l create a minimum 525-word rough draft of your persuasive essay.

Assignment Content

1. In this assignment, you will create a minimum 525-word rough draft of your persuasive essay. Review your thesis statement and research you gathered in Weeks 1 and 2 before beginning. Be sure to note any feedback from your instructor about changes you might want to consider.

   There are different approaches to preparing a draft, so feel free to explore what works best for you. You may wish to start by creating an outline that you can refer to as you compose your draft. An outline also gives you an opportunity to record notes to yourself on where to flesh out ideas; you can use this as a reference for later revisions. The Creating an Outline document from the Center for Writing Excellence includes a sample outline. Other approaches to preparing your draft include: writing it from start to finish, writing the body or sections individually, and then compiling and adding connections, starting by writing what intrigues you most about the topic. These strategies are meant to help you get started on your paper but remember to revise so that you have a complete draft to submit. Keep in mind that only the draft will be required for submission in this assignment. You do not have to submit your outline or notes.

   Complete the following as you prepare your rough draft:

   • Visit the APA Templates page from the Center for Writing Excellence and select the appropriate template.
   • Complete the title page information with your details and original title.
   • Underline or bold the thesis statement within your introduction paragraph.
   • Include direct quotes or paraphrased information from the research you gathered in Week 2 (3 pieces of cited evidence, 1 of which is peer-reviewed). Refer to “Paraphrase: Write It in Your Own Words” from the Purdue Online Writing Lab for assistance.
   • Include a References page with citations formatted according to APA guidelines on the last page of your essay. Each cited source should have 1 reference within the paper.
   • Use a grammar checking tool from the Center for Writing Excellence to review your work for errors and make corrections as needed.
   • Submit your rough draft.

     ***Jen’s Helpful Hints***

   • You should have five paragraphs. The first is an introduction that ends in your thesis statement. The next three are body paragraphs, each of which connects to one of the supporting ideas in your thesis statement. The last is a conclusion paragraph that sums up your entire essay. How many paragraphs do you have?
   • Have I approved your thesis statement? If not, message me so we can fix it. A poor thesis statement can derail the entire essay.
   • Each body paragraph needs a topic sentence (not a question), at least one citation for supporting evidence, and a concluding sentence (also not a question).
   • The numbers listed on the APA templates refer to the course number, not the word count. Since this is ENG/200, you want to use APA Paper Template: 100-299.
   • The word count includes the essay only; the title and reference pages are not included. (Note: The final essay should be no more than 750 words; please don’t submit a 2,000-word draft.)
   • Before you submit, take a moment to ignore the words and just look at your paper compared to the APA template. Is your spacing the same? Are your references formatted with a hanging indent? Are your headings the same? What about your title page–does it look the same? Formatting sometimes changes when you start typing into the template, so make sure it all looks right before you hand it in. Pay attention to things like font style, size, and type; compare your use of bold or italics to the template. If the template text is not italicized, yours shouldn’t be, either.