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Assignment 2: The Researched Essay

Based on what you’ve noticed so far in your analysis and preliminary research of a topic of your choice (perhaps one prompted by issues that arose in your genre analysis), you will begin by generating an exploratory research question that you want your essay to answer. This research question is the cornerstone of your essay, providing a guideline for you to follow in your research, wherever the information takes you. This question should be engaging and compelling, and it must relate to larger social concerns. You have the opportunity here to write something that is worth reading, to engage in larger scholarly conversations

 

As you investigate the answer(s) to your question, you will most likely discover additional questions, rather than coming upon a purely objective/undeniable answer for one side or another. That is okay! In this essay, you are investigating and possibly raising additional questions rather than providing a definitive answer or arguing for one side or another.Your thorough research of multiple sources and full analysis of your findings will be the foundation from which you develop your essay. Your sources should be used as evidence to support, develop, contradict, or expand on your ideas, and your essay must include extensive analysis around the question you explore. This is your chance to create a sophisticated and original analysis—go beyond just saying what many, many others have said before you and say something that demonstrates depth of thought.

 

By all means, this should be a topic about which you are passionate. The key to enjoying the research and the writing is deciding on the right topic. If you truly care about your chosen subject, you will be much more likely to compose a strong persuasive essay; plus, the research and the writing will not be pure drudgery—as they very well could be if you were researching and writing an essay on a topic that you really didn’t care about one way or another. 

 

To assist in this process, you’ll develop a Research Proposal and a Research-in-Progress Report. Finally, you will take your essay through stages of drafting and revision, writing a Rough Draft that you share with me in an individual conference, a Second Draft that you share with a group of your peers in our class, and a Third Draft.

 

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The purpose of the following two assignments is to help prepare you to confidently and effectively craft a well-researched and thoughtful persuasive essay on a topic that truly engages you.

 

Preparatory Assignment #1: Research Proposal (minimum of 500 words)

You will need to write a research proposal designed to help you organize your ideas and intentions. This proposal will be based on your exploration of your topic and your initial research. You should reflect on how you became interested in your topic, how you came up with your research question, why you think it’s important, and how you plan to explore the question in your research. Your research proposal should include the following:

  1. Your research question.

  2. A working title for your project.

  3. A summary of your project. Identify your topic and describe what you will be looking at in terms of the topic. Include some key terms and additional questions that will guide your research.

  4. A description of your purpose for working on this project. Why did you choose this project? What do you hope to learn from this project?

  5. A discussion of the key challenges you will face or you imagine you will face. What concerns do you have regarding the research/project?

 

Preparatory Assignment #2: Research-in-Progress Report (minimum of 500 words)

Your Research-in-Progress Report should include three sections: your final research question, an annotated bibliography, and a statement of what’s missing in your research at this point. You will need to annotate twelve potential sources, ten of which must be academic, scholarly, and/or peer-reviewed sources, examining credibility, relevance, potential incorporation, and potential connections to your research questions.  This report should also identify what’s missing in your research—any information you’re still searching for. You should write annotations for each of the twelve sources, and each annotation should—

  1. Briefly summarize the source and its main ideas.

  2. Tell how the source relates to the research topic.

  3. Tell how the source relates/does not relate to the other sources.

Optional: Tell what new/different information this source provides; explain weaknesses/strengths of the source; tell what about the source you find especially interesting.

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Preparatory Assignment #3: Research Report (minimum of 500 words)

You should review your ten final sources and their content, discussing the relevance of each one to your topic and how you plan to use it in your research essay. This should not be simply a repetition of the information included in the previous assignment. Rather, it is a specific discussion of where and how you will include each source in your essay.

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The Researched Essay (minimum 2000 words)

After completing the three preparatory assignments discussed above, you should be able to confidently and effectively craft a well-researched and thoughtful essay that includes no fewer than ten sources, eight of which should be academic, scholarly, and/or peer-reviewed sources. You may also choose to use a primary source in place of a popular source, if you so choose.

 

Your Rough Draft should be at least 1,000 words. In other words, get a good start on your research essay.

 

Your Second Draft should be at least 1,500 words and include a Works Cited page—in other words, a complete draft of your essay.

 

Your Third Draft should be a complete, polished minimum 2000-word research essay incorporating eight sources as described previously, parenthetical documentation as needed, and a correctly formatted Works Cited page (all in MLA documentation style).

 

Due Dates for Drafts:                                                                                                  

Thursday, October 13:           Research Proposal

Tuesday, October 18:             Research-in-Progress Report

Friday, October 21:                 Research Report

Tuesday, October 25:             Rough Draft (at least 1,000 words)

Tuesday, November 1:           Second Draft (at least 1,500 words + Works Cited page)

Tuesday, November 8:           Third Draft (complete, polished draft)

Final Draft due in ePortfolio at semester’s end.

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