Major Research Project



Major Research Project

ENG102

Fall / Spring

The research project is the major assignment of the course. The final research paper is to contain 9 pages of text. (The works cited page and any notes, illustrations, or appendices do not count as part of the 9 pages.) The project is to be on a topic of your choice, chosen in consultation with the instructor, and your sources are to be solely from academic books and periodicals. Your paper is to be part of the academic argumentative persuasion or position paper on your subject, designed primarily for a university community, and is to focus on an issue within the subject, not merely on the presentation of factual information. Use Internet materials with care (must be from a valid Database and Peer Reviewed). Simple, journalist-written articles will not be allowed in this paper. All work used in the paper must be from expert, professional, and academic sources. Your final annotated bibliography must contain 25 Database, sources and 25 physical books found in the school’s library. One way to check quality is to evaluate the origin, reliability, and accuracy of your sources (see From Inquiry to Academic Writing: Chapter 6 on evaluating sources).

Your work on the project will be conducted in many stages with several intermediate assignments before you turn in the finished paper. Notes for this research assignment are to be kept on a Word Processed Document, which will be checked regularly. I highly recommend that you also keep note cards, which are much easier to use on the fly, but this step is not mandatory for this assignment. When you turn in your drafts, your notes document, along with a Works Cited page must be included.

Grading of work ongoing: as we enter the library, students are expected to log 3 books per day. I will be collecting grades regularly to make sure you keep up with the work while in the library.

The research project assignments include the following STEPS:

1. A preliminary statement of your research subject (due Friday – 10/07 : 3/010 Week 9).

2. A "what's going on in the field" search for possible sources (due Monday – 10/17 : 3/27 Week 11)

3. A preliminary working bibliography and thesis statement in MLA format (due Monday – 10/24 : 4/03 Week 12).

4. An informal prospectus for your research project (due at your conference Monday – 10/31 : 4/10 Week 13).

5. A revised working bibliography (annotated) and thesis statement in MLA format (due Monday – 10/31 : 4/10 Week 13).

6. Synthesis Table of ALL sources (due Friday – 11/4 : 4/14 Week 13)

7. A complete OUTLINE draft of your research paper (due at your conference Monday-Wednesday – 11/7-10 : 4/17-21 - Week 14).

8. A completed typed rough draft of your research paper with a works cited page (due Monday – 11/14 : 4/24 Week 15).

9. The final version of your research paper and your research portfolio (due Monday – 11/30 : 5/1 Week 17).

10. A brief presentation to the class about your research project (due Monday – Thurs – 12/12 : 5/15 Week 17).

You should begin your research project portfolio as soon as you begin work on the research project. This should be a pocket folder in which you can keep all of the work you do in the project. You will be asked to turn this portfolio in at the end of the semester. During your work on your project, you should keep your portfolio with you and updated continually, and you should bring it to any scheduled or informal conferences we have about your research project. All Steps and Items listed above are to be in your portfolio along with the final version of your paper, #11.

Step by step through the world of true academic research and research writing:

1. A preliminary statement of your research subject (NOTE: Begin Work on Item #2 Immediately):

Part A) This is a deep, two-sentence statement about the broad subject of your proposed research. What is at issue? Where do you see tension? You will later narrow down and focus on this issue through more thorough research.

Part B) In addition, please add a statement (a paragraph of 5-7 sentences) explaining why you're interested in this subject and why it's a good topic for you to work on for this project.

2. A "what's going on in the field" search for possible sources. This exercise is ideal for helping you to find a topic or, if you already have one, to narrow it. The kinds of bibliographic materials you consult for this portion of the research project will depend on the discipline within which you are writing. Whatever the discipline, look at this point in the project for references that will give you an overview of your subject or topic. As you find sources, you should convert the entries into MLA format on your annotated bibliography.

The "what's going on in the field" search has two aims:

1) To survey such materials in order to identify trends-the kinds of issues and questions that others in the field are talking about (and, thus, find important).

2) To compile a bibliography that includes a range of titles that interest you, that could be relevant to your prospective topic, and that seem to you representative of research trends associated with your subject (or topic).

You will not be committed at this point to pursuing all of these sources, but rather to reporting what is currently being talked about. You might also compose a list of keywords (such as Library of Congress headings) that you have used in conducting your search. You will be surprised how much value there is in exploring indexes just for titles, to see the kinds of topics people are currently conversing about. And of particular aid in formulating and focusing your own topic, you will almost surely discover how narrowly focused most research is (which will get you off global questions).

