Purpose: The purpose of the Research Project is to allow you to develop your research and critical thinking skills, and it provides an opportunity for you to practice a variety of research and writing techniques that you will use throughout your academic career. Specifically, you will practice writing summaries, conducting academic research, evaluating sources, and writing an analysis and reflection of your work.
You will be allowed to explore almost any topic of your choice except faith-based and/or moral issues. The only other requirement is that it needs to be something that you have a personal need to know and something that can be researched.
The Research Project has four parts:
Working Bibliography
The Literature Review
The Research Essay
The Alternative Genre Project
Part I: Working Bibliography
The Purpose: The Working Bibliography is the first step in gathering sources that will help you with your research. It is composed of sources that look promising but that will not necessarily end up in your research essay.
The Assignment: The Working Bibliography is a bibliography of ten sources that you might use in your literature review and research essay. It is formatted like a Works Cited page (in MLA format).
Part II: The Literature Review Essay
The Purpose: The purpose of the Literature Review is to study research that has already been completed on the topic and begin to understand the issues that surround the topic. This essay can be used as part of your research project if it is written correctly.
The Assignment: To begin to put the Literature Review together, review the sources you listed on your Working Bibliography. Choose five sources that look like they come the closest to answering the research questions you posted in your Research Proposal. If, after reading and researching further into your topic, you realize that you do NOT have five that address the issue you are writing about, go back to the library databases, search websites, look at documentaries and find more sources. Keep searching until you have AT LEAST five. If you are having any trouble with this assignment, visit the library. The librarians there will be happy to help you find sources if you are having difficulties.
Choosing the five sources for the Literature Review is important because you are going to spend considerable time reading, summarizing, and critiquing these sources. You might spend as much as eight hours to complete the assignment. Make sure you take as much time as necessary to read and choose sources that answer the questions you posed in your research proposal. The time you put into this assignment will pay off when you go to write the paper because much of what you create for this assignment can go directly into your final research essay to support the ideas that you are sharing with your readers. This assignment is one of the most important steps in writing the paper. The more time you give to this assignment, the better your paper will be.
Once you have decided on the five most relevant sources, read them carefully and evaluate their credibility. Be sure to highlight and annotate the texts. Use all the strategies you used to write the summary. Highlight key points. Look up terms you don’t know. Find out who the author is and why they are writing the article. Consider the context for the article. Think about whether or not the source meets the CRAAP guidelines.
When you are satisfied that you have the sources you need and that they are credible, format a bibliography just like you did for the Working Bibliography. This bibliography will become the last page of your literature review. Use your textbook and the Purdue OWL website to make sure the formatting is correct. Even if you use Easy Bib or another bibliography creation tool, you still must check the formatting to be sure nothing is missing.
Now you are ready to write the review. Here’s what to include in your Literature Review:
A summary of the topic and your question. The first paragraph of your literature review will introduce the topic you are writing about and the question you are trying to answer. You don’t need to go into great depth about the topic, but you need to explain the basic ideas that are driving your questions.. Also, this is not a summary of a source, it is just an introduction to the issues being explored. Be sure to include your research question in the introduction.
A review of the history (if applicable). For some issues or topics, you might need to explore how the ideas about this topic have changed over time. For example, if you were writing about the environmental health of the ocean, you might start by discussing how for many years scientists and citizens thought that the ocean was a safe place to dispose of trash, especially plastics. Then you would talk about how that view is changing. For example, in the last few decades we have discovered that the garbage being spewed into the ocean is having detrimental effects on human health. (Be sure to include the source for the history on your works cite page. It can count as one of the five sources you are required to include to complete the assignment.) Then you would briefly summarize the sources you have that support that history. note: not all topics will require this section, but many of them will.
Determine the key points. The next 3-5 paragraphs will discuss the key points you discovered from reading your sources. In your essay, answer the following questions. Don’t type this as question then answer, but formulate the answers into paragraphs. Refer back to the lesson on the AXES paragraph structure for help with this.
What are the key points that are repeated throughout all the sources?
What ideas do you see repeated again and again? Feel free to quote the various sources to support your key points.
