• This assignment is designed to allow you to discover information about a topic and a researchable question that interests you. Your research question will guide your inquiry, and in turn, your inquiry and discoveries along the way will determine if the essay takes an exploratory or an argumentative/persuasive approach.  It is not a report, but rather it is a chronicle of your discovery and research journey.  This essay assignment will bring together many of the writing skills that we have been working on this semester, such as writing with voice, evaluating others’ argument, evaluating sources, informing our writing with research, developing a clear thesis, paying attention to audience, and expressing a logical progression of thoughts.  The essay should be representative of the skills you are developing this semester.  In addition, the Research Proposal will include summaries and evaluations of sources for your researched essay.

Requirements

Paper Format:  The essay should be 3-5 pages in length (not including the Annotated Bibliography), double-spaced, with one-inch margins, in font size 12, using Times New Roman. Use MLA format.

Title:  You will need a title for your essay that peaks your reader’s interest and leads your reader into your topic.  A separate title page is not necessary.

Source Requirements:

You will need a minimum of three (3) sources.  All sources need to be evaluated using the SMELL Test (on Canvas in Module 3) for soundness. Of these sources:

• Two sources must be academically sound; academic sources are all peer-reviewed. Peer reviewed sources are written by an expert in the field and have passed review by other experts who judged the source for quality and accuracy. If a source is peer-reviewed, you know it’s a good choice for high-quality, accurate information about your topic. EBSCOhost and ProQuest are archives for scholarly journals.  Be certain to attend our Library Day on 11/14 for more information on strategies for finding these sources.
• One source may be field research-based (such as an interview or short survey), a website, or it may be a physical book such as a professional encyclopedia. You must choose.

Citation Requirements:  Make sure that all summaries, paraphrases, and quotes drawn from these sources are integrated into the text of your essay. Use MLA format to cite all your sources, both in the body of your essay and on the Works Cited page.

Note: Not all disciplines use the MLA format of documentation. When you write a research paper for other classes, be sure to check with your syllabus or your professor regarding the proper citation format for other papers.  When in doubt, you can always see Professor Bach in the Writing Center, BH 1003 or the Reference Librarians in our Library.

The Writing Center: The researched essay unit presents a good opportunity to explore the writing center.  You should strive to set up appointment and meet with a writing consultant from the Burns Hall Writing Center to work on this research essay. Be aware that the Writing Center often gets very busy this time of the semester. Do not wait until the last moment to make this appointment.

STEP 1:  Forming a Researchable Question & The Proposal

You will want to begin this task by considering an issue in a field of your professional or personal interest.  We will practice writing an interest inventory and narrowing down the topic in class.  I also recommend consulting our online text, Lumen Learning’s “The Qualities of a Good Research Question.”

In essence, a good researchable question is neither too big, nor too small.  It interests the researcher.  There are stakeholders in the answer—