In your academic career, you will often have to write extensive research papers. These will be
argumentative papers, in which you’ll be expected to have a thesis and support it with research
and with insights you develop from your research and familiarity with the subject and discipline.
Such papers will expect you to understand a topic in-depth, be able to offer background on what
is at issue in the topic, put the topic and issues in context, and to both support your own position
and to take other positions into account, either by refuting, conceding, or bridging those
arguments. Because this is a standard paper genre in academic writing, it is the final paper in
English 102. The annotated bibliography and presentation are supporting assignments.
Skills
These assignments will help you practice the following skills that are essential to your success in
school and your professional life beyond school. In these assignments you will:
Graduates will effectively convey information in writing and orally.
Demonstrate the ability to revise an essay effectively by considering instructor feedback and also incorporating what they have learned about writing.
Graduates will effectively analyze information from reading, and other media.
Demonstrate the ability to research and write critically about their research.
Knowledge
These assignments will help you become familiar with the following content knowledge in the
discipline of composition.
Compose a well-organized argument supported by research.
Tasks
To complete these assignments you should:
Select a topic. Because of the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in we will
concentrate on a current issue we all face, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Focus on an audience. Our audience will be Chowan University students.
Write with a context in mind. We will be writing as if we have been asked to produce a
researched essay to be published on the CU website.
Create an argument that proposes a solution for a current problem affecting our audience.
You can choose one of the following problems:
How can students keep themselves healthy during this pandemic
How students can succeed at CU (academically, socially, etc) in these unusual circumstances
A topic related to the pandemic of your choosing, with my permission. Please
email me ASAP with your idea for my approval.
Research your topic. You will need to locate and incorporate five (sources) into your
annotated bibliography, argumentative research paper, and presentation. At least two (2)
of these sources should come from academic sources, not from .com (or even in many
cases .org) websites or newspapers.
The CU Library ENGL 102 page is an excellent resource for locating and
evaluating information: https://libguides.chowan.edu/engl102
Evaluate your sources.
Summarize your sources.
Develop a solution that will help your audience, CU students, solve their problem
pertaining to their change in circumstances due to the pandemic.
Compose a well-organized solution argument supported by your research.
