General Chemistry II, First Writing Assignment, Rivier College

General Chemistry II First Writing Assignment

Write a paper convincing the instructor that one of the pieces under "Chemical Applications and Essays" is the most interesting piece. These are listed, with page numbers, just after the Table of Contents in your text book (p. xxiv).

Some general guidelines are available. Specific guidelines are given below. This is an argumentative paper and the logic must be readily apparent. I have included here two rough sketches or examples of some basic kinds of arguments that could be made. These are only examples, that may or may not be sound. Many other possibilities exist. The paper would include the concise argument (examples below) in the first paragraph. This argument should be written in such a way that if the premises are true, then the conclusion will be true. Writing it in this way will ensure that the logic is good. The body of the paper will then show that the premises are true. Remember to write at least one paragraph on each premise (P1 and P2 in the examples below). The last paragraph of the paper should state that since the premises are true and the logic is good, the conclusion must be true.

P1: If certain criteria [these are to be listed here] are met by [my choice] then [my choice] is the most interesting.

P2: Certain criteria [listed as before] are met by [my choice].

C: Therefore, [My choice] is the most interesting.

You would, of course, have to determine what you think the criteria should be before you can begin writing the paper. You must then justify your choices (support the first premise) and show that the criteria has been met (support the second premise). This verification of the two premises, which provide support for the conclusion, would constitute the body of the paper.

Specific Guidelines:

Required Argument Format

The main argument of the paper is to be a conditional argument in the general form:

P1 If A, then B.
P2 Affirm A.
C Conclude B.
The premises (P1 and P2) in an argument of this form will always lead to the conclusion (C). This will be the case even when the premises are not true. This results in a valid or deductive argument. Since the first premise is conditional, this kind of argument is called a conditional argument. More information.
This required argument is part of the first paragraph.
The conclusion of this argument is the thesis of the paper.
The conclusion of this argument is also the title of the paper.

Required Paper Format

The first paragraph contains the main argument. The conclusion of this argument is the thesis of the paper. The conclusion of this argument is also the title of the paper.
The second paragraph supports the first premise. This will connect the "A" to the "B" and provide evidence that the "then" part of the conditional premise is really connected to the "If" part of the conditional premise.
The third paragraph supports the second premise. This will give evidence that the "If" part of the conditional premise is really true.
The last paragraph summarizes what has been done and restates the main argument.
I once again remind you that there are two formats to keep track of.

One is the format of the main argument. The main argument should be a conditional argument of the "If A, then B. Affirm A. Conclude B." variety. The first paragraph should have an argument in that format included in it.
The second format is the format of the whole paper. That consists of a simple conditional argument in the first paragraph. Support for the first (conditional) premise in the second paragraph, support for the second premise in the next paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph that restates the original simple conditional argument that is in the first paragraph. Also, keep in mind that the support for the first premise is to establish connections between the parts of the conditional argument, while the support for the second premise generally is concerned with providing data or establishing that something is really true.
Here is a sample paper.

There is no length requirement. Keep it simple and to the point. Follow the example of the sample paper.

General Guidelines:

This is an argumentative paper and the structure of the argument should be obvious. I do, however, expect the paper to be in normal sentence and paragraph form. Don't use outlines or write P1, P2, etc. in an attempt to make the argument more explicit.
This is not a persuasive paper. Opinions and emotional pleas should not appear in this paper.
Make sure all premises for the main argument and the conclusion are in the first paragraph. Don't introduce new premises that directly bear on the conclusion after the first paragraph.
All the premises of the main argument must be explicitly stated in the first paragraph. That is, there will be no implicit premises in the main argument.