Research Paper Assignment Guidelines

Assignment Requirements

Our fourth paper assignment consists of a major research paper in which you will enter a conversation of your own choice. Your thesis statement should be the last sentence of the introductory paragraph, and it should assert the main point of your paper. Your paper should combine research, explanation, argument, and persuasion, and your main concerns should be to establish and to maintain your authority over your topic (your ethos) and to build your case on logos.

1. The essay must be a minimum 3000 words (roughly twelve pages double spaced).

 

2. There will be a one-point per word penalty for any paper that doesn’t make the 3000-word minimum requirement (e.g.,

if a paper has a grade of 85, or a B, but it’s only 2800 words, I’ll subtract 20 and record a 65). Any paper a hundred words or more short of the 3000-word benchmark will be issued an automatic 0.

 

3. The works cited and any headers do not count towards the minimum word requirement.

 

4. Thereis no maximum length requirement.

 

5. I would carefully consider the textbook’s explanations of summary, paraphrase, synthesis (explanatory and argument), and evaluation when putting together your paper. You will probably want to use the entire skill set.

 

6. You need to cite your essay in MLA format, including in-text citations and a works cited list.

 

7. You must cite a minimum 8 peer-reviewed sources.

 

a. Academically legitimate sources should be from recent peer-review journals and university presses.

b. Newspaper, Wikipedia, college textbooks, general audience websites and other pop sources do not count.

c. Be prepared to justify your sources in case I ask.

 

8. Unless noted otherwise, all papers and ancillary materials (proposal, annotated bibliography, workshop reflection, etc.) in standard settings (double-spaced, one-inch margins, 12 pt. Times New Roman or 11 pt. Calibri).

We will have draft workshops. The basic idea of a draft workshop is that we share an early attempt at a paper assignment (a “draft”) with a small group of peers, they give us advice as to how to make our papers better, and then we can rewrite all or parts of our papers (a “revision”) based on the advice given. Draft workshops are worth 25 points each, so you’ll want to make sure you’re doing them correctly:

a. Your drafts need to be uploaded into Canvas before midnight on Nov 23^rd.

Minimum Word Requirement

 

b. I will create draft workshop groups early the next morning and will post them as soon as possible. After I post the groups, I’ll reopen the workshop so you can access each other’s drafts.

 

c. For each of your group members, you will need to fill out a Workshop Worksheet and post it under the comments section (the worksheet will be available in Canvas—you can just download it from there and then upload it in the replies after you’ve filled it out).

d. The completed Workshop Worksheets need to be posted before midnight on Nov. 30^th.

 

e. When giving advice, remember that your job is to help make another person’s paper better, NOT to change that person’s mind or persuade that person to think differently. While it is legitimate to bring up opposition (e.g., “how would you handle that argument that …?”), it is not our place to tell someone they are wrong, immoral, etc.

 

f. As the writer, you always have the right to reject anyone’s advice.  Sometimes a reader isn’t right, has misunderstood your aims, or wants the paper to go beyond what you’re comfortable doing. The thing is, it’s your paper, your name, your grade. You have to make that decision.

 

Grading

The entire project is worth 250 points, divided between pre-paper activities and the revision. The points for the assignments we have for developing the paper are as follows:

1. InQuizitive Finding Sources…………10 points

2. Proposal……………………………………….5

3. Action Plan…………………………..........5

4. InQuizitive Evaluating Sources…….10

5. MLA Quiz……………………………….......10

6. Significance Paragraph………………..10

7. InQuizitive Integrating Sources…….10

8. Quotations List…………………………….10

9. InQuizitive Documenting Sources…10

10. Annotated Bibliography………………..25

11. InQuizitive Synthesizing Sources…..10

12. Outline…………………………………………25

 

This paper is due Dec. 4^th. You can post them in the drop-box on Canvas. Late papers will result in a reduction of grade, at my discretion which is totally unfair and completely arbitrary (according to my children)—generally half the points you would have otherwise earned.

As we are on a numerical system, the letter grades will be converted to points according to the following scale:

A+ = 100      B+ = 88 C+ = 78          D+ = 68 E = 31

A = 95          B = 85 C = 75               D = 65 F = 0

A- = 92        B- = 82 C- = 72            D- = 62