19 Feb 2021
Your Task:
For this assignment, you will write a research paper of at least 1200 words on a topic of your choice that is connected to the class theme of “Monsters.”
Approaches:
- Fictional: Look at a fictional movie, TV episode, music video, or piece of media and do a close analysis of the “monster/villain”
- Historical: Look at a real-life dictator, serial killer, scientist, social network, etc. and do an analysis of the coverage of the person.
- Scientific: Look at modern science e.g. cloning, Crispr, genetic modification etc. and decide whether that type of science is creating modern heroes or monsters.
- Current events: Do a deep dive on a current event like border control, politics, make-up, sports, and analyize whether your topic is helping society or harming it?
The Steps:
- Pick an issue related to the broad theme of “monsters” that interest you e.g something from the class or Frankenstein’s Cat.
- Narrow down the topic to something you can cover in 1200+ words e.g. “Is it ethical to conduct cloning research for profit?” or “What modern fear does the monster in Birdbox represent?”
- Read articles and books, and watch some media clips that interest you on that topic. Make sure to get sources you agree and disagree with
- Put your sources on your source list. You must use the sources in the Annotated Bibliography.
- After doing a little research, develop your topic on your issue develop a hypothesis. Basically, take a stand on how your topic impacts the local community. Hint: This will turn into your thesis.
- This project will culminate in your research paper.
Essay Task:
Write a 1200+ argumentative analysis research paper, written in response to a research question of your choice about monsters.
DUE Dates:
Part I: Deciding What to Research
- Essay #1: Research Topic Proposal & Option Choice
Part II: Researching
- Essay #2: List of Sources (8 sources)
- Works Cited (8 Sources you will use in the paper)
- Esssay #3: Annotated Bibliography
Part III: Drafting
- Full Rough Draft Due
- Tutoring
- Final Draft of Essay #4 or Project
Essay Requirements:
- An introduction that provides context on the topic, eases the reader into your essay and has a “hook” that grabs people’s attention.
- A thesis statement or controlling idea that takes a strong stand and is narrow enough to cover within the page limit e.g. if your umbrella topic is “The nudism movement promotes a healthy body image” you would have to narrow that down into a more focused topic that fits into that larger topic.
- Research is a secondary concern and personal voice is first.
- Transitional topic sentences that are clear, provocative, develop your thesis, and provide unity in your essay.
- Body paragraphs that have a transition, a topic sentence, multiple examples, and a concluding sentence.
- You must use research that you used in Essay #4
- The Quote Sandwich model (lead-in, quote, and analysis of quote) must be used with each quote.
- Some analysis of all your supporting examples.
- A conclusion that offers some ideas about what can be done about the situation.
- Strong sentences that are both grammatically correct and sophisticated.
- MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page are required for this paper.
PAPER FORMAT:
o 1200+ words (about 5+ pages).THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE WORKS CITED PAGE!
o All drafts must be typed and double-spaced.
o Size 12 Times New Roman Font
o Have: Name, Class, Date, Assignment, and Topic in upper left-hand corner.
o A title that is not GENERIC
o Paper MUST follow MLA format and MLA citation guidelines.
What A Successful Essay Will Have
Introduction:
- A title specific to the topic
- An attention getter
- Background on the topic (please make it clear which prompt you are answering)
- End with your thesis
- Include a clearly stated thesis (your opinion – your 1-2 sentence response to the essay prompt) which speaks to the “so what” of the issue and is not merely a list plan of development.
Body:
- Topic sentence that is related to the thesis
- Supporting evidence
- Quotes from the text (Remember to cite the quotes)
- Consideration of and rebuttal against the other side of the topic
Conclusion:
- DO NOT bring up a new topic
- A suggestion of the consequences of your position for society, individuals, what you want to happen in the future, etc.
Works Cited:
- Please include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper.
- Please make sure the Works Cited page follows MLA formatting rules.
Evaluation Criteria for Your Essay:
I will use the following criteria to evaluate your position paper:
- Have you engaged the readers’ interest at the beginning and throughout the paper?
- Have you chosen an arguable position and defined it carefully (e.g. placing the issue in its historical or cultural context, citing specific instances to make the issue seem less abstract, or establishing or redefining the terms of the debate)?
- Have you organized your paper into an introduction, body (containing several paragraphs), and conclusion?
- Have you included at the end of the introduction a thesis statement that asserts a clear, unequivocal position on the issue you have chosen and, possibly, forecasts the stages of the argument, identifying the main reason or reasons that you will develop and support in the essay?
- Have you given reasons why readers should take your position seriously?
- Have you organized your reasons into a logical order (e.g. placing the strongest reason last and the second-strongest reason first, with the other reasons in the middle)?
- Have you supported each reason with examples, facts, analogies, statistics, anecdotes, or quotes from authorities?
- Have you anticipated readers’ questions and their positions on an issue, counterarguing as needed?
- Have you signaled explicitly the move from one topic to the next using forecasting statements, transitions, topic sentences, rhetorical questions, and/or summaries?
- Have you cited at least 8 sources in your essay, using MLA in-text (parenthetical) citation strategies correctly?
- Have you integrated the sources into your essay, using signal phrases to introduce long quotations or incorporating shorter quotations into the sentences smoothly?
- Have you included an MLA Works Cited at the end of your essay?
- Are the sentences clear and correct?