What are some ideas that seem to be disagreements between the sources? You will have as many paragraphs as you have disagreements.
Feel free to include your own analysis of the disagreements. You might discuss differences in the purposes of the articles, credibility or the writers, quality of sources used, or other items that would indicate which argument is stronger.
For instance, you might say something like this:
While John Smith, in his article “What’s love got to do with it?” argues that most marriages that survive more than ten years are based on shared values and religions rather than what many call “love,” Mary Carter argues in her article, “Will Marriage Survive?” that there are no sure ways to predict whether or not a marriage will survive. In fact, she claims that marriage itself is no longer a viable institution. She bases her claim on statistics from a study conducted through Harvard. Smith makes his claims based on studies conducted by Psychology Today. While both sources use credible evidence and seem to be reliable, their purposes for conducting research are very different. For the Psychology Today source, the purpose was to prove that a successful marriage can be predicted by tracking particular behaviors. For the Harvard study, Carter was hoping to propose alternative arrangements for shared households. Their claims seem to be affected by their purposes.
Are there any common misconceptions that surround this topic? (To answer this question, you may want to include sources that are not reliable.)
A mini-critical analysis. For each source that you mention in your review, be sure to include some discussion of purpose, audience, context, and reliability. In other words, how do you know the source is suitable for academic research? This discussion should be woven throughout your essay and not just included in a separate section at the end. Please note: It is fine if you want to include sources that are not reliable as a way to show the misconceptions, but be sure to indicate that they are not reliable and why you might use them in your paper any way.
Possible Answers to Your Research Question. End your review by exploring possible answers to your research question. You should include ideas about where you need to do further research. Obviously, at this stage, you may not be absolutely sure what the answer to your research question is, but you should have some possible answers that you would like to explore further.
Part III: The Research Essay
The Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is three-fold. First, almost every piece of writing that you complete at the college level will involve arguing for a specific viewpoint. Even essays that simply are informative are trying to convince the reader of the validity of the information. This essay will allow you to demonstrate that you understand how to compose an effective piece of persuasive writing. Second, you will be required to write many research papers as you complete your academic career. This essay allows you to demonstrate that you understand how to effectively cite the information you gather from completing the research assignments that led up to writing this essay. Finally, this essay gives you the chance to discuss something you feel is important, either for your own information or for the general population, and you get a guaranteed audience.
The Assignment: Okay, now you’ve spent hours and hours gathering all of this wonderful information, here’s what to do with it.
Write a 10-12 page essay that discusses your research topic. Begin with a catchy first sentence and interesting first paragraph that explains why this topic is important to your intended audience. The first paragraph is also a good place to establish pathos. Tell a story that will pull on your readers’ heartstrings or include a shocking statistic that will inspire them to pay attention to what you have to say.
In the next couple paragraphs, provide any historical information that the reader will need to understand your argument. Also, define terms that may be unfamiliar to people who have not done as much research as you have.
Then discuss what you have discovered about your topic and provide specific reasons and evidence to support your thesis statement. Remember this is an essay so you should have one main point that you are trying to communicate. You may have found out many, many things that you cannot include. What is the most important information? What’s the best way to get that across to your readers?
In the academic essay, each paragraph is like a mini-essay. Each paragraph will have one main point or idea that you are developing, most likely it is one of the reasons that you have for your argument. Then you will explain the main idea and give examples. Follow the AXES paragraph model that you studied earlier – Assertion, explanation, examples, and significance.)
The final paragraph of your essay is the conclusion. It should summarize what you discussed in the essay and restate your thesis statement (your main claim). Also, it is nice to frame your essay by referring to something that you mentioned in the introduction. If you told a story in the introduction, come back to that story and show how the world would be a different place if your ideas were adopted
Cite at least five sources that appeared in your literature review. At least two of these have to be scholarly. If you use opinion pieces in your research essay be sure to explain that they are opinion pieces and why you are using them. For instance, you may use them to explain misconceptions about the topic.
Type the essay in MLA format. Include a works cited page and cite the sources appropriately within the text. Don’t forget to double space.
