Compare two high-profile professional athletes (or singers or actors).
Find two to six reputable secondary sources and review them carefully. At least one of these sources should be a peer-reviewed journal article accessed through the AU Library databases (unless your tutor has agreed to waive this requirement).Write the first draft of your essay. Your essay must be approximately 1,000 to 1,200 words in length (about four double-spaced typed pages).
As you write, integrate information from your research. Of the two to six sources you located and reviewed in Step 3, choose at least two (and no more than four) secondary sources to use within your essay, and then add quotations and paraphrases from them. Every time you paraphrase or quote, follow these four steps to cite and integrate the source properly:
Introduce the source.
Present the research.
Credit the source parenthetically.
Discuss.
In other words, include “quotation sandwiches” and “paraphrase sandwiches” in your essay. Don’t just drop in quotations or paraphrases from sources into your essay. (Some experts call these “hit-and-run quotations,” “dropped quotations,” or “floating quotations.”)
Create a bibliography that lists every source you cited in your essay. (In MLA style, this page is titled “Works Cited,” while in APA style it is titled “References.”
Checklist for Personal or Expository Research Essay
After you have drafted your essay, use the checklist below to evaluate how well your essay meets the requirements for Assignment 4, and—if necessary—revise your essay before submitting it for marking.
Did you use MLA or APA guidelines to format your essay? Did you check your formatting against examples on the Purdue OWL?
Is your thesis stated in the last sentence of the first paragraph?
Is your thesis statement a direct-list thesis statement (i.e., does it contain an essay map or preview statement, a parallel-structured short list of the main points that will support your claim)? Watch the videos “Writing an Effective Thesis Statement ” and “Thesis Statements: Four Steps to a Great Essay ” for further guidance.
Did you check that your thesis statement does not contain phrases such as “I think,” “I believe,” “This essay will be about…,” or “My essay will explain…”?
If writing an expository essay, have you used third-person point of view throughout? (Exception: for a directional process essay, you may use second-person point of view.)
Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence, at least two supporting points, and a non-repetitive closing sentence?
Did you use a transitional word, phrase, or sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph? Did you use transitional words and phrases as necessary to connect sentences within your paragraphs?
Did you integrate research from at least two reputable sources into your essay?
Did you introduce your sources properly? Did you present your sources according to MLA or APA formatting requirements? Did you credit your sources parenthetically? Did you discuss the quotation or paraphrase? (If you don’t understand these questions, please contact your tutor for help.)
Did you check each use of research to determine whether you integrated it? (Make sure you have done the integration exercise in the Unit 4 lesson).
Did you make sure that no paragraph (excepting the conclusion) ends with a quotation?
Does the concluding paragraph reinforce the thesis and the main supporting points (without repeating the main points or the thesis statement word for word)?
Does each in-text citation properly match the corresponding entry on the Works Cited or References page? Check this very carefully—remember that the first word of the citation must match the first word of the corresponding entry.
Did you format the in-text and Works Cited or References entries correctly? Did you check each citation against an example from the Purdue OWL or another reputable up-to-date source?
Did you revise very carefully for grammar and mechanics?
