Research Essay
Length: 5-7 pages double spaced (approx. 1,500 words) | MLA style (or other documentation style)
Rough Draft Due Date: April, 2024
Final Due Date: May 16, 2024
Purpose:
In this project, you will explore a research focus based on texts related to our course themes.
The purposes of this paper are to gain:
Practice in academic research
Practice putting texts/sources into conversation with one another and listening to multiple voices in a conversation
A deeper understanding of an issue through exploration
This essay is NOT thesis-driven in the sense that you will not have an argument for or against an issue. Do NOT put your opinions in your summary. You will not be defending or attacking an author, text, or claim.
Instead, this essay invites you to explain to your reader how these texts have shaped your thinking about the issue and deepened your understanding of the conversation.
It asks you to contemplate what is valid or useful, but also what is problematic, about the points each text raises.
Your essay can and should raise questions, and you will include questions in the paper.
Synthesize the issue/conversation you are focusing on
Discuss what you know about this issue/conversation based on these sources.
What does each of these sources argue? And how do their arguments intersect/relate?
Also, briefly mention what kinds of information these sources do NOT include
Summarize the texts you found.
This means including condensed academic summaries
These summaries should focus on conveying the ARGUMENT and PURPOSE of the texts you are summarizing. i.e., authorial intent
Explore the points of view presented by the texts
This exploration should answer questions like: What is the point of view of each text? Whose voices are being represented and heard in these texts? Why are these voices important? When are these sources from, and how is time (timing, timeliness) relevant to the POV? What is at stake if these voices are not heard? What is at stake if ONLY these voices were heard? How does the POV of these texts affect the ideas presented?Reflect on how the voices from your texts have expanded your thinking on this conversation.
This reflection should answer questions like: What did you learn about the conversation you are exploring from the new texts you found? What was your experience searching for these texts like? Did you find one more informative than the other? Why? How did the genre of these texts impact the way you comprehended the information inside? What do you still not know (gaps in your knowledge) that other sources might explain further? If you were to continue this research project, what might you begin looking for next?
Resources for Writing this Paper
Criteria for Choosing New Texts:
The source is robust enough to provide plenty of new information
The author/rhetoric/organization is credible/trustworthy
This text offers new information, a new perspective, has a different rhetorical situation, etc, from the original
The text you are starting with
The text has enough substance (length, density) to be useful in your exploration
You like this text enough/it interests you enough to fuel your exploration of the text
Guiding Questions for your exploratory paragraphs (aka, the good stuff):
What new perspectives, ideas, and stakes, have I learned from this source?
How has this source shifted my perspective on the issue at hand?
Is this text in direct controversy or opposition to another one of my sources?
What is missing from the source that I would still be interested to know more about?
How does this text relate to the other texts I am writing about and reading?
What is my initial response to this source?
Why is this source a valuable piece of information?
How is the form of this source (ie, article, video, TV show, etc) affecting the way it communicates its message with audiences?
Is this text rhetorically similar or different from others you are finding?
*This list is not exhaustive! What are some other questions you might ask that could lead to engaging exploratory paragraphs?
