MLA Research Paper

  Based off of “Letter from Birmingham Jail” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/02/letter-from-a-birmingham-jail/552461/
1. Come up with a thesis for your paper. You will narrow the broad topic to an argumentative thesis. The thesis needs three points. 
For example, my broad topic was the Clean Water Act. During my research for my presentation, I discovered more about the legislation. 
So, my thesis for research paper may be – The Georgia Legislature has failed to uphold the Clean Water Act, resulting in 600 waterways in Georgia now being more polluted than the EPA allows, the Savannah River being the 3rd most polluted river in the nation, and the loss of 200,000 acres of critical wetlands in the south of the state. 
My paper will need to argue that the legislature’s failure to uphold to Clean Water Act has resulted in these three consequences. 
2.  Do more research. You will need at least   four academic sources. An academic source is one authored by someone with a degree in a related field. Atleast 1 from Galileo
My next step would be to do some more research into the pollution/destruction of the bodies of water that I named in my thesis and find out how the GA legisture could have prevented the harm. I may or may not be able to use some of the sources and the visual aid that I used in my presentation. 
3. Compose an essay with this structure and label each section with a heading: 
a. Introduction (hook, explanation of issues, thesis) 
b. Background paragraph (explain the historical significance, give an overarching summary of current status, define any terms, include any additional facts or statistics your reader needs) In my example, I will use this paragraph to explain the background of the Clean Water Act and how, even though it is federally funded, it is left to the states to enforce. I may even use the success stories of some other states here. 
c. Anticipation of Opposition (choose one or two of your strongest opposition points and counter it/them). In my example, I will use the example of the Turtle River oysters now being classified as safe to eat, as my opposition. I will counter that argument with the lawsuit brought by private citizens in that area. The citizens who lived on the river and could not use their water had to go to federal court to get the river cleaned up because the state would not enforce the Clean Water Act regulations in its dealings with the chlorine plant that was dumping toxins into that river.  
I also have opposition from DSM that I need to refute, but I am going to save that one for my Savannah River paragraph. 
d.-f. Body paragraphs (make your three points and support them; a proper balance should be 2-3 sentences of researched material and 9-10 sentences of your own writing) 
g. Conclusion (reiterate your thesis and three points; conclude with a tie back to your hook) 
h. Works Cited list (the heading should come one double space after the conclusion; make sure the list matches the citations within the paper) 
The paper will be graded for the following: 
Thesis (20%): The thesis must address one of the required topics, contain three points, be in the introduction, and be addressed in each subsequent paragraph. 
Support (20%): Plan of development supported through specific evidence and sound, thorough reasoning. A   Topic sentence  identifies each paragraph’s content. Strong, vivid specifics support the topic sentence. Research is integrated with signal phrases. Research is clearly relevant and academic. 
Organization and logic (20%): Overall message of paragraphs is logical and purposeful with a clear method of organization. Quotes are synthesized well with text.   Transitions  and connecting words used to tie material together. Good sense of flow. 
Grammar (20%): The essay is free from grammatical or mechanical errors; Word choice is specific, purposeful, dynamic, and varied throughout essay; Sentences are clear, active (Subject – Verb – Object), and to the point. 
MLA (20%): Conforms to MLA rules for formatting and citation of sources. Note that   all web sources, except those from Galileo, are required to have URLs in the citations. 
Essays that contain plagiarism will earn a score of 1%. Essays that fail to meet the criteria for sources, topic, or number of paragraphs will earn a score below 60%.