Research Assignment Instructions

The Researched Argument Paper

The research paper is a kind of capstone assignment in English 1, a chance to combine your interests and ideas with the skills of writing and research you have strengthened week after week this semester. Before you embark on your research journey, you need to choose one of the prompts below– Prompt A or Prompt B. Each prompt calls for an 8-10 page research paper with a minimum of six sources, but the questions asked are different. While Prompt A is open-ended and calls upon you to define your own research question and approach to answering it, Prompt B sets forth a clear structure to your inquiry and may offer a more predictable strategy for developing and organizing your paper.

Prompt A

Choose a current specific issue that sincerely interests you and write an insightful argumentative paper on that topic. I highly recommend that you choose an issue that is specific, detailed, and multi-faceted. Whatever you choose, you will use your own insight as well as scholarly research to establish the critical and creative terms of your inquiry. Ideally, your approach will problematize, or challenge established views of the topic you have chosen. While this is a research paper, it is still a thesis-driven, argumentative essay. I want to read your thoughts about the issue(s), and I want you to convince me of your opinions. The topic you choose and the position you take should invite debate and differences of opinion. Your paper should not merely report facts; rather, it should show that you can use facts and critical thinking to persuasively support your position on the issue. It may help for you to write your own prompt in order to keep your essay focused and argumentative. If you do this, please make sure that it is open-ended and invites ideas, not just facts.

Prompt B

If a less-open ended prompt appeals to you, consider using the problem-solution model for your project. A problem-solution paper asserts that X is a problem and that Y is the best solution to that problem, offering evidence to show that X is a problem and to prove that Y is the best solution to it. In this assignment, your purpose is to persuade your reader that a specific and significant problem (of your choosing) exists. Then, you should identify at least three potential solutions to the problem, evaluate and/or defend these solutions (using refutation), and persuade your reader to accept your evaluation of which solution (or solutions) is/are most useful. In response to Prompt B, be sure to do the following in the body of your essay:

1. Establish that a specific problem exists. Examine the causes of the problem. Provide detailed support to prove that the problem is significant. Explain to readers how this problem affects them. Be sure to present only ONE problem.

2. Present three solutions to the problem. Describe and explain the solutions. Provide detailed support to persuade readers that your solutions are effective. Begin with the least effective approach (the first solution could even be a solution that you think is ineffective) and end with the most effective solution.

3.Use refutation to evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions.You might concede when

evaluating the first solution that it is ineffective. This is a good way of criticizing a contemporary popular solution that you find ineffective. Then, in the refutation of your second solution, you might concede and refute the critics. Presumably, in your refutation for your final and best solution, you will focus on defending your solution against objections. The general movement of refutation should be as follows: 1) identify and summarize objections to your solutions; 2) then, concede (partially); and/or 3) refute the objections.

For Both Prompts

What Ill Be Thinking When Evaluating Your Researched Argument:

Is your thesis clear, complex, but unified, and strong?

Does your thesis statement offer an insightful, dynamic point of view (one that does not merely echo one of your sources)?

Does the rest of your essay follow the map outlined in your thesis paragraph?

Is your research relevant and strong? Are you using it accurately to support your argument?

How well do you use quotations?

Are your introduction and conclusion effective? Memorable? Distinctive?

Do you stay on topic? Is the writing organized and not repetitive?

Are you using the elements of counter-argument or refutation to deepen the thinking about the topic?

Are there too many grammar/usage/structure errors that distort or confuse meaning?

Do you properly cite and document your sources using MLA in-text citations and a works cited page?

Have you used at least three scholarly/professional sources and three popular sources?

Crucial Information

The research process is unpredictable and ideas often evolve over time. Dont be surprised if your original ideas change and get more detailed and specific . The direction of your own arguments and opinions may surprise you! For example, someone may intend to write about driverless cars and how they will improve city traffic, but after the research process, she may come to the conclusion that driverless cars can only safely reduce traffic if they are used widespread for fleet usage going at low mph.

It is imperative that your argument be specific: a claim about reality TV shows would be better than one looking at television programming, but an analysis of The Voice and one of its imitators would be the best of the three.

Topic selection is crucial to the eventual papers quality. Some topics will require you to think, to stretch, to make a difficult case; those are the good ones. Others, sometimes very tempting, will seem obvious, free of challenge; those you should avoid, as theyll very likely produce bland papers. Students often choose absurdly straightforward thesis statements (such as that smoking is unhealthy and should be discouraged); and, because such claims dont need to be proven, the research paper flops.

Dont expect the rough draft to be perfect. You should be prepared to make major changes between the rough and revised drafts.

Sources

This assignment requires that you incorporate a total of six sources, minimum, into your paper, including one scholarly source. Of course, you are welcome to have more than six sources! But what is a scholarly source? A scholarly or academic source could be an article from a scholarly journal, a chapter from an academic book (i.e., a book published by an academic press), or statistical data from a government database. A non-academic source would be an article from a magazine, newspaper, or website; an editorial from a newspaper, a film, a popular book, a music album, etc.

The annotated bibliography assignment will help you engage your sources early enough to get something meaningful out of them, or, in some cases, to decide that the source is not worth using in your paper. As you already know from previous assignments, the annotated bibliography is a scholarly tool that will help your project stay on track and help me to see your progress toward a viable project. AND

For this assignment, you will need to present a proposal for the topic you are intending to use for your end-of-semester research project. You can find the instructions for that assignment

Your research proposal will need to include a couple of things:

• Topic
• Question that you want to answer/Problem you are addressing
• Sample Source (You can use the inspiration article or another source)
• Working Thesis

Unlike other completion assignments, you will have to complete this one to move on with your research project. This may mean more than one submission to get it right, so consider starting early on this and giving yourself enough time so that you can complete it and begin working on your research project as soon as we are done with Unit 3. You are encouraged to use my office drop-in hours to help in your search for the right topic – I love brainstorming

!INCLUDE BOTH ASSIGHMENTS

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