Purpose: The purpose for this assignment will depend on your intended stakeholder. It will most likely fall into one of the following general categories—the aims of argument: • To convince undecided stakeholders to accept your thesis • To make opposing stakeholders less resistant to your thesis • To convince stakeholder who agree with you to take action

Audience: Your audience is a specific stakeholder of your choice who has an interest in this issue. Not only does your stakeholder have a vested interest in the issue, s/he also has several expectations of you as an author. To begin, the stakeholder expects that the argument is well-researched and that the argument is supported with reasons and evidence. S/he is also an academic, and therefore expects to find an academic argument; this means that you use full citations for all sources used, your writing is clear and concrete, well-structured, and organized logically.

Author: Present yourself as a knowledgeable, fair-minded, credible and, as appropriate, empathetic person. You do not need to be an expert on your issue to write an argument, but you do need to have confidence in what you do know and believe about it. Show that you approach the issue with enthusiasm, intellectual curiosity, and an open mind.

Argument Strategies and Requirements: Rely on audience appeals: logos (appeal to reason), ethos (appeal to character), and pathos (appeal to emotion). Include a minimum of six relevant, reliable, and recent sources. One of these should be an interview. One of these should be scholarly. You may include one essay from 50 Essays if you like.

Paper Length & Style: MLA heading. Approximately 1,200-1,800 words, plus a Works Cited page (approximately 6-8 pages, PLUS Works Cited, double-spaced, 12-point times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins.)