Research Paper
Your Research Paper is an Argument to Convince
This Research Paper is an evolution of your Argument to Convince, the last essay you submitted in this class. Now that you have built an Argument to Convince with a clearly articulated claim that was supported by a minimum of three reasons, you will further develop this argument into a properly formatted Research Paper with credible evidence. The Research Paper should be a minimum of ten pages, not including a cover page and a Works Cited page. The research paper needs to include in-text citations utilizing MLA format and a proper Works Cited page.
You will need to cite a minimum of three (3) sources. Two of these sources should be academic journals. If you interview one or more primary sources for your paper you still need to cite a minimum of two academic journals.
Grading Criteria:
Your paper will be graded by the following:
Establishment of Case: 20%
Your argument should have a clearly defined claim supported by a minimum of three reasons. Each of those reasons needs to be supported by evidence gathered by research. By the end of the paper your reader should feel as if you have made a strong argument for your claim.
Credible Sources: 20%
Your research paper should include a minimum of three (3) credible sources.
Citations and Works Cited page: 20%
In-text citations and Works Cited page should be correct, using MLA formatting. A Works Cited page that is only a list of urls is not acceptable and will be seriously penalized.
Quotations and Paraphrasing: 20%
Your research paper should include both direct quotes and paraphrasing, correctly formatted.
Writing clarity, organization, grammar, and formatting: 20%
Your research paper should be well written, your case intelligently organized, and your sentences grammatically correct. Excessive grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Research paper should be double-spaced, using a 12pt. Times or Times New Roman font, and 1” margins.
Some considerations to keep in mind as
you write:
- Remember to use enough support to back up your claim. Evidence is the most important aspect of your argument. Without evidence, you’ll never be able to argue and persuade effectively. It’s like saying your car was stolen and not having a title or insurance to show that you own it. Therefore, remember to take notes while observing whatever it is you are studying.
- Do not write to an agreeing audience. Because we live in a heterogeneous society, assume that some viewers are partly opposed to your claim. There is nothing worse than writing an argument where you assume the audience agrees with you; it’s antithetical to argument! Remember: even though you may be a diehard fan of South Park, others may hate it for the same reasons you love it.
- Consider other positions/attitudes/ audiences that may not agree with your position. The sign of a good rhetor is that they will make some concessions about their topic yet not yield their position. At the same time, don't attempt to argue both sides. You want to provide counterarguments but you don’t want to completely agree with all sides on the issue. Anticipating a counterargument and demonstrating that the counterargument does not diminish your own claim is a powerful argumentative tool. At the same time, spending your essay defending your claim against every counterclaim is not an effective way to earn agreement.
- Examine your own assumptions about the show you're writing about. What are your biases, filters, or terministic screens that influence your position? What positions are you writing from? A first-generation immigrant? A single parent? A returning college student? Your own "positionalities" won't necessarily be spelled out in your paper, though you can do so if you think it's important, but they affect the way you argue your points as well as the language and tone you use.