Due Date Reminder

Don't forget that the research essay is due this week.  Dates are 11/1 for the Tuesday/Thursday section, and 11/2 for the Friday section.

As announced in class, the essay will be evaluated by the following criteria:

• Builds on skills introduced by Essay I (e.g. development, paragraph focus, essay focus, technical issues).
• Demonstrates effective use of outside sources.  Particular attention will be given to sources' credibility.
• Effectively integrates source material and uses this material to support the essay's thesis.  (Pay attention to choices about how material is integrated [quoted, paraphrased, summarized].  Be sure to use signal phrases to connect examples to the thesis.)
• Documents sources according to MLA guidelines.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Links to Articles: Newsweek and Eating Pandas

We may use this news article about Newsweek magazine in class this week.  We also may look at this article about eating pandas.  No need to read these yet.

Research Essay Instructions

You've already done a significant amount of work on this assignment, but just to ensure that everyone knows what the final product should look like, here are the formal instructions:

Start with a topic that you genuinely want to know more about.  Perhaps this is a topic connected to your academic major.  Once you've identified an area of interest, conduct enough research to make yourself something of an expert.  Using your new expertise, write a 1500-2000 word academic essay that:

1. Contains an original, arguable thesis.  Your essay should add something new to the discussion of your topic rather than simply summarize existing research.  See the recently-assigned passages in the handbook for more information about what makes a suitable thesis.
2. Supports claims with examples from credible sources.
3. Follows the conventions of academic writing.
4. Cites sources according to MLA guidelines.
5. Builds on the effective writing strategies already discussed in the course: specific examples, paragraph focus, essay focus, format/punctuation/mechanics, strong ethical appeal, thesis/support, etc.

This essay will be due in approximately three weeks.  An exact date will be announced.

Assignment for Week of 10/15

For next week, please answer the following questions in writing:

• What is your general topic and your subtopic? (Subtopic should be suitably specific.)
• Exactly what do you want to learn about your topic (i.e. what is your research question?) 
• Why does any of this matter?  How will answering your question will contribute to our understanding of the topic?  (Remember this assignment is more than an informative report; your goal is to provide some new, original analysis.)

These are the same kinds of questions we asked about the Brian Palmer article on hats.

Military Hats

We will examine this article in an upcoming class.  Please consider the following:

• Why does the author begin by talking about Hugo Chavez?
• How do you think the author decided what information about Chavez to include and what to leave out?
• What is the essay's general topic?
• What is its specific topic?
• What research question does the author ask about the topic?
• What research was likely required in order to discover the answer to this question?
• What is the answer to that question?
• As this is a popular essay, as opposed to a scholarly one, the author provides links to additional information rather than fully developing his examples.  What would the essay look like if the author had incorporated more information from outside sources?