In this essay, you will be writing a structured, rhetorical exploratory essay on one of the following areas: faith, activism, or a

In this essay, you will be writing a structured, rhetorical exploratory essay on one of the following areas: faith, activism, or art.

ENGL 123: Composition

Final Essay

20% of Final Grade

In this essay, you will be writing a structured, rhetorical exploratory essay on one of the following areas: faith, activism, or art.  The process associated with writing this essay will teach you how to focus on a particular topic, logically arrange information and structural elements, and conduct college-level scholarly research. Use the below information as a checklist so that you remain on task:

• Create a two-part claim/thesis. The thesis should be positioned as the last sentence of your introduction.
• Your rhetorical goal should ultimately inform your reader about your faith, your activism, or your art (your major). This goal should be set forth in the claim.  The areas of exploration within your topic should include two of the following: movements (think historical movements like eras), experts, organizations, innovations (think inventions), or legislation.    
• Structurally, this paper will offer two main parts to the body that reflect the claim, much like the evaluation essay.  Each of these parts should offer at least three in-depth paragraphs that relate to said part. For example, if you decide to write about organizations (subtopic) in your major (main topic), you will construct three (or more) paragraphs that detail organizations (a different organization per paragraph) that relate to your major. You will incorporate research in ALL body paragraphs.
• You will need to create clear topic sentences that reflect the thesis and give the scope of their respective paragraphs. One of your topic sentences will transition from Part One to Part Two of the paper.  Position this sentence as the first sentence of the first paragraph of the second part of the paper.
• Create an engaging introduction and conclusion.
• Use the Source Citation Model document found in Blackboard as a guide to incorporating research.  This document will be crucial to your success on this paper, and will assist you in earning a passing score for the essay.
• Pay attention to detail: Does the content in your paragraphs agree with your topic sentences? And, do your topic sentences relate back to your thesis?
• Sources will vary.  Start with 10-15.

Grading: This paper will be scored holistically.  This means that the combined score will be determined from the following areas:

• Research effort
• Types of sources (NO Wikipedia, dictionaries, or .com websites)
• Structure
• Development of ideas
• Rhetorical effectiveness and language usage
• Voice
• Clarity
• Grammar and punctuation
• Originality
• Also see the grading rubric on Blackboard

Other Relevant Information:

• Choose scholarly or trade research 
• Choose a variety of e-sources and print sources
• This paper is your future—have fun.