Research Essay Assignment – Define and Analyze an Aspect of Disinformation
Assignment
Social media and 24-7 television and video have provided us with tremendous opportunities to share information widely and quickly. Our ability to evaluate the quality of this information is essential to the well-being of ourselves, our fellow human beings, and our planet.
The following is an excerpt from “Think Critically, Click Wisely! Media and Information Literate Citizens” by Audrey Azoulay, the Director General of UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
. . . massive technological shifts in recent decades . . . require an entirely new understanding of information and the way it spreads – both online and offline – where it comes from, and all manner of connected issues, from understanding media and scientific research, to ethics and data privacy, to the impact of algorithms and artificial intelligence. . . . every education system worldwide must adequately build critical minds that can navigate today’s information flows, verify sources, differentiate fact from fiction, resist hate speech, and most of all, make informed decisions about their lives. . . .
The future of democratic societies and our response to all manner of global challenges will depend in part on ensuring every citizen can “Think Critically and Click Wisely”. It will depend on ensuring media and information literacy for all.
For this assignment, you will define and analyze some aspect of disinformation. This could be an exploration of the disinformation itself or of the systems that enable its spread. One objective of this assignment is to demonstrate your writing, research, and analysis skills. A second objective is to help your readers become better critical consumers of information.
Your paper should address these questions about your topic:
What is it? What does it look like? (Define it and provide examples)
Who does it serve? (Discuss who invents/spreads it and how these people benefit from the spread of it)
How/why does it work? (Discuss why people believe it)
Is it harmful? (Discuss the harm, if any, it can do)
What can we do about it? (Discuss how we can counteract it and/or make ourselves wiser consumers of information)
Topic Suggestions
Think of disinformation as a big umbrella covering lots of possible topics and ask these questions:
What can you cover in-depth in 4-5 pages? (Narrowing the topic will be one of the biggest challenges of this paper).
Can you find at least three reliable researched sources to support your ideas? (you will also need to cite the unreliable sources that you use for your examples)
Is your topic significant and will your topic help your readers become better consumers of information? For example, topics like Bigfoot or Does-the-ghost- of-Elvis-really-haunt-Graceland are not appropriate for this assignment. They just don’t matter that much.
Don’t focus solely on disproving the disinformation. Instead, focus on describing it and who puts it out there, why people believe it, the harm it creates, and what we can do about it.
Here are a few examples of narrow topics:
a particular subject: fake news/conspiracy theories about coronavirus, voting, the 2020 election, Jan 6, QAnon, vaccines, or climate change; junk science about miracle cures or diet or beauty breakthroughs; Russian propaganda about Ukraine
a particular type of “news,” (provided it is narrow enough): clickbait stories, deep fakes, celebrity tabloids, extremist pundits like Alex Jones
a particular social media platform and its policies (or lack thereof) that may contribute to disinformation: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tock, YouTube, Parler, Rumble, Gab
a particular type of artificial intelligence and how it can be used to spread disinformation: bots, algorithms
types of educational censorship and how this results in disinformation: textbook censorship, bans on the teaching of critical race theory or other topics
Contemporary propaganda/disinformation about certain groups of people: discriminatory rhetoric/disinformation based on race or culture or religion; disinformation about immigrants and refugees; disinformation and stigmas about addiction or mental illness or homelessness
comedy “news” shows (which are comedy/satire, not disinformation) as long as you do a serious, researched analysis of their effects on people and media literacy
a historical topic: WWII propaganda, cold war propaganda, the CIA’s secret war in Laos, tobacco industry propaganda, Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction – if you choose to do an historical topic, include the lessons that this has for us today
Content Requirements
post your brainstorming document, an outline, and a source evaluation assignment prior to submitting your paper
complete a reviewed, revised, and edited essay of 4-5 double-spaced pages
address the subject matter requirements of the assignment,(see assignment description)
cite a minimum of three reliable sources from Western databases and/or the web (plus cite your unreliable-source examples), avoid plagiarism, and use MLA format
The content should demonstrate your ability to conduct, evaluate, and incorporate research into an essay. The content should also demonstrate your ability to use the rhetorical strategies of definition, illustration, and analysis
Examine the grading rubric for additional requirements
Grading Rubric
Content/Support:
addresses all content requirements of the disinformation assignment and supports the thesis
demonstrates a thoughtful approach to the topic: uses reasoning and critical analysis to make claims and draw conclusions rather than merely stating facts
effectively illustrates claims with credible and relevant research
explains the research, rather than letting the evidence speak for itself; writer’s voice and observations are dominant in the paper.
30
Organization and Paragraph skills:
logical organization of essay and paragraphs
clear topic sentences that make a point
unity – all content in each paragraph effectively supports the topic sentence
coherence: paragraphs are organized effectively, writing flows smoothly, and transitions aid the reader.
Introduction: has a vivid attention-getter, clear thesis and preview
Conclusion: reinforces the thesis, has memorable closing thought
25
Research mechanics/MLA conventions:
paper is correctly formatted in MLA style
research is properly introduced and cited in the text of the paper with appropriate signal phrases and parenthetical citation
writer makes effective choices about quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
Works Cited section is correctly formatted and citations are in MLA format
15
Editing skills:
Writing is clear, concise, and vivid; writer effectively uses sentence variety, active verbs, specific nouns, and effective parallelism
Sentences are edited for clarity
10
