Assignment Overview

Write a paper that states your thesis, introduces arguments that support your thesis, and uses evidence to support arguments.

Assignment Instructions

ARGUMENT PAPER

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Assignment Introduction

This week, you will write a paper that clearly states your thesis, introduces two or more arguments that support your thesis, and uses evidence to support your arguments. Remember that your thesis should be taking a stance on one side of the issue; your reader should be able to clearly be able to tell how you feel about video games and aggressive or violent behavior.

Assignment Instructions

Use the Argument Template [DOCX] to guide your work. Be sure to delete any explanatory instructional text before inserting your writing.

The Beginner’s Guide to Writing a Grade “A” Argument Paper provides weekly step-by-step guidance for successfully completing this important paper. This week, complete the Week 6 tasks shown to finish your paper.

In your paper, address the following:

• Write an introduction with a clear thesis statement to introduce the arguments.
• Apply psychological principles to the creation of arguments and counterarguments.
• Write a conclusion with a statement of point of view and implications.
• Address assignment purpose in well-organized paragraphs, incorporating credible sources, accurate paraphrasing, tone, and citations.

Refer to the scoring guide to ensure that your work meets the grading criteria for this assignment.

Submission Requirements

Save the completed Argument Template as a Word document (.doc or .docx) on your computer. Then, attach a copy of this document as your assignment submission.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies:

• Competency 2: Apply foundational psychological principles to relevant topics in psychology.

• Apply psychological principles to the creation of arguments and counterarguments.

• Competency 3: Apply critical thinking to problems in the field of psychology.

• Write a conclusion with a statement of point of view and implications.

• Competency 6: Demonstrate effective oral or written communication skills.

• Write an introduction with a clear thesis statement to introduce the arguments.
• Address assignment purpose in well-organized paragraphs, incorporating credible sources, accurate paraphrasing, tone, and citations.

Argument Paper Scoring Guide

Due Date: End of Week 6
Percentage of Course Grade: 20%.

CRITERIA	NON-PERFORMANCE	BASIC	PROFICIENT	DISTINGUISHED
Write an introduction with a clear thesis statement to introduce the arguments. 26%	Does not write an introduction with a clear thesis statement to introduce the arguments.	Writes an introduction that does not include a clear thesis statement or does not introduce the arguments.	Writes an introduction with a clear thesis statement to introduce the arguments.	Writes an introduction with a clear thesis statement and introduces the arguments with a clear link to the next paragraph.
Apply psychological principles to the creation of arguments. 28%	Does not apply psychological principles to the creation of arguments.	Applies psychological principles to the creation of arguments in a way that is vague or unclear.	Applies psychological principles to the creation of arguments.	Applies psychological principles to the creation of arguments using psychological terms.
Write a conclusion with a statement of point of view and implications. 26%	Does not write a conclusion with a statement of point of view and implications.	Writes a conclusion that does not include either a statement of point of view or implications.	Writes a conclusion with a statement of point of view and implications.	Writes a conclusion with a statement of point of view and implications, and includes assumptions.
Address assignment purpose in well-organized paragraphs, incorporating credible sources, accurate paraphrasing, tone, and citations. 20%	Does not address assignment purpose in well-organized paragraphs, incorporating credible sources, accurate paraphrasing, tone, and citations.	Addresses assignment purpose in unorganized paragraphs using questionable sources, paraphrasing that contains phrases from the original source, inappropriate tone for the audience, or citations that are not correct.	Addresses assignment purpose in well-organized paragraphs, incorporating credible sources, accurate paraphrasing, tone, and citations.	Presents a focused purpose through strong organizational skills. Presents evidence through strong paraphrasing/summarizing and appropriate tone and cited resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• What You Need to Know

This week we move from skills to have in college to learning how to think critically-a crucial aspect of a college education. The first step to becoming a critical thinker is to be honest with yourself about where you are in your development. After that, we’ll explore the first steps to take for your week 6 assignment, where you’ll put your new critical thinking skills to work.

Critical Thinking

• • Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2020). The miniature guide to critical thinking concepts and tools (8th edition.). Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.

• “Intellectual Virtues of the Fairminded Critical Thinker”.

• • Read the content material on the Critical Thinking page on our companion HELP site.
  • Complete the short assessment, “What Stage of Thought Are You In?,” to help you determine your current level of critical thinking. Be honest and thoughtful in your answers to achieve the best results from this assessment. You will complete this assessment again in Week 10 to measure your progress in critical thinking from this course experience.

Purpose in Writing

There’s a purpose behind everything you write. Are you trying to inform or persuade? What do you want your reader to do with the information?

• • Read Purpose to follow steps of finding your purpose in writing, including an opportunity to practice those steps.

