How Far Universities in America Have Come in the fight Against

ENGL 1106
Ms. McGlone
Project 2: Research Paper + Process Portfolio
Project Overview
Our second major assignment for this course will build on and inform the first. In your exploratory
proposal, you researched a cultural phenomenon local to Virginia Tech, which led you to a complex
research focus. In this research paper, you will use secondary and primary methods to investigate a
set of critical research questions related to your focus.
By expanding your research focus to secondary, scholarly sources and other primary research
methods, you will use a complex approach to your topic that considers context, requires nuanced
discussion, and synthesizes evidence.
We will abide by a similar research process that constantly considers reflection of your progress,
patterns in your data, and flexibility in the focus of your project. As such, feedback on your graded
proposal and your first sessions of data collection might lead you to further revise your inquiries:
this is to be expected, and I will encourage you to adapt your understanding of your rhetorical
situation as you find new and varied access points into your topic.
If the proposal was centered on inquiry, on exploration and discovery, the research paper is centered
on synthesis and progress. Your purpose in writing this paper is to mediate a conversation between your
sources to show your reader a complex understanding of your topic. Regardless of how far you’ve
strayed away from your original proposal observations, at the end of your paper, you will bring your
research back to the university level by making a critical connection between what you’ve found in
this project and how your reader can use it to better understand the community of culture to which
we below: propose a change, craft a call to action, suggest a re-imagining of the way we live. To
progress forward, we will reflect back.
Secondary Research
You will be required to include at least 8 secondary sources in your research paper, 4 of which must
be scholarly research articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
Journals that meet this criterion are those for which submitted articles go through a peer
review process: peers review whether the research contributes to the field, follows ethical
and standard methods, and is written within acceptable means.
In our Library’s Discovery Search, you can filter by “Peer-Reviewed.” If you use a database
that does not have this filter option, you can cross-reference the name of the journal in
Ulrich’s (third search result on the linked page). Type the name of your journal into Ulrich’s,
select it from the results, and check the “refereed” row. If Ulrich’s says yes, this journal is
refereed, the article you’re reading can count toward your 4 scholarly research articles.
In class, we will practice reading scholarly articles and evaluating “popular” sources. The kinds of
sources you gather in each category will depend on your rhetorical situation. As your understanding
of the situation evolves, your strategies for source collection should, too. Your goal while
incorporating your secondary sources is to mediate a conversation between them. As you
contextualize your research, analyze similarities and differences, and use one source to better
understand others, you interpret new ways of understanding potential answers to your research
questions.
Primary Research
You will be required to conduct either a survey or a series of interviews (at least 2) for this project.
The purpose of including primary research in your paper is to enter into a scholarly conversation.
You will analyze the “voices at the table” and decide how your survey or interview findings allow
you to sit down and to speak, too. Thus, you will synthesize your primary data with your secondary,
showing how all of your sources work together to provide answers to produce meaning.
Your choice is a rhetorical one: you should decide on the primary research method that best fits
your rhetorical situation, or else it is unlikely you will be able to write from this data in an effective
way. In conducting either method, you will practice effectively developing questions, collecting data,
and analyzing findings.
Visually Representing Primary Data
For surveys: You will be required to display some part of your survey results visually, using a chart
or graph or other graphic (such as a word cloud) with appropriate figure number, title, and in-text
reference. Image must be made relevant in the text of the essay.
For interviews: You will be required to include an informative graphic of some kind to accompany
the interview discussion. At the very least, this could take the form of a chart showing the interview
questions you asked your subjects. You could alternatively include a photo of the interviewee
themselves, if they have a photo that is relevant to your project. Word cloud, relationship chart, or
drawing could also be relevant, depending on the situation. No matter your choice, appropriate
figure number, title, and in-text reference are required.
Again, which images you choose to include, the data they represent, and where you place them are
all choices you should make to meet the needs of your audience in accordance with the text.
Images for your primary research can only take up half a page of the required 8-page minimum.
Working with Sources
As you gather sources, interpret patterns, develop claims, and create organizational structures, you
will be encouraged to think about and interpret how your sources all work together to produce
meaning for your reader rather than how their discrete findings relate to your claims. This is
synthesis rather than merely summary.
Summary Synthesis
Demonstrates comprehension and
understanding
Demonstrates critical and creative thinking and
insight
Collates information Compares and contrasts information
Relates key points Interprets key points to make new meaning
Looks within a text Looks for connections and relationships among
texts
Treats sources as distinct entities Combines bits and pieces of sources for own
purpose
Provides overview of content Interprets content
Requires simple reading and thinking skills Requires complex reading and thinking skills
“Chapter 8: Writing the Research Essay.” Composition at Virginia Tech, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017, 177-201.
Your source work will be audience-centered. You must allow a reader who has not conducted your
research and is not an expert in this topic to follow your source use. This requires contextualizing;
using a variety of quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing methods; and providing analyses,
explanations, and interpretations of all secondary material incorporated into your essay.
