The research paper is the next step in your semester-long research project: An anthropological analysis of a controversial piece of legislation. Each of you has chosen a piece of (attempted) legislation. You are analyzing why/how the legislation is controversial, specifically how the SOCIAL and INSTITUTIONAL components of law intersect (i.e., what a law does vs. what people perceive it to do; how a law disproportionately impacts different communities; how a given law is problematically/selectively enforced; etc.).
This paper is to take the form of a traditional research paper: Introduction, Body, Conclusion.
The introduction should grab my attention, should introduce the controversial piece of legislation you’ll be analyzing, and, most importantly, it will clearly identify your thesis statement. Remember, your thesis states why and/or how a given piece of (proposed) legislation is controversial.
The body of the paper should analyze the law. Part of the body can be used to contextualize the law and give background information. However, the bulk of it should be used to support your thesis statement. I encourage you to introduce the paragraphs of the body with clear topic sentences, and then effectively transition to the following paragraphs with effective transition statements/phrases at the end of each paragraph. Within the body, you should cite your in-class and outside sources (Note: you will include the full bibliography at the end.)
The conclusion should wrap up your argument, summarizing your main points and how they support your thesis. The conclusion is also where you would want to include the “So what?” and/or “Next Steps” – that is, the conclusion is where you discuss the broader implications of your analysis.
Please use your outline as a guide to help you structure/organize your papers. The body should take a form similar to the primary and supporting points that you indicated there. Of course, your thinking has likely evolved since you completed the outlines, and that’s great. But, I encourage you to use the outline to help you write the paper. Additionally, while you should use the outline as a guide, I expect to see changes, further development in your thinking, from the outline version to the final draft.
The research paper is to be 7-10 pages (that means a minimum of 7 FULL pages, but nothing on Page 11 aside from the bibliography), double spaced.
As previously stated, you must include a minimum 6 outside academic sources and 4 in-class academic sources. You can also cite non-academic sources (
