Diversity essay - Final draft
- Due Apr 29, 2020 by 11:59pm
- Points 8
- Submitting a file upload
- File Types pdf, doc, and docx
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Diversity Essay Imagine you have secured your first full-time professional job after college, in your chosen career community. Your supervisor was impressed by the essay you wrote about new technology last week. Once again, at 5pm on Friday afternoon, your supervisor forwards you a recent news article, this time about some serious concerns over issues around diversity and inclusion in your field. "Need your reactions for Monday's staff meeting!" In this assignment, you will write a four-page, double-spaced essay, making an argument about how a particular area of diversity and inclusion currently being discussed in the news might affect some aspect of your prospective career community -- and what to do about it. Your argument should not only be descriptive (what you think will happen and why) and normative (whether the consequences will be good or bad), but also advisory (pointing to a possible solution or way forward with the issue). Once again, you must use scholarly concepts and evidence in making your arguments. |
Final draft. Write your final draft of your paper, including all final references, aiming for zero errors.
Steps to follow
1. Try to find more and better authoritative sources. Review some more scholarly articles about information technology and work, or about your chosen career community, reading them through the lens of the arguments you have made in this paper. Often you can find additional supporting evidence -- or perhaps an additional counter-argument -- to help strengthen your paper's arguments.
2. Try to narrow your topic or focus. Papers where arguments and examples are too generic can benefit from a sharper focus -- for example, instead of talking about "women in health care," perhaps what you really want to focus on are women in pediatrics, or issues of women's/maternal health, or women-owned health care technology companies.
3. Try to strengthen your counter-argument. Especially if your TA raised questions about your arguments, you might want to respond to those in your text, instead of the original counter-argument you thought of. An argument is more persuasive if it clearly engages with the most powerful counter-argument that its critics can muster.
4. Try to answer the "so what?" question. Your conclusion shouldn't simply restate your thesis; it should assume that your audience has tentatively agreed with your argument and push them a little further. It should clearly explain why the arguments you have made might matter -- and suggest a course of action the reader should take as a consequence.
5. Don't be afraid to get some help. The UW-Madison Writing Center can offer assistance if you bring them a particular writing challenge you're struggling with. And remember they have an online Writer's Handbook full of good advice.
6. Double-check your formatting. Once again, follow these formatting rules from our essay formatting and style guide Download essay formatting and style guide for your final draft:
- Underline your thesis statement.
- Use one-inch margins on all sides
- Double-space all text.
- Indent all paragraphs; no extra blank lines between paragraphs.
- Use 12-point Times, Times Roman, or Times New Roman font.
- Number your pages.
- Turn in a one-page list of complete references in APA format
- Put your name and your TA's name on the first page.
7. Proofread your final draft -- twice!
8. Verify that all of your references are cited in the text, and are listed on a separate sheet in APA format.
9. Turn it in. When you are satisfied with your work, upload your final draft to Canvas in order to receive credit for this assignment.
Grading rubric
- Following instructions (1 point). Does your paper answer the prompt of the assignment? Does it conform to our formatting guidelines? Does it represent significant progress over earlier drafts?
- Grammar and style (1 point). Do you avoid grammatical, spelling, and usage errors? Do you have any run-on sentences or non-sentences? Are your sentences clear and concise? Are references in correct APA style?
- Thesis and structure (2 points). Does your introduction contain a clear thesis (underlined)? Does your conclusion end with a compelling idea? Do arguments and examples build logically in between?
- Use of sources (1 point). Did you use a sufficient number of scholarly sources? Does your paper demonstrate that you understand the articles you used? Do your sources add conceptual depth to your paper?
- Arguments and evidence (2 points). Do you support your thesis with compelling evidence and arguments? Do you counter at least one possible argument against your thesis?
- Creativity and difficulty (1 point). We appreciate papers which find exemplary outside sources, represent an unusual challenge, take on a unique case, or come up with a creative point of view.
Tools to become a better writer
- UW-Madison Writer's Handbook Links to an external site.
- Wayne C. Booth et al, "Introductions and conclusions" in The Craft of Research, 4th ed. (2016). Download Wayne C. Booth et al, "Introductions and conclusions" in The Craft of Research, 4th ed. (2016).
- Joseph M. Williams, “Actions,” in Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2009). Download Joseph M. Williams, “Actions,” in Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2009).
- Joseph M. Williams, “Concision,” in Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2009). Download Joseph M. Williams, “Concision,” in Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace (2009).
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