My topic that I chose is Professional baseball players convicted of using performance-enhancing drugs should not be considered for induction into the Hall of Fame.
Persuasive/argumentative essay are those in which you are trying to convince the reader that your view of a subject is valid. Note: that you are not trying to convince the reader that your view or position is the only way to see the subject, nor are you necessarily trying to convince the reader that your position is the best way to see the subject.
The key is to think defensively. You are trying to explain why YOU see the subject this way. More importantly, you want to base your argument on solid evidence. This is NOT a personal experience essay, even though your personal experiences will probably influence your viewpoint. EVERY point that you make needs to be supported with evidence. Your entire argument should be based on evidence from reliable sources.
In general, evidence that proves that your views are known or shared with a wide variety of other people will help validate your claims. That’s one of the primary reasons for using sources – to provide that outside validation that you aren’t the only one who feels this way. However, remember that your position should be the focus of the paper. You should not just be blindly repeating your sources’ arguments. We want to know your unique set of evidence and how it adds up to support your claims.
Number of pages: 5 minimum and 8 maximum in MLA format
Minimum outside sources: 3 and make sure they are used within your paper and have in-text citations and they are all listed in the works cited page.
The key to starting an argumentative essay is to:
1) Begin with a subject, and read up on it with an open mind.
2) Try to find as wide a variety of sources as possible and learn as much about the subject as you can.
3) After you’ve done the research, reading, and thinking about the subject, then you are ready to share your opinion with the audience.
Remember that the focus should be on how you are putting the evidence and ideas together, not on how your sources have interpreted this information. Make sure that you cite all evidence from your sources. Give credit where credit is due. Not doing so constitutes plagiarism. Remember what we have learnt in class about in-text citations, and works cited pages.
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