Academic Writing

Project 2: “Crossing Borders of Immigration” Informative Essay Overview/Purpose: As a human being, you may find that you are faced with issues of immigration that you may not have thought about before. This is also true of you as college students. Helping your readers to better understand the topic immigration will be a major focus of Project 2. We began this unit by reading a number of essays from Cross Roads: “Living in America: Challenges Facing New Immigrants and Refugees” (pages 286 -306) and “Aria” (pages 307 – 310). Read chapters 8, 9, and 10 in Cross Roads. These chapters will help you understand reading and writing to inform by using the topic, prejudice. Assignment: For this project, you will help your readers better understand the topic immigration by drawing on the required textbook readings and your own life experience. Remember, that this is an informative essay, so your opinion about any aspect of immigration should not be included. You certainly may include what others say as long as you cite the work properly to avoid plagiarism. You might, for example, discuss the problems faced by immigrants. Or you might focus on the history of immigration to or from a particular country. You must add a personal perspective by drawing on your own experiences as well. But be sure not to write in a biased or disrespectful manner, or I will not accept your paper. Your thesis should be explicit, and usually, it is placed by the end of your introduction. Support and Development: It will be extremely helpful to use quotes or a paraphrase from at least one of the required readings. Remember to cite your sources in the text. Remember your essay should have a clear point, plenty of evidence to support your point, proper transitions between paragraphs, and a strong closing. All paragraphs should support your thesis, thus creating a coherent essay. Audience: Write this essay for an academic audience: your instructor and your classmates. Style: Third-person point of view works well for an informative essay. However, since you will be providing examples from your own experiences as well, you may need to also use first-person point of view. Your grammar, sentences, word choices, and spelling should be as proficient as possible. Second person voice should not be used. Presentation: Your final essay should be at least two typed, doubled-spaced pages in length. Use an MLA-style heading and centered title. You will need a works cited page and in-body citations to avoid plagiarism.