3. Agree or disagree: Most students are in too big of a hurry to be done with their education that they frequently fail to learn what will serve them well in the rest of their professional and personal lives.

For your first essay, we are going to get the state-required research paper accomplished. This assignment has
three primary objectives: to evaluate your abilities 1) to create a reasonable and valid thesis statement, 2) to
support that thesis statement with reasonable and credible evidence for which you have appropriately
evaluated and acknowledged the original sources, and 3) to follow directions for completing a task with
accuracy and precision.
Pick one of the following eight topics and create your thesis statement (you must pick only from this list, and
you must establish a clear position of agreement or disagreement by using the words “I agree” or “I disagree”
in your thesis statement. Be clear and direct. -50 for writing on a topic not listed here; -10 for failing to write in
first person using “I agree” or “I disagree” statement):
1. Agree or disagree: People who use AI tools to help generate creative work are presenting an inauthentic
finished product to their audience members.
2. Agree or disagree: Multitasking really results in multiple tasks being done poorly instead of multiple tasks
being done well.
3. Agree or disagree: Most students are in too big of a hurry to be done with their education that they
frequently fail to learn what will serve them well in the rest of their professional and personal lives.
4. Agree or disagree: Advertisements for most things offered in an online format, such as a job application
process, business meetings, or educational experiences, make it seem like online means those things are
easy and convenient, but being able to access them online does not automatically make them easy or
convenient.
5. Agree or disagree: For adults, listening to an audio book is not the same as reading that book.
6. Agree or disagree: Making something free that once had a cost or fee signals that it is valueless.
7. Agree or disagree: Most holidays, regardless of their original purpose or what they are supposed to
celebrate, amount to little more than opportunities for advertisers and businesses to make money.
Professional tip: If you don’t know what the topic is talking about or you cannot agree or disagree with the topic
statement within a few seconds of reading it, DON’T pick that one.
Once you pick your topic, you must create a thesis statement that clearly states your position on the statement.
I expect to see the words “I agree” or “I disagree” in your thesis statement. Again, be clear and direct.
Your introductory paragraph should establish your thesis statement and give your reader a brief overview of
the reasons why you agree or disagree. Do not include source material in your introduction; save that for the
body paragraphs. For the purpose of this essay, your reader is an informed peer, which means that you are
writing to fellow college-educated people who have similar knowledge, experience, and background to you.
Your body paragraphs should detail the specific reasons and information you have for why you agree or
disagree with the original statement. Typically, a body paragraph covers one reason or piece of evidence
(using a clear topic sentence early in each paragraph helps establish the paragraph’s focus). Therefore, how
many ever reasons you list in the introductory paragraph is usually how many body paragraphs your essay will
have. It is in the body paragraphs that you should use the information you have found from your sources. All
information that came from sources must be clearly acknowledged as coming from the specific source you got
it from. Whether you are mentioning an idea from a source, paraphrasing the source’s information in your own
words, or quoting directly from the source, you must introduce the source by name, establish the source’s
credibility, follow the source material with correct in-text (parenthetical) citations in MLA style, and show how
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that source’s information supports your thesis statement. Failure to acknowledge every single piece of
information (again, this means everything from direct word-for-word quotations all the way down to a basic idea
you got from a source you looked at) is plagiarism, and you will receive a failing grade on this assignment for
any amount of plagiarism.
Your concluding paragraph is where you restate your thesis statement and recap your reasons. Do not include
new information in the conclusion, and do not include additional source information in your conclusion. Be
consistent with your point of view even if you change the wording of your thesis statement. Make sure your
concluding paragraph is not combined with your last body paragraph. Your conclusion should be its own
paragraph.
You must formulate and turn in to me your provisional thesis statement on the above date (one point will be
deducted from your Essay #1 grade for every day that your thesis statement is late; the same goes for
your provisional works cited page and the essay acknowledgement). However, once you submit a thesis
statement, you must stick with that topic; you cannot change topics after submitting your thesis (though, you
can revise the thesis wording and details as you need). You can, however, change sources after submitting
your provisional works cited page.
You must use 2-4 credible sources in your essay to support your thesis statement (points will be deducted for
having too few or too many sources). Your sources must be credible, preferably from recognized experts or
authorities in the field of study or research. At least one of your sources MUST be found using the databases
on GALILEO (and the works cited page entry for that source must correctly reflect its location in GALILEO).
You must show exactly how and where you have used information from these sources by introducing,
incorporating, citing, and analyzing your uses; this includes direct quotes, paraphrases, and summary
statements. Do not use websites with questionable credibility (some .com sites, Wikipedia, or sites with
excessive ad placement or exaggerated writing), or any source of which the credibility is questionable as
sources. Your sources may be professional opinion, so do not worry about finding just fact-based material. You
should pay careful attention to the information presented in the notes and resource material posted.
Argument and persuasion can only occur between or among reasonable people. When different sides of an
issue no longer recognize any validity within the opposition, then no discussion is possible. It is essential that
you base your arguments on strong, specific thesis statements that are supported by credible, reasonable, and
widely accessible/acceptable evidence. Basing your work on generalizations or obscure/questionable ideas or
sources will not lead to a successful essay. Repeating what you have Googled up from the internet or using an
AI bot to do this for you will not lead to a successful essay; indeed, such actions are a betrayal of the good faith
effort that should be the foundation of your desire to learn from this experience.
Sample essays are available; again, these samples are not perfect nor do they represent the one-and-only way
to write an essay such as this one, but they are competent examples of ways to meet the basic requirements
of this assignment.