English
102: Composition and Rhetoric
Second
Research Paper Assignment
Critique #3:
Due: Wed., April 18, 2007
In two to three pages, critique an essay you are using as a source for your
research paper. It cannot be the same essay you wrote a summary of earlier in
the semester, but it can be from the Behrens and Rosen reader. If you are using
an essay or article that is not in the reader and not available online, attach
a copy to your critique. Review chapter 2 of the reader on writing critiques
and follow the guidelines on page 59 for the structure of this paper. Include
a citation to the source at the end of the critique essay. See also LBH, chapter
6 on analyzing arguments. Parts of this critique may be incorporated into your
research paper. The essay you critique must be published in a reliable book
or periodical (online or on paper). It can be a chapter of a longer book. If
you are in doubt about finding a reliable source, check with the professor or
use the link called evaluation of web resources on the Ferrum
Library Reference Materials page.
Research Paper Due: Mon., April 23, 2007
Length: 5-8 typed, double-spaced pages, including Works Cited page.
Topic:
Develop a topic for a persuasive paper in which you explain and support your
position on a issue that involves one of the topics from the Behrens and Rosen
reader, such as chapter 8 (Internet technology), 10 (malls), 11 (weight), or 13
(advertising).. You might make use of any of the topic suggestions at the ends
of these chapters, but be sure
you focus your topic so that you can support a persuasive thesis adequately
in five to eight pages, while using five or more research sources. If you wish
to write about a topic that is not discussed in the reader, you must have a
short proposal approved by Friday, Apr. 13. It should explain briefly your
topic, your reason for choosing it, and your plan for research.
Review the reader’s discussion of “The Argument Synthesis” in
chap. 5, since this paper will require you to synthesize sources in support of
an argument. As you locate and evaluate sources, focus your topic, outline your
paper, write your drafts, and document your sources, consult the advice and
examples given in the reader, chapter 7, and in LBH, chapters 42-48.
To write a successful paper within the
limits of time and space available, it is extremely important to restrict your
focus as soon as possible to a precise topic that you can discuss effectively
and develop a clear persuasive thesis that you can support convincingly by using
factual evidence as well as the judgments and opinions of experts from your research.
Use of Sources and Documentation:
The Works Cited page must list five or more documented sources that are cited
in the paper. The sources must include at least three different types from three
of the following nine categories.
1. Reference book
2. Book in the general collection of the library or a published book available
online
3. Essay in Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum
4. Magazine or journal article (either in paper or full text online)
5. Newspaper article (either in paper or full text online)
6. Personal interview, letter, lecture notes, survey you conduct
7. Government document
8. Film, television program, or other audio-visual recording
9. Other Internet resource such as a web site.
(Be sure to use our library’s links to guidelines for evaluating online
sources.)
Sources must be documented using the MLA documentation system, as explained
in The Little, Brown Handbook and the reader, chap. 7. Essays with
plagiarized material or inadequate documentation will not be accepted for a
grade. There will not be time at the end of the semester to revise
papers after they are graded.
Within the essay, parenthetical references must be given for any ideas, specific
details, and quotations that come from the sources. Be sure that details and
ideas borrowed from sources are paraphrased accurately and direct quotations
are copied exactly as they are in the sources. Follow instructions and examples
in the textbooks closely as you incorporate quotations and ideas from sources
into your discussion, and as you document your sources. The Behrens and Rosen
web site contains several student research papers at
http://wps.ablongman.com/long_behrens_wrac_9/0,9955,1786413-,00.html.
(in the sections Student Model Papers for each chapter.)
When submitting the paper, attach photocopies of pages that contain the information
used in the paper from books or articles (other than essays in the reader).
Label these pages so that the material used in your paper will be easy to find.
If there are special problems relating to this requirement and the sources you
use, discuss them with the professor before the paper is due. Papers will not
be graded until the professor has checked the source material used.
The thesis and outline of your paper, and list of Works Cited must be approved
by the professor before the essay is submitted for a grade.
CHECKLIST: Use the checklist that was distributed and returned with the first research paper. The same criteria will be used in grading this research paper, except that the requirements for length and types of sources are more extensive, and this paper must have an argumentative thesis.
04/15/2007