Tips for Writing a Successful Research Paper on Your Desired Career or Profession

Choose a Specific Career or Profession

Essay 3 (Research Paper): We have all made it this far... Our final new essay. This is Essay 3 (Research Paper). As we have briefly discussed, this Research Paper will be about finding information, grabbing sources, and further analyzing what you: 1) Already know & 2) What you learned from the research that you did... Prompt Requirements: The topic: Choose a career/profession that you want to eventually do, or a career/profession that you feel you might be interested in doing. For some essay advice, the more specific - the better (In other words, try to narrow it down to a career/profession rather than a major or a broad subject/field). This Essay must include an Intro Paragraph containing a Thesis Statement, Body Paragraphs (each BP containing a different area/aspect of your career/research topic - I highly recommend at least 3-4 body paragraphs), and a Conclusion Paragraph. The essay page requirements will be 5-7 FULL pages of writing, and you must have a minimum of 4 legitimate sources (at least 2 must be from the CPP Library Database). Your essay must include a Works Cited page at the end (detailing all of your sources used, in proper MLA format). *Important note: The Works Cited page does NOT count towards the 5-7 pages of full writing. Required Format (MLA): This essay must be in MLA Format: 12 font size. Times New Roman or Arial font. Double-Spaced. A creative title (anything that represents the essay well. You'll notice it's a lot easier to come up with a title AFTER you finish writing the essay). Works Cited page. Save/upload all files as a Word Doc or PDF. Here is a very helpful website that contains a guide on all things MLA Format (MLA Format OWL Purdue): https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_general_format.html (Links to an external site.) ^You'll notice there is a tab on the lefthand side of the page with all sorts of sections and helpful info. Some of these sections, we have already read/skimmed for homework. But either way, be sure to use any of those tabs, because many of them will be useful. Remember, MLA Format (as it is shown in that link) will be required. Some extra advice/structure possibility: Intro: A Hook Sentence (the first sentence of the paragraph, usually an attention grabber, can be creative). Next up (and what usually takes up the most amount of sentences in an Intro), is the Background Information/Context portion of an Intro. This gives us a chance to explain any background info you feel your audience should know (useful information about the topic/career, history of the topic/career, etc. Basically, anything you can think of that will be useful). Thesis Statement: The Thesis Statement must appear in the Intro paragraph. Preferably, as the last sentence of the Intro. (just make sure it is obvious and that I will know it is the Thesis right away). A Thesis Statement should always include the main topic of the essay and it should foreshadow or state what you are about to talk about in the essay. Body Paragraphs: Once again, each Body Paragraph should include a different aspect of the career that you want to talk about. Each BP should include: A Topic Sentence (Any way you could think of in order to describe the main topic of that BP), at least 1 Quote [must be in Proper MLA Format = Lead in/Signal Phrase, "Quote" (Authors Last Name Page Number/Or Year of Publication)], Analysis (summary of the context of the quote within its article, further explanation, your interpretation, your opinion, or any extra/final thoughts... Note/Reminder: The Analysis section of each BP should be MULTIPLE sentences long. As many as you feel necessary), and a Transition Sentence (A sentence at the end of each BP that transitions into the next topic - OR, a sentence that closes up/wraps up the topic of that paragraph). Conclusion: Conclusions usually give us an opportunity to restate the thesis statement (using different words/in a different way) and wraps up some of the main points you covered. Then, close out the essay with an answer of why this matters (Why does topic/career matter to you or your audience? Why does it matter to society? Note/Reminder: This portion of a conclusion is usually MULTIPLE SENTENCES long) Finally, close out the conclusion paragraph however you'd like (creatively, in a direct way, with a final message, etc.). Due Dates: Topic Submission due by 11:59pm, Friday (10/15) [worth 10 pts] Annotated Bibliography due by 11:59pm, Friday (10/22) [worth 20 pts] Outline of Essay 3 due by 11:59pm, Friday (10/29) [worth 10 pts] Rough Draft (at least 2 pages of work) due by 11:59pm, Friday (11/5) [worth 15 pts] Conference (week 12), [worth 10 pts] Final Draft of Essay 3 due by 11:59pm, Friday (11/12) [worth 130 pts] Rubric/What I'm looking for when grading: 1) Content. Make sure the content is there (prompt requirements and everything listed above), and most importantly make sure your essay answers the prompt. 2) Effort. If you give me your honest effort, answer the prompt, meet the minimum requirements, then you'll never receive anything lower than a "C" in my assignments/class. Remember, give me your honest effort (this also means meeting the minimum page requirement. Very important) 3) Format & Structure/Organization. MLA Format (see link above) is required for this assignment. And make sure the essay has structure and organization, Intro (with a Thesis Statement), Body Paragraphs, Conclusion, and a Works Cited page. 4) Grammar/clarity. Just be sure to revise/edit your essay a couple of times. Double-check it. Read it out loud to someone else, or to yourself (so you can audibly hear/edit any possible grammar errors, awkward phrasing, etc). Have it looked at by a CPP Writing Center tutor (the Cal Poly website offers Zoom appointments - 1on1 tutor sessions, or Canvas submissions where the tutor gives feedback on your paper via Canvas comments. Tutor sessions do not have to be just about grammar, you can ask them anything about any questions you have for an Essay). And just make sure the essay is as clear and cohesive as possible. 5) Creativity/Creative Risks. You'll never lose points for not taking creative risks. But, it could possibly win you some points. If there is something you want to try and you know that it can add to the assignment in a positive way. Go for it. Just remember, if you add anything like pictures, video, audio, etc. - whatever page space you take up in media, be sure to makeup for it in writing afterwards (Example: If you include a picture/graph that takes up 1 full page, then you will still need 5-7 full pages of writing on top of that).