Write a research report on whether any of the hyperlinks include content that contradicts the viewpoint expressed in the article.Position-Oriented Research Paper’s Prompt Description: As noted on the syllabus, “This course will emphasize the development of argument and analysis as students work with a variety of … texts.” The course is primarily concerned with developing analytical (critical) writing skills. Accordingly, students are strongly encouraged to gear their paper around the analytical approach that is concerned with the content’s significance, though taking the descriptive (expository) approach is acceptable too. For clarification of these two approaches to writing, students are reminded to consult the What’s the Difference Between Descriptive and Analytical Writing?handout. Students are further encouraged to proofread their paper using the Judging Your Own Work handout. In the course of their paper:
Students must identify their article’s argument and its purpose. An article’s purpose, whether stated or unstated, can differ from its argument.
Students must evaluate their article’s use of persuasion (Oxford English Dictionary, Entry 1.a.) and its effectiveness in making and strengthening its case.
Students must select three or four (at least two for the Rough Draft) hyperlinked sources embedded in the article and comment on their quality, with these questions in mind:
Are the hyperlinks scholarly (peer-reviewed), popular or trade sources?
If the hyperlinks qualify as popular sources, are these sources relaying scholarly content for popular consumption?
Is the main article using the material in that hyperlinked source rather selectively in order to strengthen its case? In doing so, could the main article be misrepresenting the content?
Do any of the hyperlinks contain material that holds an opposing point of view to the one taken by the article?
Students must comment on the strengths and limitations of their article, taking into account their evaluation of its hyperlinks as well as the article on the whole.
Student’s conclusion(s) about the effectiveness of their article’s persuasiveness must be derived from the evidence gathered through fulfilling the above bullet points.
***The hyperlinked content are online sources, and are to follow this MLA template:
“Title.” Title of Site, Sponsor or Publisher, Day Month Year, URL.
[The above template hyperlinks to the University of Nevada, Reno]
Students must work on one of the five assigned articles from 88 Open Essays – A Reader for Students of Composition & Rhetoric.
The alphabetized list below resembles the formatting of a Works Cited page.
Ciampaglia, Giovanni Luca, and Filippo Menczer. “16: Misinformation and Biases Infect Social
Media, Both Intentionally and Accidentally (Ciampaglia and Filippo Menczer).” 88 Open
Essays A Reader for Students of Composition Rhetoric,
https://openwa.pressbooks.pub/lwtech88readings/chapter/16-misinformation-and-
biases-infect-social-media-both-intentionally-and-accidentally-ciampaglia-and-filippo-
menczer/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
Crawford, Neta. “19: The Defense Department Is Worried about Climate Change – and Also a
Huge Carbon Emitter (Crawford).” 88 Open Essays A Reader for Students of Composition
Rhetoric, https://openwa.pressbooks.pub/lwtech88readings/chapter/19-the-defense-
department-is-worried-about-climate-change-and-also-a-huge-carbon-emitter-crawford/.
Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
Shanker, Shobana. “67: What the US Could Learn about Vaccination from Nigeria (Shankar).” 88
Open Essays A Reader for Students of Composition Rhetoric,
https://openwa.pressbooks.pub/lwtech88readings/chapter/67-what-the-us-could-learn-
about-vaccination-from-nigeria-shankar/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
Wangler, Sarah, and Tina Ulrich. “9: Is Burning Trash a Good Way to Handle It? Waste
Incineration in 5 Charts (Baptista).” 88 Open Essays A Reader for Students of Composition
Rhetoric, https://openwa.pressbooks.pub/lwtech88readings/chapter/9-is-burning-trash-
a-good-way-to-handle-it-waste-incineration-in-5-charts-baptista/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
Warikoo, Natasha. “83: You’re Not Going to Get Accepted into a Top University on Merit
Alone (Warikoo).” 88 Open Essays A Reader for Students of Composition Rhetoric,
https://openwa.pressbooks.pub/lwtech88readings/chapter/83-youre-not-going-to-get-
accepted-into-a-top-university-on-merit-alone-warikoo/. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.
Here is some guidance on citing lectures:
For MLA formatting it would be in-text (Astashinskiy). If you are citing more than one lecture, then (Astashinskiy, February 13, 2024, Lecture). For the Works Cited entry template, Last Name, First Name of the professor. “Title or Subject of Lecture.” Course Title. College Name. Location. Day Month Year. Lecture, Discussion, Address, Presentation, or Notes OR Astashinskiy, Maksim. “Lecture on Natasha Warikoo’s Article.” ENG 120: Critical Writing. Pace University. New York, NY. 13 February 2024. Lecture/Notes.
Rules to remember:
Paragraphs must comprise at least three sentences.
Avoid contractions (don’t, wouldn’t, etc.)
Avoid personal pronouns (I, we, us, etc.) unless tasked with writing a Reflection Paper.
For an elaboration of points 2. and 3., review the formal writing voice link; it briefly covers avoiding personal pronouns (you) and contractions (e.g. don’t) as well as colloquialism (check out this link for examples of Academic vs. Colloquial Writing) and other informalities. See here, for a more in-depth discussion about colloquialisms.
Be mindful to use transitional words and phrases.
While the passive voice (e.g. The fish was caught by the seagull.) should be used sparingly, it can sometimes lend formality to one’s writing.
Do not introduce new content in the concluding paragraph.
When writing your thesis statement, do not be afraid to use language that clearly denotes your purpose, e.g. ‘This paper/essay argues/endeavors to demonstrate/takes the position/puts forward the contention/reasons that/aims to demonstrate.’
Many aspects of comma usage are strictly style-driven. Moreover, there is the matter of different rules for American, British, Australian and so-called, Global English. I am indifferent about the Oxford Comma (notice that I did not use it in the prior sentence). I am, however, interested in your command of transitional commas, including in subordinate conjunctions (between my two commas, I have a subordinate clause), and in transitioning (See #4) at large, as that impacts the efficacy of your argument. I place a high emphasis on transitions because if your paper lacks a flow to it, the glue that binds your thesis together is not sturdy enough.
Avoid the verbs, show, explain and especially prove. The language of the academy is argumentative. The above words are definitive and have minuscule qualifying characteristics. States or notes are acceptable substitutes for shows. Depending on the nature of your sentence, describes or posits are useful substitutes for explains; similarly, indicates or argues could be used in place of proves.