Strategies for Writing: As I mentioned before, almost every piece of writing you do in college involves convincing someone of something, even if it is just convincing your professor that you know and understand something. For this piece of writing, practice using persuasive writing strategies. Below is an outline of the basic steps for creating an effective argument.
Begin by thinking about your audience.
Who are my readers? What is at stake for them? How can the information be presented so the readers will understand it and care about it? Keep this information in mind as you will also be using the three rhetorical appeals and knowing your audience is crucial to making the appeals work.
Define the issue clearly.
Remember; in order to effectively persuade a reader of anything, you must first help them understand the issue. What makes this issue important? Define the issue by discussing who is involved and how they will be affected. Even if you are writing about something that you think mainly concerns just you, explain why it is important to you and what is at stake. If the history of the issue affects your argument, be sure to include that in your discussion as well.
State your main idea clearly.
Write a clear thesis statement. Writing a good thesis statement is the first step in writing the essay. In a sentence or two, you should be able to state what you are trying to prove to your readers. Tape the thesis statement on your computer or keep it near you as you are composing your essay. This will help you stay focused.
Develop a convincing argument.
Use sound reasoning. Avoid logical fallacies. Be sure each main idea is stated clearly, explained, and fully developed. Use credible, convincing evidence and tell the reader where you obtained your evidence. Back up all the main ideas with examples, stories, quotes from authorities, facts, or statistics. Use the three rhetorical appeals geared to your specific audience. Do not rely too heavily on pathos.
Consider opposing viewpoints.
If you are writing about something that is controversial or simply has more than one viewpoint, be sure to include alternate ideas in your essay. Remember that considering other ideas will help you strength your own understanding of the topic or issue. Try to create common ground with your readers even if they may disagree with your conclusions. Include at least one visual in the essay. Include a caption that describes how the visual supports your thesis statement. Be sure to cite the visual just like you would any other source.
Use a reasonable tone.
Always treat your readers with respect. Never be condescending or assume that they feel the same way you do.
Use your own voice.
Although academic papers must follow certain guidelines and standards that does not mean that you cannot be yourself in your essays. You can use “I”; however, avoid “I think” or “I believe.” That is already assumed since you are writing the paper. Also, you probably shouldn’t write the entire paper in first person, but you can include personal stories and ideas. Your ideas and stories can give your paper life and help keep the reader interested. Don’t use “stuffy” language. Use your own language. It is a myth that papers with big words get better grades. That is only true if the big words are used correctly and if they fit with the ideas. Many ideas are best expressed in everyday language rather than academic jargon. For instance, everyone has heard the phrase, “To be or not to be” even if they have never seen or read Hamlet. Each of those words is three letters or less, and yet, that phrase packs a powerful punch. So be yourself in your writing.
Have fun.
What???? Have fun writing a research paper??? Yea, right. But if you have chosen a topic you care about, hopefully you will be excited to share what you have found out about it. It is much more interesting to read an essay in which the writer is enjoying the process of sharing information than to read something that is rigid and the only purpose is to get it done. So really, have fun. One way to do that is to give yourself plenty of time including time to write the essay, time to reflect on what you have written, and time to revise. In other words, don’t procrastinate.
Part IV: The Alternative Genre Project
The alternative genre project for ENG 1201 asks you to be creative and think of a different way of presenting the information you compiled for your research project. In other words, you will choose a genre other than a research essay. We have talked about genres earlier in the semester, but here is a quick review.
What is a genre? When you write a text or twitter message, the style of writing you use is different from the style of writing you use to write an academic research paper. Obviously. Still, readers of text and twitter messages expect a particular style of writing just as your professors expect that your lab reports, research proposals, literature reviews or research essays will not be written like text messages. These different styles of writing are called writing genres. For this assignment, you will explore various genres and think about the audiences that read those genres in order to identify and appeal to a larger audience for the claims you made in your research essay.
To get ready for the final project, begin thinking about other audiences that would benefit from learning about your research. Who else besides your professor should know this information? What is the best genre to share that information? Next, brainstorm different ways that you might reach that person or group of people.
