GEN499 Week 5 Final

Ashford 3: - Week 2 - Discussion 1

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses.

Final Argumentative Paper Topic

	Prepare: As you prepare to write your response to this discussion assignment, you may want to review the following resources as these will help you in developing a topic: Develop a Research Topic Incorporate Sources into Your Research Paper It is also recommended that you review these tutorials from the Ashford University Library: Searching in Databases Evaluating Sources You may also want to review the Week Five Sample Final Paper Guide, so that you can start preparing your rough draft that is due in Week Four.
	Reflect: When considering a research topic, consider an interesting topic that is worth further research. For instance, having a strong opinion on a specific topic may deter you from thinking more critically, and therefore the research might end up being one-sided. It is a good idea to pick a topic in which you can provide a good argument for both sides of the societal issue.
	Write: For this discussion you will address the following prompts: Identify two global societal issues from the following list that you would consider researching further for your Week Five Final Argumentative Essay: adult illiteracy, funding for General Education vs STEM in primary and secondary schools, minimum wage, oceans desertification, overcoming the digital divide, refugee (escaping persecution, war, or death) crises, species extinctions (modern), tax havens, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), universal statement of human rights (pick one), airport security, or wealth disparity. Describe effective methods you used in identifying and narrowing down to just one of the two topics to further research for your final essay. Explain three ways you can critically analyze sources to determine if they are scholarly and credible. For one of the topics chosen, summarize information from at least two peer-reviewed journal articles from the Ashford University Library that will support your claims. Explain why scholarly sources should be used to support your writing on the selected topic. Download and attach PDF copies of the two articles that you found from the Ashford University Library to your answer using the “Attachments: Add/Remove” function located below your response. Please view this Attaching Documents to Discussions tutorial for more guidance on how to attach your article to your discussion post. You can also view this Citing and Saving Articles in FindIt@AU tutorial if you are unsure how to save articles found from the Ashford University Library. Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length, which should include a thorough response to each prompt. You are required to provide in-text citations of applicable required reading materials and/or any other outside sources you use to support your claims. Provide full reference information of all sources cited at the end of your response. Please use correct APA format when writing in-text citations and references.
	Respond to Peers: Review your classmates’ posts, and respond to at least two of your peers by Day 7. In each response, provide comments on your classmate’s topic idea and ask a question that prompts your classmate to think more critically about how to explore the research topic in more detail. Each participation post should be a minimum of 75 words.
	Carefully review the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate this Discussion Thread.

The global societal issue I have chosen is to write about in my final paper is minimum wage. It is a topic that has been talked about for years and every time Americans earning the minimum wage feel that it is insufficient, then it has to be increased. Americans struggle to live within their means when the minimum wage is insufficient to cater for their needs.

· Provide a clear and concise thesis statement that includes a solution to the global societal issue.

The idea of minimum wage is actually good for the society but is it enough to cater for the needs of the many Americans who live by it? The minimum wage currently is not good enough but it ought to be increased so that it can be of benefit to the society.

· The two topics I had in mind is airport insecurity and minimum wage. I had to choose first the minimum wage because it is an issue that has been affecting Americans and every other person around the world. We need to closely research about this topic because it affects many people.

· Research from two journals

Morath, E. (2016). The Wall Steer Journal: Minimum Wages Set to Increase in Many States in 2017. https://www.wsj.com/articles/minimum-wages-set-to-increase-in-many-states-in-2017-1483093806

This article deals with the stated minimum wage increase in the states. The minimum wage is supposed to increase because of the increase in the living standards of the country. Various states will have to increase the minimum wage of its workers.

Wihbey, J. (2016). The Impact of Minimum Wage Rates on Body Weight in the United States. https://journalistsresource.org/studies/economics/inequality/the-effects-of-raising-the-minimum-wage

The increase in the consumption of less expensive food has led to the obesity of the people. There is a lot of talk about when the minimum wages are increased. Minimum wage will help workers to be able to achieve their food plan of the family.

· Explain three ways you can critically analyze sources to determine if they are scholarly and credible

The authors of the field. Authors of scholarly sources are experts in that field. The authors credentials are always listed to let you known if they are experts in that given field and one an easily tell from such information.

Another way of telling that a source is scholarly is by use of references. The authors of articles I most cases use references from previously researched articles. They also cite this articles both in text and at the end of the work on the reference page.

Publishers are another way of telling whether an article is scholarly or not. The reasons as to why a given information or book was published, he credentials of the publisher and the evidence for publishing are ideal in determining whether the work is scholarly.

· Explain why scholarly sources should be used to support your writing on the selected topic.

Scholarly sources helps in giving your work credibility and substance. “The researchers should use this sources to make sure that their work is supported fully and can be trusted” (APA Made Easy, 2015).

References

APA Made Easy: A student's guide to APA formatting. (2014, June). Ashford Writing Center. Retrieved from https://awc.ashford.edu/PDFHandouts/APA_Made_Easy.pdf