ENGL 220: Academic English for Multilingual Students II

American Academic Essay #2:
Taking a Stance on an Issue in your Major
This assignment is a chance to write an essay using the common expectations for American university
writing, regardless of your major. You will need to draw upon your knowledge of the expectations of
American academic writing to write an essay that makes a claim about a specific issue in your major. You
are welcome—and encouraged—to take the topic you wrote about in Essay 1 and now make a claim
based on your research.
Within your essay, you will need to integrate 8-10 credible sources to support your claim. Again, you are
welcome—and encouraged—to use the research you found for Essay 1, but obviously you will need to
find more. In this essay, you MUST include at least 4 scholarly academic journal articles for your sources;
the rest can be credible web sources. While there is variation on how much different majors allow
personal experience in academic essays, for this assignment, you should not include personal experience
or opinion.
In terms of the writing, you should demonstrate your knowledge of American academic writing
conventions, which we will discuss and practice in class. (Keep in mind we are not discussing these
expectations because they are any better than any others—but I do want you to be successful in your
college courses, and many professors will have these expectations.) Your essay should also demonstrate
that you are working on the issues you have identified as important in your language portfolio.
The final draft of your essay should be 8-10 pages, formatted in APA style. Remember that the final page
count does not include title pages, Reference pages, etc.
Here is a reminder of the conventions of American academic writing we have discussed:
• Linear structure
• Clear thesis/claim
• Transitions that connect ideas for readers
• Formal and specific language use
• MLA citing & formatting