Research question, thesis, outline
Write a Research Question, Thesis, and Outline
ASSIGNMENT: Following the Topic Selection Guidelines below, choose an argumentative topic to research. This will be your topic throughout the entire course, so the activities required for this assignment will provide the foundation for your future Touchstones. The topic for an argumentative research paper must be a debatable topic, meaning that it involves conflicting viewpoints. Additionally, it cannot be a topic that is already decided or agreed upon by most of society. You will need to take a firm position on the topic and use evidence and logic to support the position. Touchstone 1.2 includes a research question, a working thesis, a detailed outline, and a reflection on this pre-writing process.
Sample Touchstone 1.2
A. Topic Selection Guidelines
DIRECTIONS: You may choose any topic you wish as long as the topic has two clear sides and is not agreed upon by most of society. Your topic should be current, appropriate for an academic context and should have a focus suitable for a 6-8 page essay.
B. Research Guidelines
DIRECTIONS: Refer to the list below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines.
1. Research Question and Working Thesis
Keep in mind: The research question and working thesis are the driving force behind your research and eventual argument.
❒ Your research question should be a single sentence, framed as a question.
❒ Your working thesis should be a single focused sentence, framed as a statement that takes a clear position on the research question.
❒ Include your research question followed by your working thesis.
2. Detailed Outline
Keep in mind: Your detailed outline provides a map of the argumentative research essay that you will write, including your key claims and the sources that support them. You may not have all your sources yet, and that is fine. The outline is a way to organize your essay and determine which areas (e.g. your sub-points) will require researched evidence as support.
❒ Headings: one for each paragraph with a brief label of the paragraph’s controlling idea(s); at least 7 body paragraphs, an introduction, and a conclusion
❒ Introduction includes your working thesis.
❒ Body paragraphs should each have their own unique title and key points.
❒ Conclusion includes notes on your final thoughts.
❒ Subheadings: two to five for each paragraph, below each heading, indicating key points that support the controlling idea
❒ Sources: one to three for each subheading, as relevant, indicating the support for the key point
❒ For each source, include the author’s name and the idea or information relevant to your argument (e.g. “Lappé on mono-cropping corn/soy and production”).
3. Reflection
❒ Have you displayed a clear understanding of the research activities?
❒ Have you answered all reflection questions thoughtfully and included insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses?
❒ Are your answers included on a separate page below the main assignment?
C. Reflection Questions
DIRECTIONS: Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions.
Learning to conduct research is important because it is a skill you will use both in academia and in your professional life. It improves critical thinking and empowers you to find information for yourself. Consider the process of researching as a whole. What was the most challenging aspect of the process for you? (2-3 sentences)
The working thesis statement is a proposed answer to your research question. It should clearly identify a debatable topic and take a position on one side of that topic. Analyze the effectiveness of your working thesis statement. (3-4 sentences)
A detailed outline is an effective tool for laying out the progression of an argument. It allows you to consider the arrangement and organization of your ideas, as well as choose places to incorporate outside source materials. Review your detailed outline and summarize the argument you've presented. (3-4 sentences)
You will use the same topic on three of the remaining Touchstones in this course. What kind of feedback would be helpful for you? What are specific questions you might have as you go deeper into the research process? (2-3 sentences)
D. Rubric
Advanced (90-100%)Proficient (80-89%)Acceptable (70-79%)Needs Improvement (50-69%)Non-Performance (0-49%)
Research Question
Pose a meaningful research question on a debatable topic.Constructs a precise and focused research question relative to a current and debatable topic.Constructs a focused research question relative to a debatable topic.Constructs a research question relative to a debatable topic; however it is somewhat too broad or too narrow for the assignment.Constructs a research question; however, the question is too broad or too narrow for the assignment and/or it is not debatable.Does not construct a research question, or constructs a research question that does not meet any of the rubric criteria.
Working Thesis
Propose a focused working thesis.Includes a working thesis that takes a well-articulated, clear, specific position on one side of an issue.Includes a working thesis that takes a clear, specific position on one side of an issue.Includes a working thesis that takes a clear position on one side of an issue; however it lacks specificity.Includes a working thesis; however, it lacks specificity and does not take a clear position.Does not include a working thesis, or includes a thesis that does not take a position.
