Topic Paper Instructions
Requirements:
1) 3-5 double-spaced pages (12 pt. Font).
2) Must have at least 4 sources (cited in MLA or APA format in a work cited page)
3) Must be free of spelling and grammar mistakes.
4) No cover page
5) Name must be in the upper left hand corner.
Instructions:
1) In this essay you will research and present an argument and advocacy in essay format.
2) You will choose your own topic and follow the instructions outlined below.
3) Select a specific local, domestic, or international issue or problem. The topic must also include a potential solution to resolve crisis.
4) Write a paper where you argue, through research, why a specific solution should be implemented in the world to resolve the problem.
Outline:
A. Introduce the topic to the reader.
a. Give some background about the problem.
i. What events caused the problem to originate?
ii. What is occurring right now regarding the topic?
iii. Who is involved?
Body:
A. Harms: Give in detail 3-4 harms (problems) that directly stems from your topic.
iv. How are people affected directly by the problem?
v. How big is the problem?
B. Plans
a. Give one cohesive solution or “plan” that could solve the “harms” (problems) you have identified.
*Note: You plan of action needs to potentially solve for all the problems you have identified.
*Note: You can also research and present other people’s plans.
b. In you plan you must answer the following questions.
i. What actions will be conducted to fix the problems?
ii. Agents of action: Who will initiate and conducted the plan?
iii. Funding: How much will the plan cost and will the money be raised?
iv. Enforcement: How will you guarantee you plan will continue over the years?
C. Solvency:
a. How will you plan potentially solve the problems?
b. How will people’s lives be improved through your plan?
D. Potential Drawbacks
a. Who might go wrong with your plans?
b. Why might they not affect the problems?
E. Conclusion
a. Review the harms
b. Remind the reader the plan you proposed
c. Review the benefits of your plan
Potential Problem Example Areas
1. Education (problems with standardized testing, racial or socioeconomic gaps in education, student loan crises etc.)
2. Environment (Pollution, off shore drilling, Hydraulic Fracking, lack of energy independents, Alternant energy).
3. Social Issues (Poverty, Institutional Racism, Unemployment etc.)
4. Political Issues (Immigration, Refugees, Gender Wage Gap, Climate Change Laws etc.)
5. International Issues (Crises in the Middle East, Wars in Africa, Europe’s financial crises etc).
