Writers often face the challenge of too many ideas swirling around their heads when they sit down to draft an essay or another document. The swirling ideas can lead to writers block or a disorganized draft. This Discussion will help you bring order to an argument for change by using a graphic organizer or writing an outline. Your outline or graphic organizer should include at least four key points (not including the introduction and conclusion) that will help you to support your essays thesis statement.

Be sure to include your most recent thesis statement in the outline or organizer in addition to the four supporting points.

Begin by reviewing the Unit 8 Assignment instructions, and then respond to all of the following prompts:

Post your most recent thesis revision.
Share an outline or graphic organizer that captures and organizes at least four supporting ideas for your persuasive essay. Include at least one misconception or opposition point to your argument that you will need to rebut in the essay.
Use complete sentences for each of the main points and tell the class what evidence you can use to support that point.
Ask an open-ended question related to something you need help with for your argument or the ideas associated with drafting and organizing essays from the Unit 7 Reading.
For peer feedback this week, challenge yourself to identify gaps in the argument that may need to be filled or to offer suggestions about how to rework the organization to more effectively convey the issue or solution.

All Discussion posts and responses to peers should be written in complete sentences using Standard English. Before posting, proofread for grammar, spelling, and word-choice issues. Be sure to respond fully to every aspect of the Discussion.

When you refer to concepts from the units Reading, be sure to use a signal phrase like According to . . .[name of reading]. If you are directly quoting the Reading or another source, be sure to use quotation marks and cite the source using proper APA in-text citations and full references.

The academic essay Assignment in this unit will be a written, cohesive argument for the change in your community that you have been writing about throughout the course. The Assignment should take the form of a persuasive academic essay, in which you will provide reliable evidence from at least four sources to support the argument for change that you are advocating. You will also need to address counter-arguments or misconceptions about your topic within the essay, as the ability to do so is a key component of a strong argument. Essentially, the essay will reflect what you have learned about writing effectively, using research, and creating a logical argument to influence an audience.

In accordance with the Plagiarism Policy, students must not self-plagiarize by submitting an Assignment for two different grades; therefore, you must not submit a paper for this Assignment that has been graded in whole or in part for another class, whether at this University or another institution. For further insights on self-plagiarism, please review the Writing Center resource Self-Plagiarism.

Unit 8 Assignment

Your persuasive essay will need to meet the following criteria:

APA 6th Edition format for the document, including an appropriately formatted title page and References page
A thesis statement at the end of the introduction
Well-developed paragraphs that include evidence from sources to support your argument for a specific change in your community
Four reliable sources should be cited within the text of the Assignment; at least one of the cited sources should be either a book/ebook or a periodical article, preferably from the Purdue Global Library.
All cited sources need to have full citations on a References page (except for any interviews you conduct, which only require in-text citations)
Standard English and a formal tone throughout the writing
Only the third person point of view should be used
Achieving the above criteria should be your main goal with your academic essay. A strong and well-supported argument will be at least 3-4 pages, not including the title page and references page.

If you are interested in receiving feedback on a draft version of your persuasive essay, reach out to the PGWC for tutoring services. You can find further information about the available services on the WC website: Paper Review and Q&A Services. Also, review the following WC resources for guidance on APA manuscript formatting, APA citation formatting, using evidence from sources, and revising:

WC: Common Citations in APA Format
WC: APA Citations Tutorial
WC: Academic Writer Title page tutorial
WC: Self-Plagiarism”
Academic Writer Reference Elements
Sample Assignment
Review a sample Unit 8 Assignment.

Assignment Rubric
Review the Assignment Rubric for more information about your instructor will assess your Assignment.

Turnitin Analysis

A special feature is available to help you with reviewing your Unit 8 Assignment for plagiarism. When you submit your Assignment to the Unit 8 Dropbox, it will automatically be analyzed by the plagiarism detection tool, Turnitin. Soon after you submit your Assignment, you will be able to view the Turnitin Similarity Report. Review the following instructions for how to access and interpret your Similarity Report:

Reviewing the Turnitin Similarity Report
Submitting your Assignment:

Put your Assignment in a Word document. Save it in a location on your computer and with a name that you will remember. When you are ready to submit it, click on Assignments at the top of the page and complete the steps below:

Select the Unit 8 Assignment Dropbox
Review the Assignment directions and enter a brief note to the instructor in the Comment Box (like Attached is my sample assignment for Unit 4.)
Select the Add a File button.
Select the upload button. Find the file you saved.
Double click on your file name.
Select the Add button.
Select Submit.