Homelessness in america, why are so many homeless people mentally ill and what has america done to contribute to the homeless crisis

August 14, 2023August 14, 2023 Discipline: Writing

I am going to attach what my professor put on my outline of this essay. Please refer to it for any mistakes that should be fixed. I am also going to attack the instructions for the final essay. 

Hi Stephanie, You have some well-drafted paragraphs here. That is a good start in a LOT of ways. This is a good start to the essay. I think your central claim is that homelessness is the result of a lot of complicated things, not just mental health issues as some believe. Right? Assuming that’s the claim, basically, in your final you’ll need to have many support paragraphs about the different things that lead to homelessness–but you’ll need to split them up and fully develop/prove them with your own language (as you are doing) AND source information which is used and cited. So,. Rather than a paragraph that talks about all the factors, focus in on one thing at a time: affordable housing. Make your claim about affordable housing, then use source information that shows the data about the lack of affordable housing to prove your claim. Cite that information (giving the source or sources which gave you the data), then go to the next thing: wage stagnation (or whatever) and do the same thing. Then the next thing: job outsourcing. Then the next thing… etc. Each paragraph should start with your clear topic sentence which introduces that specific subtopic and then includes evidence to prove that minor claim, with clear citations of the evidence. Everything that did not originate in your brain needs to be cited. So, you might say, “according to the Census Bureau, 4.5 million people were without stable housing in 2020” or something. That’s a signal phrase. Or, “following the Second World War the US government invested significantly in affordable housing but the commitment to these initiatives declined in subsequent decades (Johnson).” That’s a parenthetical. You need one or the other for all information that came from a source whether you are quoting or paraphrasing or summarizing. In this assignment, you were supposed to include a complete works cited page and in-text citations, as well as complete sentences for all of your major and minor claims (thesis and topic sentences). You certainly have some complete paragraphs that develop some of the ideas, but you don’t have all of your topic sentences. This is a good place to develop from, but the source use and citation issue is a really vital one to deal with. Let me know if you have questions here. Use your YGCW or the Purdue OWL for help with the citations and source use. Here’s the link to the OWL sample MLA paper if that’s easier: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_sample_paper.html. The writing center would be a great resource here as well!
– LeAnna Crawford

Final Essay Instructions

The final essay will make a clear, logical, thoughtful, and convincing argument that articulates and analyzes the complexities of the issue(s) you are dealing with. In order achieve this task, your paper should:

  1. Present an insightful position on the issue. This means you need to have come to your own conclusion. The conclusion will be your thesis (the answer to your original focusing question), and it will be based on thorough knowledge of your specific topic as well as clear consideration of all “sides.” Your position must consider the opposition. Remember that the thesis is the controlling idea of the entire paper, not just one statement at the end of the introduction. Each of the 2500-2750 words you write should work to present an insightful position on the issue.

  2. Develop the position with compelling reasons, persuasive examples, and good evidence. This means the paper relies on evidence contained in credible sources. Reasons are compelling when they are convincing, well thought out, based on evidence, and reasonable. Examples are persuasive when they are pertinent, logical, relevant, and illuminating. Good evidence is basically proof consisting of facts.

  3. Sustain a well-focused, well-organized analysis, connecting ideas logically. This means that each paragraph needs to serve a very clear purpose for your thesis. This also means that your paper should include any necessary background information, adequate development of each aspect of the issue/problem and of the answer/solution, and that the transition between each aspect of the paper is smooth and logical. This means more than adding transitional words and phrases. This means connecting the content in some kind of logical order.

  4. Use highly regarded sources for support and integrate them seamlessly into the essay. This means your essay will rely on at least 10 credible sources. Six of these sources must be scholarly and no more than 2 may be newspaper-quality or less. Relying on sources does not mean referencing them once. It means integrating and analyzing the ideas from the sources that help you formulate your own ideas. You should grammatically and contextually integrate your paraphrases, summaries, and quotes, and make those integration choices based on what the best use of that source information is. Each paragraph (with the potential exceptions of the introduction and conclusion) should use some kind of source information for support. Seamless integration requires proper use of signal phrases and parenthetical references, grammatically correct inclusions of quotes, and most importantly, analysis and connection of ideas.

  1. Correctly cite source material and include a correctly formatted citation page. The What, Where, How, as well as many of our assignments will help you here. Also, ask me questions. I’m sort of a wealth of knowledge.

  2. Express your ideas fluently and succinctly, using effective vocabulary and sentence variety. Your paper should be written in an academic tone and at an academic level. You should be conveying ideas with each sentence. Your paper should need to be between 2500 and 2750 words. Don’t fill your paper with “fluff.” Don’t use first or second person, with very few exceptions.

  3. Demonstrate facility with the conventions of standard written English. This means your paper is written grammatically and mechanically correctly. A few errors may show up, but as a whole the paper should be clear and correct.

  4. Meet the requirements of length, format, and source use. The actual text of the essay (not counting title, headings, citation page (or abstract if you’re using APA) needs to be between 2500-2750 words. You need to use at least 10 sources. At least 6 must be scholarly. No more than 2 should be newspaper quality or less. The paper needs to be in MLA or APA depending on the choice you made at the beginning of the term.

Your Final Well-Researched Essay must achieve at least a C in each of the 8 categories. The rubric I will use to determine your grade follows.  As long as you keep each of the 8 categories in the C or above range, I will average each of the  8 categories. (So, if you get a B in 5 categories, a C in one category, and an A in two categories your whole paper will get a high B, for instance):

Are you struggling with your paper? Let us handle it - WE ARE EXPERTS!

Whatever paper you need - we will help you write it

Get started

Starts at $9 /page

Login Register Reset

How our paper writing service works

It's very simple!

  • Fill out the order form

    Complete the order form by providing as much information as possible, and then click the submit button.

  • Choose writer

    Select your preferred writer for the project, or let us assign the best writer for you.

  • Add funds

    Allocate funds to your wallet. You can release these funds to the writer incrementally, after each section is completed and meets your expected quality.

  • Ready

    Download the finished work. Review the paper and request free edits if needed. Optionally, rate the writer and leave a review.

Place order now