Background: Often, when a group of decision-makers or stakeholders need to make a decision, they look to research to inform their decision-making process.
Employees or stakeholders are then tasked to collect the research in a way that the decision-makers can review a large amount of research in a short amount of time.
Names for this “in the real world” include an “Executive Summary” or “Annotated Bibliography” or “Report of Research,” or “Research Analysis” or “Research Review.”
This project is an Annotated Bibliography AND a Rhetorical Analysis. Your purpose in annotating the source is to analyze it, using what you know of rhetoric.
In this Research Project, I ask you to collect and analyze a group of research that could help an audience come to a decision about a complex issue. The format is very precise. You do need to follow the examples exactly as they are presented to you in this module (refer to the reading assignment this week).
The following are the required elements for this assignment.
1) Cover Page:
Include the information that would typically be found in your MLA headings: your names, your instructor’s name, the course, the date, and your give your project a title.
Your research question/purpose/what’s at stake. You are not tasked with making an argument about this topic. In fact, the assumed stance is one of neutrality. However, your research should be connected by providing insight into a specific issue.
Define your audience and stakeholders. This audience should be a) someone/a group who has the power to make a decision about your topic and/or b) has a stake in your topic.
2) Research:
A minimum of 3 Annotated Bibliography entries (maximum of 4).
Each entry should:
Introduce author and audience of text, and when/where it was written (ethos, pathos, kairos).
Summarize the author’s main point(s).
Explain how these points fit into the overall context of the topic/issue (what’s at stake, according to this source).
The full citation (the part that would be on a Works Cited page) should begin the entry at the top of the page.
The entry should be single spaced and a page in length. Try to keep the entire document on one page; if it goes a little on to a second page, that’s ok. It is nearly impossible to meet the depth of this assignment in less than 3/4 of a page in Calibri or Times New Roman, 12-point font, single spaced.
Important Requirement: One of your entires MUST be a “non-print,” visual, or multimedia source: a video, blog, vlog, podcast, infographic, art, cartoon, diagram, interview, etc.
3) Sources For Further Reading
This is a list of 3 sources, styled like a Works Cited page
The sources should not include the 3 that were used for the Annotated Bibliography Entries
These sources should be “vetted” sources that you think would be helpful to your audience if they were interested in further research
