Partial Rough Draft of Final Research Paper

Please review the full requirements for the Final Research Paper before writing your rough draft. The point of a rough draft is to allow your instructor to get a good sense of your organizational writing skills, to examine the content of the essay, to evaluate your resources, and to provide you feedback that you will incorporate into your Final Research Paper that is due in Week Five.

To begin, select a topic from the following list:

Child rearing practices

Healthcare practices

The use of music or dance as a form of political protest, or as a reflection of cultural issues, values, and beliefs

Rites of passage

Conflict resolution

Marriage practices

Alternative gender roles

Alternate topics are possible, but these must be approved by your instructor at least one week before the Week Three draft is due.

For your Final Paper, you will compare one of the topics above across two specific cultures of your own choosing. You will need to conduct research to gather the information you need about your topic and cultures for your Final Paper.

To find and select specific cultures appropriate for the topic you choose and to learn about how to research your cultures, click on the library research guide. In this guide, begin by clicking on a topic. From there, you will see a map with cultures on it. Click on a culture to find out which library database and keywords to use when researching that culture. If you do not know how to use the recommended databases, there are two video tutorials that will show you how to use them.

After completing your research, you may want to compile your sources in a reference page. Do not worry if you do not end up using one of the sources in your Final Research Paper; you can always remove any sources that you do not use later.

Once you have read through the sources you located, you should now be able to write a thesis statement that reflects the requirements of the Final Research Paper. For help identifying thesis statements, please consult the thesis guidelines available on the Ashford Writing Center's website located under the Thesis Generator Tool /or visit the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center.

If you are concerned about how to successfully integrate the sources that you found, please view the Incorporating Sources tutorial. As you are incorporating the information from your sources, think back on the Plagiarism Quiz and the Article Selector Quiz to make sure that you are properly citing sources. You can also view the "Plagiarism Flow Chart" to help ensure that you have properly incorporated sources.

Your Partial Rough Draft must include:

An introductory paragraph containing a thesis statement that reflects the requirements of the Final Research Paper.

A discussion of how two specific and contemporary (currently existing) cultures approach the topic.

A comparison of your chosen topic across the two cultures you have selected.

A concluding paragraph that reinforces your thesis and summarizes your main points.

A bibliography that includes entries for each scholarly source you will use in your Final Research Paper.

In-text citations that show where you will use your source sin you Final Research Paper.

As a reminder, your Final Research Paper will be a five- to seven-page research paper that contains the following components:

A discussion of how two cultures (other than your own) approach the topic, including specific ethnographic examples. Be sure to choose two specific and contemporary (currently existing) cultures. Terms such as European, Asian, or African refer to continents, not cultures, and are not appropriate for this paper. Describe the culture briefly, including elements such as location, language, kinship, or other relevant information. This helps the reader understand the cultural context of your topic.

A compare and contrast analysis how the two cultures approach the topic from a culturally relativistic perspective.

A discussion on the cultural context of the topic and how it relates to symbolic systems such as religion, communication, or

ritual. Here, you can use what you described in section A and discuss how it relates to your topic as it is found in the two cultures, which you discussed in section B.

The Partial Rough Draft must be three to four pages in length, excluding the title page, and formatted according to APA style. You must use at least three scholarly sources from the Ashford University Library to support your claims. Cite your sources within the text of your paper and in your annotated bibliography. For information regarding APA, including samples and tutorials, visit the Ashford Writing Center, located within the Learning Resources tab on the left navigation toolbar.

The Ashford Writing Center (AWC) has two kinds of tutoring available to you.

Email Paper Review - If you have a draft, partial draft, or even if you're having trouble getting started, you can complete a submission form and email your paper to the AWC for review.

Writing Tutors will do their best to return your paper with their comments within 48 hours, not including Saturdays and Sundays. Please plan accordingly if you would like to receive feedback before an assignment due date. AWC Email Paper Review

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.