Detailed Outline
Present a detailed outline that includes coherent headings, subheadings, and source placement notes.Outline is thoroughly developed and clearly labeled with effective notes, such that the reader can easily see how the essay will build its argument; all necessary elements of the outline are present.Outline is well-developed and labeled with sufficient notes, such that the reader can get a sense of how the essay will build its argument; all necessary elements of the outline are present.Outline is primarily well-developed and labeled with sufficient notes, such that the reader can get an overall sense of how the essay will build its argument; however, a few necessary elements may be unclear or missing.Outline is not fully developed and/or labeling and notes are often unclear, such that the reader cannot easily get a sense of how the essay will build its argument; several necessary elements of the outline are unclear or missing.Outline is not developed and/or labeling and notes are unclear or absent, such that the reader is unable to see how the essay will build its argument; most necessary elements of the outline are unclear or missing.
Style
Establish a consistent, informative tone and make thoughtful stylistic choices.Demonstrates thoughtful and effective word choices, avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a wide variety of sentence structures.Demonstrates effective word choices, primarily avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a variety of sentence structures.Demonstrates generally effective style choices, but may include occasional redundancies, imprecise language, poor word choice, and/or repetitive sentence structures.Frequently includes poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures.Consistently demonstrates poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures.
Conventions
Follow conventions for standard written English.There are only a few, if any, negligible errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.There are occasional minor errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.There are some significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.There are frequent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.There are consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.
Reflection
Answer reflection questions thoroughly and thoughtfully.Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; consistently includes insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses, following or exceeding response length guidelines.Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; includes multiple insights, observations, and/or examples, following response length guidelines.Primarily demonstrates thoughtful reflection, but some responses are lacking in detail or insight; primarily follows response length guidelines.Shows limited reflection; the majority of responses are lacking in detail or insight, with some questions left unanswered or falling short of response length guidelines.No reflection responses are present.
E. Requirements
The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded:
Double-space the outline and use one-inch margins.
Use a readable 12-point font.
All writing must be appropriate for an academic context.
Composition must be original and written for this assignment.
Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited.
Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition.
Submission must include your research question, working thesis, outline, and reflection questions.
Include all of the assignment components in a single file.
Acceptable file formats include .doc, .docx, and .pdf.
F. Additional Resources
The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment:
Purdue Online Writing Lab's APA Formatting and Style Guide
This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types.
Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style
This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The ""References,"" ""Punctuation,"" and ""Grammar and Writing Style"" sections will be the most useful to your work in this course.
APA Style: Quick Answers—References
This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types
ARGUMANTATION ESSAY
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here's the link that explains every detail of the assignment
Week 4 discussion
Share which form of contemporary media you selected, and explain why.
Based on your choice, reflect on what impact that media has had on your life, and provide example(s) of that impact.
Describe how your selection reflects your place in American culture. In other words, not all Americans are wealthy and privileged enough to possess, access, and use these types of media. Are you exceptional?
To what extent are parents responsible for guiding their children in selection and appropriate use of media?
Do you think most parents actually are responsible in this regard?
Often, our government steps in to control media content when the government thinks parents are not adequately protecting their children. For example, the Children's Television Act of 1990 limited the number of minutes of advertising that could be contained in programs directed at children. Do you think our federal government is acting responsibly, not doing enough to protect children, or should just stay out of the business of regulating media content directed at kids? Explain your thinking on this issue.
Analysis Essay
Length: 750-800 words (approx. 2-3 pages)
REQUIREMENTS/TIPS:
Incorporate at least two excerpts from your own writing that you analyze and reflect upon.
Use at least one of the quotes above to help you analyze the examples you choose and also to help you articulate insights into the writing process. You may also reference any essay we read as a class this semester, such as “Shitty First Drafts,” or “The Maker’s Eye.”
Consider both your achievements and your struggles, what you have learned and what you are still learning.
Avoid the heroic narrative that pivots on a conversion (once lost/now find, once blind/now can see, sinner/saint, failure/success). Be warned of the lure of the conversion narrative—it is strong and you’ll have to consciously resist it.
