The academic essay in this unit will be a written, cohesive argument for the change in your community you have written about throughout the course. The assignment should be a persuasive academic essay in which you will provide reliable evidence from at least four sources to support the argument for change you are advocating. You will also need to address a rival perspective, counterargument, or misconception about your topic within the essay and a response to it, as the ability to do so is a key component of a strong argument. Essentially, the essay will reflect what you have learned about writing effectively, using research, and creating a logical argument to influence an audience. The essay should be cohesive and utilize effective transitions between and within paragraphs. Paragraphs should exhibit the Four Cs of effective writing as described in this podcast. A formal tone should be used for most of the essay (e.g., stay in third-person voice, avoid slang, etc.). As an option, ask your instructor if you may use first-person pronouns in one paragraph of the essay to incorporate personal experience.