Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Module: Week 12 of 16 · Fall 2026 · in-person, two 75-minute sessions
Objective covered: Objective 5 — Find, evaluate, and integrate credible sources without plagiarizing (synthesis + integration in service of an argument) · SLO A (compose and support an argument) · SLO B (locate, integrate, and document sources)

This file holds two pieces: (A) the Module 12 Overview page ("Start Here") and (B) the Welcome Announcement that drips out when the module opens. Dates below assume a Tuesday/Thursday session pattern with Week 12 meeting Tue Nov 17 and Thu Nov 19, and end-of-week work due Sunday Nov 22, 11:59 p.m. Adjust the day-of-week and times to match your section.

(A) Module 12 Overview — Start Here

Welcome to Week 12: The Research-Based Argument

This is your home base for the week. Read it first, then work the checklist below from top to bottom. Everything you need is linked inside the module.

This is the week the whole second half of the course has been building toward. For three weeks you've gathered the parts: in Week 9 you learned to find and evaluate credible sources; in Week 10 you learned to quote, paraphrase, and synthesize them without plagiarizing; in Week 11 you learned to document them in MLA. And back in Week 7 you learned what an argument is made of — claim, grounds, warrant, counterargument. This week we bring it all together into the term's final and most demanding piece: a research-based argument essay — your own arguable claim, supported by credible sources that you integrate and cite correctly.

The single idea that changes everything this week: a research paper is not a report. A report collects what other people said; an argument makes a case and uses sources as support for a claim that is yours. The sources are in the room to back your argument — they don't replace it, and they don't do your arguing for you.

The week's big question

"How do I put research and argument together — so credible sources support MY claim instead of replacing it — and how do I integrate and cite every borrowed idea correctly?"

By Friday you'll be able to take an arguable claim, select a credible source, integrate one piece of evidence with a signal phrase, a correct MLA in-text citation, and your own analysis tying it back to the claim — and add the matching works-cited entry.

By the end of this week, you can…

Use this as a checklist. If you can do all five out loud, you're ready for the quiz.

• [ ] Tell an argument from a report — explain why a research-based essay makes a case (a claim) rather than just collecting what sources say.
• [ ] Synthesize sources — put two or more sources in conversation (they agree, extend, or disagree) instead of listing them one after another.
• [ ] Integrate one piece of evidence fully — signal phrase + quotation or paraphrase + correct MLA in-text citation + your analysis tying it to your claim (the four-part move; a dropped-in quote with no analysis is a "quote bomb," not integration).
• [ ] Balance your voice with your sources — keep your argument the majority of the paper; use sources as support, not as filler (no source-dumping).
• [ ] Verify every quote, source, and citation — and treat any quotation, source, or citation an AI hands you as guilty until proven real, checked against the actual source.

What's due this week, and when

Work these in order — each one gets you ready for the next.

Heads-up on the AI work — this is the week the warning gets real. Ask a chatbot to "write a sourced paragraph arguing X, with citations," and it will very likely hand you quotations, sources, and MLA citations that look flawless — and don't exist. The author is real but never wrote that line; the article title is invented; the page number is decoration. This week you train the reflex that protects your integrity for the rest of college: an AI citation is guilty until proven real. Open the source. Find the exact words. If you can't, it doesn't go in your paper.

Late policy reminder: 10% off per day late. This is a major essay — start early, draft messy, and bring it to office hours. Reach out before the deadline if life happens.

How to succeed this week

• Lead with your claim, not your sources. Write the sentence you're arguing first. Then ask, "what credible evidence supports this?" Sources serve the claim; the claim doesn't serve the sources.
• Use the four-part integration move every time. Signal phrase → quote/paraphrase → MLA citation → your analysis. Miss the last part and you've dropped a "quote bomb" — evidence with no explanation of why it matters.
• Cite paraphrases too, not just quotes. Every borrowed idea needs a citation, whether or not you used the source's exact words. (Quotation marks are not the trigger; borrowing is.)
• Put sources in conversation. Synthesis means showing how sources relate — "Source A argues X, and Source B's findings extend that" — not a parade of separate summaries.
• Verify before you trust — especially the AI. A citation generator misformats; a chatbot fabricates. Check every quote against the real text, every works-cited entry against the MLA rules. The judgment is yours.

You've already learned every piece of this week — finding sources (W9), integrating them (W10), citing them (W11), and arguing (W7). This week is where they finally click into one essay. Come to class ready to watch a "perfect" AI-written citation fall apart under one Google search. See you Tuesday.

(B) Welcome Announcement — Module 12

Release setting: post on the module's start day (offset = 0 days), i.e., Tue Nov 17, 2026 — not before. If your platform won't preserve the scheduled date on import, post this as a draft labeled "Release: Tue Nov 17."

Subject: Week 12 — research + argument, together at last (and the AI trap that catches everyone) 🔍

Hi everyone,

This is the big one. For the last several weeks you've collected the parts — finding credible sources, quoting and paraphrasing them, citing them in MLA — and back in Week 7 you learned what an argument is built from. This week they all come together in the term's final major essay: a research-based argument, where your own arguable claim is supported by real, credible, correctly-cited evidence.

This week — The Research-Based Argument — we tackle the big question: How do I put research and argument together so that sources support MY claim instead of replacing it — and cite every borrowed idea correctly? The one line to carry all week: a research paper is not a report. It makes a case; the sources are there to back it.

Four things not to miss:
1. Lecture Tutorial 12 — work through synthesis and the four-part integration move (signal phrase + quote/paraphrase + MLA citation + your analysis) with one approved chatbot, and submit the share link. Due Sun Nov 22.
2. Quiz 12 and Discussion 12 also close this week. The discussion — "When AI hands you a perfectly-formatted citation, what's your responsibility before you trust it?" — is exactly the question this week is built around.
3. Assignment 12 — the RESEARCH-BASED ARGUMENT ESSAY — your final major essay (100 pts). Arguable thesis, credible sources integrated and cited in MLA, a works-cited list, a counterargument. Budget real time and bring a draft to office hours.
4. Writing Studio 12 — our weekly workshop, and this week's signature. You'll integrate one real source into an argument paragraph — and then catch the chatbot inventing quotations and citations that look perfect. That reflex is the most important thing you'll practice all term.

One promise, and one warning. The promise: by Friday you'll be able to make a borrowed idea work for your argument instead of sitting there inert. The warning: this is the week AI's most dangerous habit shows up — it will fabricate quotes, sources, and citations that look completely real. Treat every AI citation as guilty until proven real. Open the source; find the words; if you can't, cut it. That habit will protect your integrity long after this class ends.

Bring a claim you actually care about — and a healthy skepticism — to class on Tuesday.

See you soon,
Prof. Lindgren