You should also avoid anything that resembles an evaluation of the course. Your goal is to develop an idea about writing/reading/revision/research.
You are welcome to use first person and to write about your personal experience as long as you are pulling critical insights from those experiences
Write a 2-3 page essay that reflects on your development as a writer over the course of this semester. You should use specific passages from your writing this semester, including final and rough drafts of essays, homework and in-class writing (reading responses, etc.) and your writer’s reflections. In addition, you should use the passages from Bartholomae, Elbow, and/or Sommers (see below) as lenses through which you can view and analyze your writing. As in earlier essays, your goal is to develop an interesting idea/argument by working with sources. In this case, your sources are your essays, drafts, exercises, and personal experiences with writing, revision, research. Your job is to put your analysis of the examples you choose in tension with one or more of the quotations below. Writing Professors on Writing “Every time a student sits down to write for us, he has to invent the university for the occasion–invent the university, that is, or branch of it, like History or Anthropology or Economics or English. He has to learn to speak out language, to speak as we do, to try on the peculiar ways of knowing, selecting, evaluating, reporting, concluding, and arguing that define the discourse of our community.” Peter Elbow, Writing Without Teachers:“The commonsense, conventional understanding of writing is as follows: Writing is a two-step process. First you figure out your meaning, then you put it into language. . . .This idea of writing is backwards. That’s why it causes so much trouble. Instead of a two-step transaction of meaning-into-language, think of writing as an organic, developmental process in which you start writing at the very beginning–before you know your meaning at all–and encourage your words gradually to change and evolve. Only at the end will you know what you want to say or the words you want to say it with. You should expect yourself to end up somewhere different from where you started. Meaning is not what you start out with but what you end up with. Control, coherence, and knowing your mind are not what our start out with but what you end up with. . . . Writing is a way to end up thinking something you couldn’t have started out thinking.” Peter Elbow, “The Shifting Relationship between Speech and Writing.”We think of the mind’s natural capacity for chaos and disorganization as the problem in writing—and before we finish any piece of indelible public writing, of course, that incoherence must be overcome. But what a relief it is to realize that this capacity for ephemeral incoherence is valuable and can be harnessed for insight and growth. The most precious thing in this kind of writing is to find one contradicting oneself. It guarantees that there will be some movement and growth in one’s thinking; the writing will not just be a record of past thoughts or prejudices. Nancy Sommers, “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers.”“The experienced writers describe their primary objective when revising as finding the form or shape of their argument. Although the metaphors vary, the experienced writers often use structural expressions such as ‘finding a framework,’ ‘a pattern,’ or ‘a design’ for their argument. When questioned about this emphasis, the experienced writers responded that since their first drafts are usually scattered attempts to define their territory, their objective in the second draft is to begin observing general patterns of development and deciding what should be included and what excluded. One writer explained, ‘I have learned from experience that I need to keep writing a first draft until I figure out what I want to say. Then in a second draft, I begin to see the structure of an argument and how all the various sub-arguments which are buried beneath the surface of all those sentences are related.’ What is described here is a process in which the writer is both agent and vehicle. ‘Writing,’ says Barthes, unlike speech, ‘develops like a seed, not a line,""' and like a seed it confuses beginning and end, conception and production. Thus, the experienced writers say their drafts are ""not determined by time,’ that rewriting is a ‘constant process,’ that they feel as if (they) ‘can go on forever.’ Revising confuses the beginning and end, the agent and vehicle; it confuses, in order to find, the line of argument’(384).
English
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this assignment, students will be able to
Write a critical essay about a novel or novella that demonstrates well thought out arguments and
Analyse the way writers use work choice in complex characterization
Students are asked to write an integrative, critical essay of at least 2,000 words (+/- 200 words) on either Last Night at the Lobster or Keep the Aspidistra Flying. The essay should connect the workplace themes of the course, such as lack of work opportunities, lack of fulfillment in work, conformity based on necessity, search for freedom as balanced against social awareness and commitment to family, society, and nation.
