the researched essay
Project One: The Researched Essay—An Academic Genre (minimum of 3500 typed, polished words)
For this project, you will develop a research question concerning a community you are a part of, take a stance (after performing preliminary research) and present a supported argument in a research essay. The key to enjoying the research and the writing is deciding on the right community. If you truly care about your chosen community, 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 does not peak your interest.
The purpose of the following assignments is to help prepare you to confidently and effectively craft a well-researched and thoughtful persuasive essay on a community that truly engages you.
* Preparatory Assignment #1: Research Question and Rationale (minimum of 250 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 submission should include three sections: your research question, a detailed rationale for the inquiry into this question, and a statement of what’s missing in your research at this point.
*Preparatory Assignment #2: Annotated Bibliography (minimum 1000 words).
You should review five 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.
You should write annotations for five sources, and each annotation should (in 150-200 words)—
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.
4. Tell what new/different information this source provides; explain weaknesses/strengths of the source; tell what about the source you find especially interesting.
*Preparatory Assignment #3: The interview
Students will conduct an interview with a member of the community they are researching or another relevant source. They should have ten-fifteen specific questions prepared ahead of time. Following the interview, students should submit a copy of the interview responses and or notes they take during the interview. The interview will allow the student to gain valuable firsthand knowledge regarding the genre practices of the community and practice conducting primary research. Additionally, the interview will provide the opportunity for the student to clarify any question they have regarding their research into the genre practices of this community. Therefore, the interview will be most productive if it takes place after some initial research has been conducted.
You will use a specific community as the lens with which to examine someone. Choose someone to profile whom you think belongs to an interesting community or whose relationship with that community tells a lot about the person. There are any number of opportunities to find a unique view of this person through his/her involvement with a community—you may choose generation, culture, profession, etc. You will want to explore both the community and the person. In what ways does this person interact with this community? What traits do all members of the community possess? How does this person reflect this community? How would this person be different if he/she didn’t interact with this community? In order to discover the answers to these questions, you will want to interview this person. The interview will allow you to integrate direct quotations into your paper. Here are a few examples to keep in mind:
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Maria is from Cuba and extremely religious. A profile could examine how religion, especially aspects of Cuban Catholicism, helped her when she immigrated to the U.S.
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Bruce is a civil engineer. He is obsessed with structural safety and has spent 20 years traveling around the country examining structures. His profile could focus on how his career has influenced his hobbies, lifestyle, and thought processes.
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Susan was born in the 50s and grew up during Vietnam. She saw a picture in a magazine of a girl in Vietnam running from a bomb. Her profile could center on her loss of innocence during that era, an era when it is often argued our nation lost her innocence as well.
Your interview will most likely include description, narration, analysis, and reflection; it is up to you to decide how these will all be integrated. You will not merely describe the person and his/her community, but you will analyze the relationship between the person and the community, paying special attention to why this relationship deserves to be explored in a profile. Why is looking at this person in this light particularly interesting, important, or insightful? Once you have gathered information about this person, begin drafting a profile that creates an overall impression of this person by interweaving third-person narration, quotes, paraphrases, anecdotes, facts, and observations.
Keep in mind that you should: Write in the present tense, when not writing about your subject’s past experiences. Limit first person to keep your focus on the profile subject. Illustrate your claims with concrete details and descriptive language.
The Researched Essay (minimum of 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, six of which should be academic, scholarly, and/or peer-reviewed sources.
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Research Question and Rationale description
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
Organizing and Evaluating your Sources
Peer Profile Interview Instructions
Peer Review- Annotated Bib instructions
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