RESEARCH PAPER

TASK

Why write a research paper? Research-the systematic investigation of sources or materials in order to establish facts and create new ideas-is the primary work that goes on at a university. Regardless of your major, you'll need to synthesize existing knowledge about a topic and convey the results of your own research clearly, precisely, and with an emphasis on their significance.

The conventions of research-based writing vary across disciplines, but all research projects work by identifying problems and resolving them with carefully-selected evidence. Academic research problems are usually conceptual: that is, the problem is that we don't fully understand something, and that lack of understanding has additional consequences.

In Homework 2, you read examples of non-academic writing that identified high-stakes conceptual problems: Why do millennials feel negatively about capitalism? Why doesn't our culture value emotional labor in the same way it values other kinds of work? Whyis there such a crisis of addiction and political despair in parts of the American Midwest?

Note that these sources didn't attempt to solve the practical consequences of these situations, but to address a gap in our understanding of the situations themselves.

For this assignment, I'm asking you to draw on outside sources to identify an interesting conceptual problem and offer one possible answer to it.

Your problem can originate in an academic or non-academic context: it can be something you read about in this or another class, something you're wondering about in your major, or something you saw in the news or on social media. You'll answer the problem from an academic perspective, drawing on a variety of credible, relevant evidence.

Throughout this unit, we'll refer to your conceptual problem as your topic or research question and your response to this problem as your argument or thesis.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. Be interesting. Your audience for this assignment is your classmates and instructor-smart, well-informed, skeptical people who want to learn something new. The success of a research paper depends on how compelling its conceptual problem is: if you know what you want to say about your topic before you begin research, it isn't really a compelling problem.

2. Be honest. The quality of your evidence reflects the quality of your thinking, so make sure your sources are strong and you're using them appropriately. Don't ignore evidence that contradicts your argument; use it to make your argument more complex, sophisticated, and precise.

3. Be focused. Your paper will offer one persuasive answer to your problem-it won't cover every possible answer. You'll have to let a lot of cool and interesting information go so that you can make a clear, compelling case for your specific thesis.

Each paragraph in your final draft should support, develop, or complicate your thesis; let your argument, not your sources or the facts you found through research, determine the structure and content of your paper.

FORMAT

Your research paper should be between 1800 and 2000 words long, not counting your Works Cited. Organize your argument in well-developed paragraphs, and group these under effective subheadings.

Use your title and introduction to show the significance of your conceptual problem and present your thesis, and conclude in a way that feels purposeful and satisfying.

Yourfull draft should cite at least five sources, at least two of which must be academic research papers or books. Use MLA format for your in-text citations and Works Cited page.

The paper identifies and develops a compelling conceptual problem.

The paper presents an arguable thesis in response to the problem.

The paper cites at least five sources, at least two of which are academic. The in-text citations and Works Cited are consistent with MLA format.

CONTENT

The paper supports and develops the argument with precise, credible, relevant evidence. Evidence is incorporated with sufficient context and commentary.

The paper offers sufficiently complex analysis of the evidence, explaining how it relates to the thesis and responding to counterclaims when appropriate.

ORGANIZATION

The title and introduction successfully convey the conceptual problem and thesis.

The paper is logicallyorganized; paragraphs build on each other, and transitions between ideas are clear.

The conclusion feels purposeful and satisfying.

LANGUAGE

The paper is carefully edited for usage, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mechanics.

The paper's style engages the reader and clarifies the writer's ideas, rather than confusing the reader or obscuring the writer's ideas.