Project: feudalism today's society often romanticizes feudalism. modern restaurants hold medieval feasts; in some urban areas, themed festivals with knights and vassals are a yearly occurrence. even multimillion-dollar hotels base their entire theme on the middle ages. many television shows and novels have focused on the time period. in your english classes, you might have studied the idea of courtly love. but, what was it really like to live in that time period? do we accurately remember the hardships faced by the lower classes? research can you organize material and acquire details often overlooked. often, the research can lead to a strong opinion about the topic. with an argument paper, we analyze a debatable subject, and then assign it a publishable form. picture the difference between simply riding a bicycle and examining its parts to discover what makes the wheels turn. when we analyze history, we are essentially examining the many philosophies concerning our responsibility to the current era. once your reader is educated, they can make informed decisions about their part in the system. directions today, you will use research to inform a reader. use details from your investigation to support a central idea. remember, your purpose is to inform your reader. develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, and rewriting. develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. you will need to follow the rules of grammar by using correct punctuation, spelling, and capitalization. examine the prompt before you begin any writing assignment, look closely at the prompt and determine what information you have been asked to find. you may want to make a checklist that includes the subject, a list of requirements, and any open-ended questions that the prompt expects you to answer. prompt write a four-paragraph argument for or against the usefulness of the feudalist structure. your assigned audience is a modern business leader. you may choose to create a slide show or other piece of media to accompany your paper. for your research, choose one of the following countries: france england germany make a claim as to whether feudalism or hindered your western european country. offer the reader strong points supporting your answer. address the counter claim to your argument. offer the reader the specific facts from your research that shows the flaws within the counter claim. as support for either your claim or counter claim, include how feudalism finished its course in the country you selected. include the approximate years when feudalism began and ended in that country. in addition, explain whether the national leader at the time of feudalism played a part in encouraging or harming feudalism within their country. take notes plan plenty of time for your research. when you start your investigation, relax and jot down all the sources you find along the way. you never know which source you may need more information from when you start writing. write down interesting information and facts that support your answers to the prompt questions. remember, every bit of evidence in your notes may not make it into your research paper. however, when writing your first draft, too much information is better than too little in your notes. notes do not need to be perfect, but they need to withstand the test of time. would you still be able to read and understand your notes if you had to stop researching for a few days? could you relocate the original source if you needed extra information for your final draft? if not, slow down, write neatly, and add more details to your notes. make sure your notes are in your own words. this will you to avoid plagiarism when you begin writing. if you do like a quote, make sure you include quotation marks in your notes, or else you might accidentally claim those words as your own. claim once you have finished your research, you can begin formulating your argument. you will notice that some prompts have a question whose answer could be argued. every argument has at least two sides. these sides are called claim and counter claim. argument prompts force you pick a side. the side that you pick is called the claim. your claim paragraph should contain the strongest facts to defend your opinion. counter claim the counter claim paragraph will explain the reasons why you feel those people who disagree with your claim are wrong. the counter claim will offer several details, aiming to prove the opposition's belief to be flawed. the counter claim paragraph will point out what you perceive as mistaken assumptions that the other side might hold. by the end of the counter claim paragraph, your claim will seem like the best possible answer.