Documenting your Research
You will use MLA to cite your sources, both primary and secondary, in-text and in a final works
cited page (not included in the length requirement for this assignment). Your reader will be able to
differentiate your own ideas from those of others by following quotation marks and parenthetical
and signal phrase citation; your reader will be able to interpret findings for themselves by locating
source material from a correctly-formatted and completed works cited page.
Correct and consistent citation is an ethical responsibility you have when writing from research.
Organizing your Paper
The second project will have less rigid structural parameters. Largely, you will be asked to make the
rhetorical choices required of presenting evidence to your reader in a logical way, given your
situation. However, I have listed some guiding principles below:
1) Introduction. Establish context and exigence. Appeal to and re-situate your reader’s prior
knowledge and misconceptions. Present research question(s) and main claim of the evidence
you have gathered to answer the question. (~1.5-2 pages)
2) Findings. Organized by “talking” headings that describe patterns, findings will be presented
in many paragraphs across many pages. It is up to you to decide how to group your
evidence, but there should be clear synthesis (conversation) within and between all sections;
thus, your paper should not read like 5 separate mini essays. (~5-6 pages)
3) Conclusions. Show a critical connection between your research findings in this paper and
what you wanted to know in your original proposal. How does this research help us to better
understand the culture of our university, no matter how tenuous? Answer the question “so
what?”: what do you want your reader to do with what they’ve learned? Why do your findings
matter, here and now? (.5-~1 page)
4) Works Cited. Cite all sources correctly according to MLA.
Grading Contract
Your paper will be graded according to the contract below:
1) You are guaranteed an 85 on this paper if:
a. You meet the full page requirement
b. You turn this paper in on time
c. You meet the source requirement, including number and type; you include the
required visual
d. You make a clear effort to cite all of your research, allowing the reader to find source
material in its original context without much difficulty
e. You practice the skills emphasized in this unit (each class period is typically devoted
to introducing one or more skills you’ll need to meet the needs of this assignment, so
be sure to come to class!)
2) You can earn higher than an 85 on this project if:
a. Throughout your writing process, you’ve revised your rhetorical choices to more
effectively appeal to the audience, genre, constraints, purpose, and context of this
assignment
b. You are consistent in your document design, including talking headings, indenting,
paragraph breaks, and font type and size
c. You seek additional draft feedback after the peer review
d. Your final submission contains fewer editing distractions than the draft(s)
e. Your MLA citations contain few errors
3) You may earn lower than an 85 on this project if:
a. You do not turn this project in on time
b. You do not meet the page requirement
c. You do not meet the source requirement in number and/or type
d. You do not cite your research
e. You do not participate in the peer review process
Process Portfolio
As you invent, draft, workshop, revise, and edit your paper, you will receive credit for various
informal writings and classwork which contribute to the overall 40% weighted grade for project 2.
The informal writings are homework which you submit through Canvas; classwork credit can only
be earned by being present in class when we have an activity, and classwork is not announced on
Canvas ahead of time. If you go to Canvas, click on the assignments tab, and then click “show by
type” in the upper right corner, you will see all of the work that comprises your process portfolio for
the second project.
To be clear, the grade you receive on this research paper is only a piece of the overall project grade.
The process portfolio accounts for the rest of the grade: completing the homework and coming to
class are just as important in your learning for this unit as writing the final paper itself.
Deadlines & Specifications
Major Due Dates
M 9/27: IW #6: Source Analysis 1 (10 points)
W 9/29: IW #7: Source Analysis 2 (10 points)
M 10/4: IW #8: Brooke Notes (10 points)
F 10/8: IW #9: Synthesis Report (10 points)
F 10/15: IW #10: Progress Report (10 points)
F 10/22: IW #11: Project 2 Draft (10 points)
F 10/29: IW #12: Revision Report (10 points)
F 11/5: Final Research Paper (100 points)
You can expect a classwork activity at least once a week, with most weeks having at least
two activities.
Sources
8 secondary sources, 4 of which must be scholarly & peer-reviewed
1 survey or 2 interviews (you may include both, but a second primary source does not
replace a required secondary source)
Total of 9-10 sources minimum required in your works cited page
All sources cited according to MLA both in-text and in works cited page
1 primary research visual
Format
8 full pages minimum
Double-Spaced
Times New Roman or equivalent font
12pt size
1-inch margins
Informative title
Talking headings and other consistent formatting choices that adhere to the provided
design guide
Primary research visual takes up no more than half a page and has figure number and
caption
Percentages
This project is worth 40% of your final grade
Submission
You will upload your final, completed project, saved as a Microsoft Word Document or
Google Doc (where you’ve given me sharing permissions), to the “Project 2: Research
Project” assignment on Canvas by 11:59pm on Friday, 11/5. Any issues with technology
will not stand as an excuse for missing or late work. If you suspect Canvas is not
cooperating, you should email me your work directly at akm1231@vt.edu.