The overall intent is to discuss the construction of a workplace identity in the main character and to show how this individual is able to negotiate a reasonable compromise between success and failure. The thesis statement could well draw attention to bigger historic and social issues, such as the role of the artist in the contemporary world and the effects of franchise and big business on blue collar workers.
The essay must analyze the characterization, focusing on character change and development, in the chosen novel. The essay may draw on secondary sources, as long as they are documented correctly using APA formats.
Instructions:
1. Choose the novel that resonates with you, your program of study, and your own work experiences.
a. For example, if you wish to explore a concept such as the effect of space and environment on people's daily lives, then the Orwell novel might suit you.
b. Consider the text you have the strongest reaction to, whether positive or negative. Since it is clear that Last Day at the Lobster is shorter than the Orwell novel, (and a recent publication from a writer yet to be established in the literary canon, and also a novella (short novel) with the characteristics of that subgenre of fiction), it may seem the easier choice. However, the Orwell novel has much to say about the writer's life that is linked to the business world, in terms of the book business, and takes a wider view of experiences that may be more accessible to readers, especially to those who have read 1984. One text can be related to food issues in our culture today and the other to the place of creative people in the workplace.
2. Compose a working thesis statement that shows your view of the main character in the novel. Then add a list of your own readers' statements.
3. Working from you're the notes you took as you read and class discussions, compose a draft, inserting quotations from the novel and drawing from examples.
4. Consider whether secondary sources such as academic journal articles might be helpful. In the case of Orwell, the supply of information and scholarly analysis would be endless. Bear in mind that these sources are only useful if they help you to answer your own readers' questions.
5. Organize your essay carefully.
6. Write a second draft that is structured, with arguments and subtopics set out.
7. Check for accuracy in quotations and documentation of key scenes. Add page references.
8. Revise to create a nearly finished product.
9. Edit to correct spelling, punctuation, sentencing, and final working of the thesis
Literary Paper Writing the Fiction Paper
All the instructions are included in the document attached. My entire semester depends on this I need an A
Discussion
What about who you are allowed you to connect with the text? Do you see anything about yourself in the characters or story? Do you see something that is totally the opposite from you?
the book is the end of the eddy I will upload the books
Rogerian Argument Essay
Topic: Are students been over-medicated? 1000 words, 12pts double space, Time new roman
Communication
5 questions each 250 words
Answer all five (5) of the following questions. Create a word document (12 point font, double-spaced and with your name!) include the questions and email to me by 11:50 on 12/16. No exceptions. Students are expected to provide proper APA citations – both in-paper – (author’s name, year) after a direct quote, /paraphrase, statistic or graph, as well as a works cited page.
1. What are the major obstacles to adopting Web 2.0 communication tools in the workplace? Provide examples to support your answer.
2. Write an email request a letter of reference from one of your professors for graduate school. In this message, include why you want this professor’s recommendation. What tone will you project in your email request? What information would you want them to include that would make it an effect letter? How could you make it easier for your instructor to write this letter for you? How could you show courtesy to your professor since they are using their own time to do this for you? How will you order this message? What will be the subject line?
3. Assume you own a computer retail store located near your campus (give the store any name you want). You have sold fewer PC’s in recent years due to the strong demand for Macs (Apple computers) among university students. Write a brief sales letter to reach all student housing units with a goal of encouraging students to purchase PCs from your store. You can do online research to help you contrast PCs with Macs (advantages, functionality, pricing, etc.). Include the components of effective persuasive messages!
4. Write a brief bad news message concerning the cancellation of a tuition-reimbursement program to your employees. Explain that the company has lost money in three of the past four years and that you need to take actions to make the company profitable again. Include the components of effective bad-news messages!
Choose three topics of interest that you could research. Write three specific research objectives that could provide a clear direction for you to collect primary data or gather secondary research.
FINAL
Does literature matter?
You have taken this class, read quite a bit of literature this semester, and had some interesting discussions about literature and how it relates to life. In the end, does it matter? Should people continue to read and study literature? Why? Why not? What benefits, if any, do people derive from it?
Please answer these questions in a 3-5 page essay in which you use examples from the readings we have done this semester. Remember, proper MLA format, please!
