A presentation of ideas and information will not suffice, nor are you to analyze the causes and effects of a particular issue.

Essay 2: Claim with Reasons
For your second essay, you will make a claim with reasons argument, taking a position on a controversial issue related to higher education, college. You must choose a debatable topic related to higher education (college) and argue a position. For example, you could argue whether or not too many people are going to college. You could argue whether or not it’s better for students to attend a community college before going to a four university or not. You could argue whether social sciences and humanities degrees (English, history, art, journalism, communications, psychology, sociology, etc.) have as much benefit as the STEM field (science, technology, engineering, math) or not. You could argue whether or not for-profit colleges need to be better regulated (this topic is related to the documentary College, Inc). Basically, you can find any topic related to higher education that is even briefly touched on in any of the assigned articles you will read in Unit 2 and take a stand on that issue. You can find a list of possible topics in the Essay 2 folder.
You will make a claim that you can argue. Choose a side on this issue to argue for or against. The argument is key. A presentation of ideas and information will not suffice, nor are you to analyze the causes and effects of a particular issue. Your thesis statement will be a “should or should not” statement, such as “Many students should attend a community college before transferring to a four-year college because . . .” or “A liberal arts education should still be valued in American universities because…” You must then provide evidence-based reasons to support your claim and lead you to some conclusion. These reasons will comprise most of the body of your paper. Finally, you must also address counter-arguments to your claim by finding at least one source that disagrees with your position and refuting the arguments made in that source.
IMPORTANT: In order to fully understand the structure and purpose of this assignment you must read the provided Claim with Reasons outline and Toulmin Model Lecture Notes, which are included in Unit 2 of the course.
Length, Formatting, and Source Requirements
• Compose an essay of no less than five, double-spaced pages in length. This total does not include your Works Cited page, which must begin on a new page.
• Identify and apply the conventions of MLA format and accurate MLA documentation, including attribution (signal phrasing), in-text citation, and a Works Cited page. I also require the use of a 12-point, Times New Roman font.
• Avoid the use of 1st or 2nd person (“I,” “we,” “us,” and “you”).
• Avoid personal narrative and opinion-based development (i.e. “I believe,” “I think,” “In my opinion,” etc.). All ideas must be well-supported with logical explanations, details, connections, and evidence from the required source material.
 Required Sources: You must conduct research to find sources that support your claim and provide backing for your argument. You must use at least five recent sources (within the last 10 years) for this paper:
1. One of the following articles from your textbook: Sanford J. Unger’s “The New Liberal Arts”; Charles Murray’s “Are Too Many People Going to College?”; Liz Addison’s “Two Years Are Better Than Four”; Gerard Graff’s “Hidden Intellectualism” or the documentary College, Inc.
2. One scholarly or professional journal, using fully developed articles, not abstracts, news briefs, or citations.
3. One electronic book other than a research guide or reference book (no encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc).
4. One newspaper article.
5. One additional source (This source can be another journal article, newspaper, or book. It cannot be a website)
IMPORTANT: You may not use any other sources for your essays other than the ones you can access through the “Finding Sources for Your Paper” folder under “Essential Course Resources. Yes, this requirement means you may not use Google to find any source; you must use a library database that I have linked to on our library course guide.
ENG112 Suggested Library Databases
For Essay 2 and Essay 3:
• EBook Collection
• JSTOR
• ProQuest Central
• InfoTrac Newsstand
• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• Opposing ViewPoints in Context
• SIRS Researcher
• CQ Researcher
• Films on Demand
• NC Live Video Collection
https://researchguides.waketech.edu/c.php?g=600497
The Basics of Finding Articles at Wake TechThe Basics of Finding Articles at Wake Tech
Please watch this 4-minute video to see a Wake Tech librarian walk you through the basics of finding articles in one of the databases Wake Tech subscribes to.
Narrated by: Melanie Gnau, Wake Tech Librarian
Video Length: 4:14
Web Link: https://youtu.be/ntb4kaQtEZI (opens in new window)