This is an informal discussion (2-3 pages) of how the information you have encountered (the titles, summaries, abstracts, etc.) has affected your thinking and plans for the paper (remember to stay in 3rd person). These paragraphs should be based upon the following questions:

A) In what ways has your "what's going on in the field" search led you to narrow or shift direction in or focus your thinking about your subject?

B) How might you use one or more of these sources in your paper?

C) What do these first phases of your research suggested you might need to look for in the next week?

3. A preliminary working Annotated Bibliography and Thesis statement in MLA format. Unlike your preliminary search results, this bibliography should include works you have researched for your paper. Your entries must be in MLA format as described in The Online Writing Lab. It is your responsibility to match your sources to the examples provided there and to follow MLA format for the ordering and layout of the list. For page layout, see OWL. The first page of your working bibliography should be in the following format, which adapts MLA format to this assignment (this can be a Single-Text Worksheet chart or an Annotated Bibliography paragraph): (there should be 20 books and 20 database articles on this bib – this number may differ from year to year depending upon time in library)

* * * * *

Laurel – Major Research Project #1 – 1

Stanley Laurel

Prof. Zeeb / or / Prof. Hickman

English 102

March 20, 2006

Preliminary Working Bibliography and Thesis:

Title of Your Paper as of Now

Thesis statement: Type your thesis statement here.

First Annotated Bibliography entry begins here. (or first chart entry)

* * * * *

4. An informal prospectus for your research project. In your prospectus you formulate your initial thinking on the subject before you do more research. This prospectus should be two pages long and should focus on establishing a context for a thesis.

Each of the following should be at least one paragraph: (just like the 4 paragraph intro from Minor)

A) What is at issue? What is the tension? Is it current and relevant? Establish a background for the issue. This paragraph should end with a very brief, yet strong, arguable, position (thesis).

B) Briefly summarize (with citations – no quotes here) what others have said from your research (roughly 3-4 of your main sources should be cited here).

C) Explain what you see as a problem and note whether your sources use, and which model you are going to argue, using a misinterpretation, fill-in-the-gap, or modification model about what others have said (3-4 sources must be cited here).

D) State your thesis in full, suggesting that your review of the issue may present readers with something new to think about as it builds upon and extends what others have said (explain your thoughts fully) and provide your suggested solution and its ramifications.

5. A Revised Working Annotated Bibliography and Thesis statement in MLA format. You should revise the title, thesis, and entries you submitted in the preliminary working bibliography if necessary. You should also include any new sources. The format will of course be the same as for the preliminary working bibliography; all you need to do to the format given above is to change the date and to change the title to Revised Working Bibliography. These can also be on a chart rather than paragraph form. You should have 25 books and at least 25 database articles on this annotated bib.

6. A Synthesis of the 20 sources you will use on your W.C. page Table as on p. 147 of text book –

|Author and Source |Gist of Argument |Examples/Illustrations |Synthesis |Overall Gist |

| | |(with citations) | | |

|Authority / Situation |Gist of Author’s paper /|Cited examples from the text – should|(cite two other |How will you use this author? |

|/ Purpose / Audience |book |be 3-4 for each source. |authors here) |Notes to yourself. |

7. A complete OUTLINE draft of your research paper. This draft should include Intro paragraphs A-D, Topic sentences and opinions with claims, evidence (cited properly) and warrants from 3-4 sources per paragraph, transitional ideas, and a basic conclusion (as well as a works cited page), but your emphasis in this outline should be on the body of your paper. This is an outline, but try to make it as full as you can at this point. We will talk about this outline in your conference.

8. A completed typed ROUGH draft of the research paper with a works cited page. This draft should be a completed, typed paper, including an introduction and conclusion that reflect the discussion of a great rhetorical research paper. You should think of this draft as a finished paper ready to be graded, the best paper you can write on this subject at this point. Be sure to edit and proofread your paper. This draft will be used for a peer review.

9. The final version of the research paper (one hard copy) and your research portfolio. Be sure to edit and proofread your final copy carefully. Your portfolio is to include the items listed under research project portfolio above. This must be submitted to the night previous to this deadline.

10. A brief presentation to the class about your research project. This is to be a short, informal presentation of 3-5 minutes at the podium. Tell us what your topic was, what you found, and note one of the following: one thing that interested, surprised, puzzled, or disturbed you, one thing you found important, or one thing we need to know. Prepare a page to give me when you begin your report that includes your name, your topic, the title of your paper, and its thesis and main points. The presentation background will be in the form of a Web Site of students’ own making specifically for this project.

Note: This is a very rigorous system of steps for this college-level project. Students must not get behind in any step. If a student falls behind, it is expected that the student come in for tutoring every day after school until the work is caught up and is satisfactory.

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