Research Paper Assignment

This assignment has been created as the major research paper assignment for College Composition II.

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TASK
Write a 5-10 page research paper that mixes several writing strategies and uses secondary sources to support an effective argument that is convincing to your audience.


TOPIC
You should take a stand on a current cultural issue or an aspect of modern globalization. The concepts of culture and globalization will be examined in further detail through our topic exploration activities. The two topics often overlap. While your topic does not need to be a “burning” issue, it should generate more than one opinion and spark genuine interest in your audience.

Choose an interesting and a relevant topic that is at least somewhat familiar to you – there is simply no time to research a completely unfamiliar topic. Minimally, you should have a general idea of the topic through previous experience, observations, or study. However, your topic should be one that you have not researched in the past. In other words, do not recycle an old topic or paper. Think fresh!

Some ideas…

Take a stand on an issue concerning your own culture or a locally significant culture. Examples: one specific issue concerning an ethnic or religious tradition; a shared value or belief; or a social behavior, norm, or attitude – such as a funeral or sauna ritual, or a standard of beauty or dress.

Take a stand on a cultural phenomenon or an aspect of globalization, focusing on an issue that has local impact and relevance to your audience. Examples: one specific issue related to immigration, interracial adoption, bilingualism, world music, world travel, study abroad, international aid, mission, or military projects, or the global impact of the Internet. However, keep your scope manageable and relevant to your audience. Even with the best of intentions, you will not have enough time or resources to address broad issues such as global warming or global terrorism – unless you manage to narrow them down appropriately. Consult your instructor as you consider different topics. Your topic must be approved by the instructor.

AUDIENCE
Your audience will be our Engl 1109 class or any other specific audience – the vague “general public” is unacceptable. You will need to learn as much as possible about your audience’s beliefs, values, motives, goals, and aims and factor that knowledge into your paper. Your goal is to determine the audience’s initial position on your topic and consider how it might change. To get better acquainted with your audience, you should actively seek their input and gauge their thoughts on your issue. If your audience is our class, you can do this during our many course discussions and exercises.

LENGTH
Your essay should be about 5-10 pages - or about 1,250 to 2,500 words - long, excluding the Works Cited page. You will make many choices that will help determine the final length of your essay. The goal is to persuade your audience – that might take just five pages or the full ten pages.

WRITING STRATEGIES
Use any writing strategies that best suit your topic, audience, and purpose. You have most likely learned many writing modes in previous composition courses, such classification, cause/effect, definition, and comparison/contrast. In this class, you get to decide when and where in your essay certain strategies and modes will be most effective and how to fit them together. However, pay attention to the essay’s structural requirements (see below).

STRUCTURE
You will decide how to organize your paper – for example, how many paragraphs and in what order; how to create the introduction and conclusion; and where and when to use sources. However, your paper should contain the following six parts of classical organization:

Introduction: Make the topic and purpose clear right from the start. Also, include information that will “hook” your readers’ interest.
Statement of proposition: State a clear claim about the topic, which is usually placed at or near the end of the introduction. If you wish, you can also name the major sections of the paper to make it easier for readers to follow along.
Narration: Provide background information about the topic and the events that led up to the controversy. Indicate why the topic is important. As you see fit, establish emotional appeal (ethos) by citing reasons for your interest in the subject and qualifications for writing about it. You may also describe other positions on the issue or summarize the scholarship to date.
Proof: To prove your claim, provide reasons and evidence that are acceptable to your audience.
Refutation: Refute opposing positions. This can be placed after the proof, before the proof, or at various points among the items of proof. In most cases, it works well to state your position, prove it, and then refute others. However, if you are addressing a “hostile” audience, it is better to address and remove their objections early, before you give your reasons.
Conclusion: Emphasize the most important point, and remind the audience of the other important points. Make your final comments stick in your readers’ mind.

SOURCES
You must consult and cite about 5-8 sources within your Research Paper, including at least four text sources (articles, books, essays, web pages, pamphlets, etc.), at least two of which are print sources not retrieved from the Internet. In addition, you can also use images, interviews, films, television or radio programs, etc. Evaluate more than the required minimum number of sources to ascertain that you’re finding what you really need. Select sources that are credible, relevant, and useful to your argument. You must also document your sources correctly, using in-text citations as well as providing a Works Cited page in the MLA style. Keep good records of your sources – you must provide copies of each source (online print outs, photo copies, or the original articles/images).

STYLE
You will make your own stylistic choices. Your paper should be unique in many ways, including stylistically. Style consists of many features, such as tone, diction (word choice), syntax (sentence structures), and imagery. Trust your own words and style, even when citing sources! Use direct, word-for-word quotations sparingly - they tend to break the “flow” of your own sentences.

FORMAT
Follow the MLA style when writing your essay and citing the sources. Consult the documentation material and example essay in your textbook. For additional information on how to use the MLA style, consult the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed, 2003) – your instructor will bring a copy to each class session.

DUE DATES
Tentative Research Plan ______________
Audience Analysis ______________
Research Sources Report ______________
Research Paper Draft (due at conference) ___________
Research Paper Outline ______________
Research Paper Final Draft ___________