APA Style

Review the Direct Quotations and Paraphrasing page on the Learn tab of Academic Writer on how to handle paraphrasing and quotations in APA style. Additional guidance on APA style is found on the APA Help page in the companion HELP site.

• Plan: Week 6 Assignment

As you become familiar with this week’s resources, take a moment to review the requirements for the Week 6 assignment so that you’re aware of how all of these pieces will come together to support your work. Then, use the Assignment Calculator to see the steps and a recommended schedule for your assignment’s paper.

No submissions are required this week. This planning task strongly encourages you to begin working now on this important Week 6 assignment so you manage your time successfully.

The Beginner’s Guide to Writing a Grade “A” Argument Paper provides weekly step-by-step guidance for successfully completing this important paper. Begin this week by completing the Week 4 tasks shown in the guide to best manage your time.

Sources to Construct Your Paper

The following articles are provided for you to use in your week 6 assignment. You may go use the Capella Library if you wish, but you are not required. Reading these articles will help you to start formulating knowledge for constructing your argument that supports your stance on the topic of violence in video games.

If you’re taking the stance that video games are not harmful to children, refer to the following resources, reading the discussion section of each:

• • Harrington, B., & O’Connell, M. (2016). Video games as virtual teachers: Prosocial video game use by children and adolescents from different socioeconomic groups associated with increased empathy and prosocial behavior. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 650–658.
  • Lobel, A., Engels, R. C. M. E., Stone, L. L., &Granic, I. (2019). Gaining a competitive edge: Longitudinal associations between children’s competitive video game playing, conduct problems, peer relations, and prosocial behavior. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8(1), 76–87.
  • Verheijen, G. P., Stoltz, S. E. M. J., van den Berg, Y. H. M., &Cilleson, A. H. N. (2019). The influence of competitive and cooperative video games on behavior during play and friendship quality in adolescence. Computers in Human Behavior, 91, 297–304.
  • Wang, B., Taylor, L., & Sun, Q. (2018). Families that play together stay together: Investigating family bonding through video games. New Media & Society, 20(11), 4074–4094.

If you’re taking the stance that video games are harmful to children, refer to the following resources, reading the discussion section of each:

• • Chang, J. H., & Bushman, B. J. (2019). Effect of exposure to gun violence in video games on children’s dangerous behavior with real guns: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open, 2(5), 1–11.
  • Coyne, S. M., Warburton, W. A., Essig, L. W., & Stockdale, L. A. (2018). Violent video games, externalizing behavior, and prosocial behavior: A five-year longitudinal study during adolescence. Developmental Psychology, 54(10), 1868–1880.
  • Dowsett, A., & Jackson, M. (2019). The effect of violence and competition within video games on aggression. Computers in Human Behavior, 99, 22–27.
  • Greitemeyer, T. (2018). The spreading impact of playing violent video games on aggression. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 216–219.
  • Shao, R., & Wang, Y. (2019). The relation of violent video games to adolescent aggression: An examination of moderated mediation effect. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1–9.

Building a Thesis Statement

This week, you’ll be creating a thesis statement, which states your stance on the topic. From your thesis, your audience should be able to know your position and what you believe about the topic. The content of your paper should be in support of the thesis.

Read the following Web site for a further definition of a thesis statement and learn about the two types of thesis statements. It also provides a formula that can help you construct your thesis statement. Pay attention to the explanation of persuasive thesis statements.

• • Baggett, S. (2017). How to write a strong thesis statement [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.easybib.com/guides/how-to-write-a-strong-thesis-statement/

Setting Up Your Paper

You will use the Argument Paper template [DOCX] for this assignment. The template is formatted in APA style with a cover page, necessary headings, and a final page for references. The template also includes guidance in a blue font describing what information should be included in each section of the paper. Download the Argument Paper template [DOCX] now and familiarize yourself with the template contents to inform your work moving forward.

Citing Secondary Sources

As you finish and revise your paper this week, did you want to use information from your articles that was cited by the authors? There’s a way to cite that. If your author cites a source in their work and you want to use part or all of that information in your assignment, there’s a special way of doing that citation. Refer to the Secondary Sources on the Learn tab of Academic Writer to learn how to cite secondary sources.

Tone in Writing

The fourth core writing skill of the Capella Writing Standards (POETS) is tone. Please review Tone to learn more about the tone expected in college papers.

Sentence Structure in Writing

The final core writing skill of the POETS model is sentence structure. Please review Sentence Structure to learn more about spelling and grammar, the basic building blocks for turning your thoughts and ideas into coherent sentences.

Once you’ve learned about these two core writing skills, review your paper to ensure that it is written using the correct tone and sentence structure.