Essay #3 “Argumentative Research Essay”

Context: For this essay, you will continue your exploration of popular culture. In Everyday Everywhere, all of the chapters are organized around a different theme. You will choose a topic that relates to one of these pop culture themes: Chapt. 2 “Food For Thought;” Chapt.3 “Cross (Cultural) Dressing;” Chapt. 4 “Gender (Mis) Representation;” Chapt. 5 “Language Matters;” Chapt. 6 “Otherness;” Chapt. 7 “That’s Entertainment;” Chapt. 8 “It’s all in the Game;” Chapt. 9, “Worldly Goods.” So, if you choose the theme “Food For Thought,” you might argue that Americans should eat Japanese cuisine in order to stave off obesity. Or, if you choose “Worldy Goods,” you might argue that Americans’ addiction to shopping is destroying relationships and causing consumers to declare bankruptcy. Or you could even focus on the budget crisis in California. Thus, you are free to write about any topic as long as it reflects one of the thematic chapters in the textbook.

**You are also required to use at least one article from the textbook in your essay (this will be considered one of your sources). Keep in mind, the article you use doesn’t have to be directly related to your topic; it may also act as evidence for your counter argument.

Writing Task: You will be writing a 5-7 page research based, argumentative essay. By thoroughly researching your subject, you will situate yourself in an ongoing dialogue/debate. It is vital to choose a subject that you find interesting, but keep an open mind while you’re doing your research. To build an effective argument, you need to present the best positions, which support your ideas as well as demonstrate why the best positions against your ideas (the counter argument) are insufficient.

Topic Proposal: By the date listed on the schedule, you must submit a topic proposal, explaining in some detail, the topic you would like to write about and why you are interested in learning more about it (this will be considered a Creative Response—so no rhetorical précis is necessary). You don’t need to have a definitive thesis, but you should have a tentative one.  Also, you should include your research plan—What kind of research do you plan to pursue for your essay? What sources do you intend to use and why? We will also go over these in class that day.

Requirements for Sources:

·   Your essay must have at least five credible/reliable sources

·   One of your sources should be an article from EE

·   You must include at least two scholarly journals (they can be accessed through the electronic databases on Cuyamaca’s library homepage)

·   You can use magazines (e.g. Time, Rolling Stone, GQ) and newspapers (e.g. San Diego Union Tribune, New York Times)

·   Limit your use of general websites (yahoo, cnn, etc.)

·   Do not use general encyclopedic works (e.g., the dictionary, the Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia) in your essay

·   Start as soon as possible

**Remember that a well-researched paper will include a variety of sources. Also, for academic papers, books and scholarly journals tend to provide the most credible information.

Note on Plagiarism: Like all essays written for this class, your research essay must constitute original work. Research essays written for other/previous classes will not be accepted. If your essay is not original for this class, it will constitute cheating, and disciplinary action will ensue. Furthermore, since this is a research essay, all sources must be cited accurately.

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Additional Information on Research Writing 

Guidelines for Choosing a Subject

• Some of the best research subjects stem from the writer’s lived experience. Select a subject that matters to you; one that you desire to explore in depth and detail.
• Choose a subject you can explore fairly and thoughtfully. Do not research a subject you are not open-minded about. If your mind is already made up, why do the research?
• Choose a subject you can explore in depth in the time we have for this project. If, after doing preliminary research, you discover that your subject is too difficult, or you cannot find credible source materials, choose another subject (All subjects, however, must be cleared with me before you can write on them.)

Guidelines for Getting Started

• Start skimming through the textbook. Read the chapter summaries to get a more clear idea of what each chapter covers. Also, at the end of each chapter, you will find a number of critical thinking questions that might spark some ideas.
• Do some brainstorming activities like we’ve learned: free writing, clustering, listing, etc.
• Choose a subject and generate a list of questions worth exploring (your questions should be narrow, challenging, and grounded.)

For example, let’s say you are writing an essay on cloning. You might develop the following questions:

What are the negative or positive effects of cloning? (This would be your main research question)

-What is cloning?

-What are the ethical concerns about cloning?

-Are the ethical concerns worth overlooking if cloning can save peoples’ lives?

• Go online and type your subject into Google or another search engine and do some preliminary research to see what’s out there
• Go to a library and research answers to your questions. Based on your research, formulate a working thesis
• Devise a search strategy and gather sources. Gather more sources than you need; this way you can go through and evaluate them and see what’s the most useful for your project. Keep track of your sources with a working bibliography.

Guidelines for Sources

• As information is to knowledge, so too is a “report” to a “research essay.” You are not writing an extended summary of sources; rather, you are writing a persuasive essay in which sources are used to support your claims. You must make an argument in this essay, not merely summarize facts
• Analyze your sources thoroughly from a persuasive standpoint to determine their usefulness and credibility. If you do not know the author or origin of a source, if you do not thoroughly understand a source, do not use it! Don’t jeopardize your credibility.
• Remember, don’t let the sources overtake your paper.

Your essay should have:

·   A topic related to one of the chapters in Everyday Everywhere

·   A controlling thesis which states a definitive position

·   Cohesive, focused, body paragraphs that relate back to your thesis

·   At least five credible sources

·   Summaries, paraphrases, and direct quotations of your sources

·   A Works Cited Page and in-text citations using MLA format

·   A logically progressive structure

·   Audience awareness (appeal to and educate your readers)

·   Style (sentence variety, an engaging tone)

·   Few sentence level errors

·   5-7 pages typed, double-spaced and formatted in MLA style

 Important Dates:

Topic Proposal Due:_________________

Workshop #1 (Bring in 3 copies of your first three pages)_______________

The Final Draft is due:_________________________