Junior Research Paper Assignment Description
NOT a Report |
INSTEAD, a Research Paper |
• a collection of information to address a topic • largely, if not all, concrete detail, with very little commentary from the writer |
• an opinion or argument of the writer, supported by research • carefully chosen concrete details that are interpreted and supported with well-written commentary that explains their relevance |
To write a research paper, you must use the research that you do to prove a point, win an argument, or analyze a topic, NOT simply recopy all of your notes into essay format.
Source: (“Rockwood School District Research Paper Guide”)
PRODUCT: Write an engaging research paper about a controversial issue or social concern that interests you, related in some way to the U.S.A., especially to the way that misinformation and disinformation are being used to shape views in our country now.
PROMPT: You will create your own prompt to answer for this paper, using a question-asking process that we will complete in class and for homework.
CRITERIA for SUCCESS:
3 ENGLISH ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: These are the guiding questions for this course. They are NOT the prompts for the research paper, but your research paper thesis should be connected to one or more of these questions.
Plagiarism: I hope that none of you would engage in intentional plagiarism, but for this project I will be very strict with intentional and accidental plagiarism, as well as unprofessional citation of your sources. See The Pilot for details on the consequences for plagiarism. I use Google Classroom’s program to check authenticity and plagiarism.
Rigor: This will be a challenging project, and I will expect you to engage in your own critical thinking process to write this paper. I’m going to expect that your own ideas shine forth, and it’s not a paper that you can just leave for the last minute.
Work Time: We will have PLENTY of work time during class to brainstorm, research, write, and edit this paper. We will also still have some reading and class discussion of your reading, since during this quarter we will complete The Great Gatsby and The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Don’t just follow your history, follow your heart: Try to find a topic that is new and engaging for you. It will make the writing much more interesting than writing about the same essay topic you’ve always written about. Don’t be afraid to research a local topic about some aspect of the history of Evanston; that’s a great way to get personal stories and anecdotes, which serve as good primary sources.
Rubric: All juniors in 3 English will write a big research paper, and they will all be graded using this rubric.
HOW LONG DOES IT HAVE TO BE? Ten paragraphs. Write as much in your ten paragraphs as it takes to argue your claim and defend your argument.