The research paper is a chance for students to show competency as academic researchers and writers. The assignment serves as the principal component in ENC 1102, and requires real effort to complete successfully. Your task is to write an argumentative essay that is supported by research. Your job is to focus your research on a focus question in order to explore divergent views and ultimately guide your readers to your emerging claim/thesis – your best answer to the question based on your research findings. To put it more simply, your research will explore the advantages and disadvantages of a particular career followed by the conclusions you’ve drawn from your research. Please use a minimum of three sources, including at least two from the TCC database. Include the following elements in your essay: 1) A creative introduction that invites the reader to give attention to what you have to say and sufficiently introduces the topic, 2) A clearly stated focus question, 3) Evidence from research sources, including divergent views, 4) a well-developed conclusion that reveals your claim. This is called an emerging thesis/claim, and is a very common strategy for research writing. Your essay should be at least eight paragraphs long and remember that good paragraph development is essential to research writing.
Topic:
A particular college degree program or career you are interested in and/or fascinated by
OR
A problem that needs a solution
If you would like to deviate from these topics, contact me for approval.
This kind of assignment invites poor results if you wait until the last minute, especially in the abbreviated summer semester. Develop a plan to do a little at a time, pick a topic and begin your research and writing immediately. It might help to read about writing formal argumentative research papers online. While no research process fits into a rigid sequence, there is a basic process that will help you complete the project in a timely manner with minimal difficulty: 1) Select and limit a workable topic consistent with the assignment, your audience, and purpose. Review sources to aid topic selection. 2) Focus and plan for the appropriate approach for your research. Decide on a tentative focus question. 3) Gather sources in a systematic manner; completing the database assignment in a timely manner will help a lot. 4) Read, write and think to evaluate sources and consider what information may be relevant to your paper. Take notes and consider writing an outline for your essay. 5) Organize and draft to plan in detail the structure of your paper. Write a first draft. If you use sources, include documentation while you draft. 6) Revise while considering your readers’ needs for clarity and development. 7) Edit to bring your draft into formal academic language. Avoid casual language: first person “I” and second person “you.” 8) Format the completed paper in the appropriate MLA format. The “MLA Tips” on Canvas can be a terrific resource to help you format the paper properly. There is also a sample research paper with this assignment on Canvas. 10) Proofread to find and correct as many errors as you can. Look specifically for the kinds of errors you tend to make in your writing, and use some of the proofreading techniques you learned in this class.
