Your last essay will be you creating your own argument and meaningful ideas about an issue or a topic in the world around you.  This essay should show your ability to critically think about the world you live in and make conclusions and complex ideas about that world.
While this is a research paper of sorts, it is not simply a regurgitation or summary of information or ideas already said about your topic.  This essay requires analysis, which means youll need to use what others have said and think critically about those ideas to explain their larger meaning to come up with ideas of your own.  From those ideas, youll create an argumentative claim that you will support or prove through the body of the paper.
You have freedom in your choice of topic, but it must be about a human quality, very similar to most of the essays we read in class.  Look at qualities that have deep and greater meaning like beauty, shame, pride, love, etc. and then make a narrowly defined idea in that general arena.  This doesnt mean youll want your essay to be general; so if youre writing about love, you shouldnt be writing about your ideas of it as an overall emotion or thing, you should be writing about one idea you have about love, or a type of love.  Start general, then narrow down your argument.
Remember, the biggest thing this essay needs to do is demonstrate your ability to think critically about the world and the people around you.  This is your chance to develop a meaningful argument about something important.  The research component is meant for you to become more knowledgeable about your topic and to understand and decide how what others say about it fit into your own argument.
This is not an opinion-centered paper.  It should be written as an objective argument.  This means that you will be writing in the third person and take an unbiased tone that presents information rather than tries to convince or persuade an audience to see things your way.  The logic of your argument will do that convincing; the tone of your argument will not.
You must use at least 3 outside sources, all of which must be a book, journal, or from some other sort of academic database. The validity of Internet sources is questionable compared to articles found in scholarly journals, periodicals, and bookswhich are readily available to you through the librarys online database.
This essay must be a full 6-7 pages in length (one paragraph on the last page will not meet the length requirement) and should follow all MLA format requirements (typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, 1 inch margins on all sides, etc.). Your final draft is due by the end of the day (11:59 PM PST) Sunday.
In addition to following the assignments requirements, an A paper will also do the following:
Be informative, insightful, and engaging
Have a clear sense of purpose
Be narrowly focused and well developed with specific examples and details
Flow logically from point to point with smooth transitions
Demonstrate your ability to analyze the world around you and connect that analysis to complex ideas
Properly incorporate reliable and relevant sources to support your argument
Have engaging style (i.e. sentences that vary in length and structure)
Contain few mechanical errors that do not hinder meaning