Instructions
Here you will post your proposal and annotated bibliography for the long range- research paper. The assignment should incorporate three parts: a working thesis statement, a 1-2 paragraph research proposal, and a list of annotated sources intended to be used in the research paper. Format all three pieces in a document that adheres to the academic style you have chosen for the project, either APA or MLA. The working thesis statement should be featured prominently upfront, where the title of a finished research paper would be.
Working thesis statement: This one or two sentence statement should include not only your topic but your stance as well. Offer a clearly focused argument or call to action. Approximately three supporting points should also be included in the first or second sentence, reasons your main argument is true. Both your position and supporting ideas can be changed later to more accurately reflect the research and your findings at the end of the research process, but it is important to have your research guided by a stated hypothesis at this early stage.
Research Proposal: The research proposal is a preliminary assignment that shows you have started to think about your topic and have conducted enough quality research to show it is viable. It should include the following information in a brief paragraph or two:1. An introductory paragraph describing in broad terms the proposed purpose, organization, content, and potential conclusion(s) of the paper you will write. Answers these questions on the basis of your initial ideas and any preliminary research:
a. What academic field are you writing in? What style will you adhere to?
b. What is your topic and why is it worthy of discussion? What is the controversy?
c. What background information does your audience require to understand the topic?
2. A list of two or more research questions that you intend your research to answer.
Writing the proposal will allow you to think through the various research and writing options available to you. Of course, your research is still incomplete when you write your proposal. It does not need to summarize all of your ideas in detail, but you can broadly sketch your argument. This should help you determine what information you need to gather for the research project.Annotated Bibliography: A bibliography is a list of sources, and annotations are notes, so an annotated bibliography is a list of sources with accompanying notes. Per the research paper assignment, you will need at least five sources for this assignment to show that you are consulting a range of sources. These should be reliable sources, and listed in MLA or APA Style. In addition, each citation will include an annotation, a note that evaluates and summarizes each source, and details how the source will be used in your paper, or not used, and why. Here is some help, but note that the example is missing the connection between the source and the paper.
This assignment is done in preparation for your long-range research project (Paper 4), although some of the sources acquired for charting a trend may be relevant from the APA-style research paper (Paper 2). If you complete this assignment carefully, you may save yourself extra work, trips to the library, and aggravation on the larger project. It should also help you to confirm that you have selected high quality sources to use in your research essay.
In this assignment, you will create an annotated bibliography that includes brief summaries of five of the sources that you plan to use in your research project. In addition to summarizing, you will evaluate each source to prove its viability. Review Chapter 53 in Rules for Writers for tips on evaluating information and writing an Annotated Bibliography; consult Chapter 58 for models of MLA style citations or Chapter 63 for APA style citations. Cite the sources in your annotated bibliography using the style guideline you plan to use for your long-range research paper. There is also a model Annotated Bibliography available for review on the course’s Blackboard site1. For each source, write the Works Cited-style entry in MLA format or APA-style References
2. Put these sources in alphabetical order, using the author’s last name (or title if there is no author). Do not number the list. It should resemble a Works Cited/References page, except with brief paragraphs directly following each citation.
3. After each entry, write an annotation that contains both a brief summary of the information you’ll use from the source and an evaluation of the source. When you evaluate each source, discuss each of the following criteria:
· relevance
· currency
· credibility
· objectivity, and
· quality of evidence.
4. Each annotation should be a paragraph or (at most) two. When you are finished, edit carefully to find and correct grammatical and stylistic errors. Evaluation of your Annotated Bibliography will be based on both content and format
* Please don’t forget to include your working Thesis Core–presented at the top of your first page. I want to know what you intend to prove – and give you some feedback on the argument before proceeding…
