ii. Source can be quotes, data, statistics that support main point

c. Explain how the evidence you provided supports your point

i. What does the quotation/evidence mean in your own words?

ii. What is the significance of this quotation or paraphrase? Why should anyone care?

iii. If you’ve said that something happens (like icebergs melting—how does it happen? How does it come to be the way it is?

iv. Can you give an example to illustrate this point?

v. How does it connect to or support your thesis?

***Steps b-c can be repeated

d. Linking statement / reword topic sentence

IV. Body Paragraph 3

a. Main Point / Topic Sentence

b. Evidence from an outside source

i. Introduce source properly (TAG)

ii. Source can be quotes, data, statistics that support main point

c. Explain how the evidence you provided supports your point

i. What does the quotation/evidence mean in your own words?

ii. What is the significance of this quotation or paraphrase? Why should anyone care?

iii. If you’ve said that something happens (like icebergs melting—how does it happen? How does it come to be the way it is?

iv. Can you give an example to illustrate this point?

v. How does it connect to or support your thesis?

***Steps b-c can be repeated

d. Linking statement / reword topic sentence

V. Body Paragraph 4 – Counterargument

a. Discuss a possible argument against your thesis or some aspect of your reasoning.

b. Show why the opposing side is wrong or why their points are unimportant

VI. Conclusion

a. Restate your thesis statement

b. Explain why this topic is important / call to action / provide solution / look to the future

Research Paper Sample

Directions: Connect each part of the outline to the corresponding parts in the paragraphs below. Then, give this partial draft a grade.

Introduction:

Living with Mental Illness

Everyone is fighting a battle you cannot see. The dirty man sleeping on the corner of the street that people assume is a drug addict? He has schizophrenia and cannot hold down a job, so he lost his home. The woman in front of you at the grocery store buying a ton of items and holding up the line? She is a bulimic, and is going home to binge and purge all of that food. And the teenage girl who misses a lot of school? She has depression and is suicidal, and every day that she gets out of bed is an accomplishment. Mental illness is a monster that cannot be seen, but it can be fought. The people who choose to fight it, are the people that get therapy and psychiatric medication, if needed. It takes a lot of strength to fight these battles, but unfortunately, instead of supporting the mentally ill, society drags them down. In the book Suck It Up: Opinions and Attitudes about Mental Illness Stigma and Help-Seeking Behaviour of Male Varsity Football Players, author Samantha DeLenardo defines stigma as “a social construct that serves social functions;” a negative stigma surrounds anyone with a mental illness, and the treatment they choose to receive. It is a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation, because those that let their mental illness overtaken them are seen as weak, and those that seek help are seen the same way. According to Newsweek, in a society where “18.2 percent of the population have a mental illness,” the negative stigma is still going strong because it is not yet understood completely by the majority; if awareness is raised about the struggles that the mentally ill go through to live normal lives, the stigma will be lifted and people will feel free to seek help.

Body Paragraph:

Oftentimes, individuals with a mental illness are too afraid to seek help, because they think they will be bullied by others, and therefore feel ashamed. When they do not seek help, the mental illness has an opportunity to take control over them; and this is when many individuals decide to commit suicide. According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, “In 2013, 41,149 suicides were reported, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans” If these people had just sought help, had had support from family and friends, maybe they would still be here today. According to the Center for Disease Control, “An estimated 1 million adults (0.5% of the U.S. adult population) reported making a suicide attempt in the past year.” So many people try to take their own lives, and many succeed. In Steven P. Hinshaw’s book The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change, he recounts one man’s story of suicidal thoughts and shame, in which “his psychiatrist strongly encouraged him to avoid hospitalization because of the stigma involved” (115). If any more proof was needed that the stigma that surrounds mental health care exists, there it is. The fact that a psychiatrist would tell a suicidal patient not to go seek help because of what people may think, in turn risking his patient’s life, shows just how shamefully seeking help is portrayed. The mentally ill are also often urged to keep their illness a secret: “Several colleagues made it abundantly clear that it would have been best to keep my illness private. Others were obviously embarrassed by my disclosure and appeared to have no idea of what they should say or do in my presence” (131). Many people do not know how to handle a person with a mental illness, and either resort to treating them like they are something fragile that may break at any second, or insult them and berate them for being open about their illness. In reality, being open about one’s illness may help others in turn; seeing someone else’s struggle publicly can encourage others to get help, especially younger people who are still learning how to deal with the illness. No matter what hateful things people say to try and make the mentally ill feel shame, the reality is that mental illness is not something one chooses; it is something one was born with, or developed over time.

Counterargument:

Some people say that mental illness is not something that needs to be treated, that depression is something to “get over,” and anxiety is something to “ignore.” However, this is false. Any mental illness has the possibility of being debilitating, and in order to continue living their lives, the sufferer may need therapy or medication. The mentally ill cannot simply will away their symptoms, and need support, and not to have their problems diminished, when they go on their journey of healing.

Conclusion:

Once more awareness is raised about mental illness itself, and about the stigma that is affecting those that have a mental illness, there will hopefully be less suicides and more people attending therapy. The world is a hard enough place to live in, and add a mental illness to the mix, those people need more compassion than anything. Someday, mental illness will no longer be the “hot topic” to poke fun at, and the mentally ill will be able to better integrate into society and live normal lives while receiving help for their disorders.

Works Cited

Bekiempis, Victoria. “Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Suffers From Mental Illness.” Newsweek. Feb 28 2014. https://www.newsweek.com/nearly-1-5-americans-suffer-mental-illness-each-year-230608.

“Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior Among Adults by Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Age Group, and State.” Center for Disease Control. 2012. www.cdc.gov/nchs/ppt/nchs2012/ss-32_crosby.pdf.

DeLenardo, Samantha and Jenepher Lennox Terrion. Suck It Up: Opinions and Attitudes about Mental Illness Stigma and Help-Seeking Behaviour of Male Varsity Football Players. June 2015.

Hinshaw, Steven P. The Mark of Shame: Stigma of Mental Illness and an Agenda for Change. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2007.

“Timeline: Treatments for Mental Illness.” PBS. June 2015. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/nash/timeline/index.html