Research Essay Writing: Finding Sources, Topics, and Analytical Statements

Finding Sources

An important task you must accomplish in this course is writing a research essay. To accomplish this task, we will spend several course hours discussing research essay formats and how to develop research questions/analytical statements. As part of this process, you will become more familiar with the library.

Please pay careful attention to the instructions below as you begin the glorious process of research!

You must first go on a fact-finding expedition, using the library’s collection, and the database subscriptions. You will be required to have a minimum of four (4) outside sources which may include, books, articles from scholarly journals and newspapers, film, and media references. You must select one of the following options and complete a paper proposal.

Your topic must stem from some of the issues and themes that have come up from the course theme, “Meanings of Home: Culture, (un)Belonging, and Exile” and the final course text A Map is only One Story Twenty Writers on immigration, family, and the Meaning of Home (Chung & Demary). Additionally, your research must endeavor to discuss what it means to belong to or be exiled from home (to be within or outside of a culture, community, nation, etc.) and to address how popular cultural expressions (art, posters, political cartoons, and music) function as vehicles of expression and resistance. 

Research a community (specific neighborhood) and discuss the historical, racial, class, and ethnic shifts/conflicts/tensions in the community. Your discussion must focus on a particular locale, historical moment, social issue, and contemporary make-up of the community. For example, a study on a community in the Bronx might discuss:

a) How the particular neighborhood looks now—who lives there—do these folks experience narratives of belonging or exile?

b) Discuss the racial/ethnic/class history of the community and any race, class, ethnic-group, and gender disparities.

c) What can you highlight about the neighborhood and access to resources—state of housing; education in the community; incidents of white flight; immigration trends; police brutality;racial/class/ethnic-group tensions?

d) Can the discussion of your community be framed within a larger cultural and historical context(s)? [See the topic list.]

Option #2 Case Study—Contemporary Issues of Immigration/Home & Conflict/Exile

One way to approach this option is to select some of the themes that come up in A Map is only One Story such as borders, nation, belonging, home, and family, and focus on how contemporary issues of immigration, home, and exile are present in the news/media outlets and popular culture. Think about the ways in which all of the course readings have pondered where individuals are accepted and/or rejected in society based on their group affiliation. Are all immigrants able to find home in America? How does this acceptance and/or rejection connect back to a larger historical narrative?

You can select an item from the topic list or you can focus on an issue raised in A Map is only One Story. You must start with at least two (2) news-worthy sources where you provide a brief summary/analysis of the issue as indicated in the articles. This requires that you use the current events space as a point of critical reflection:

a) What are the issues?

b) How does the media report the issues?

c) What is the historical background narrative?

You must then provide a historical synopsis that provides a detailed background about the issue and illustrates how the historical is linked to the current debate. You must also focus on the cultural production of the moment. 

Part II: Regardless of the option select, you must address how popular cultural expressions (art, posters, political cartoons, and music) function as vehicles of expression and resistance. You must:

1. Discuss the particulars about the community, social issue, cultural/artistic moment. How does the piece you selected connect to and represent your overall research topic?

2. Provide a detailed discussion of the artistic piece selected. How does the artist reflect the specifics of the society? As you describe the piece, use as much descriptive language as possible.

Your research project consists of multiple steps:

Step I: You are to create a visual representation of your research paper using a media source to post/present online. This could be in the form of a story board, collage, drawing or painting, power point presentation or use of video clips that allow you to visually illustrate the research you are discussing. You must takeample time to complete this project. Be very intentional about: a) how you will present/discuss your research within the specific time constraints; b) How the visual aid supports/sheds light on your research?