Analytical Research Essay

ENGV 306 Prompt for Analytical Research Essay 6-8 pages, in scholarly citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago, or CSE) Note: the page length does not include the title page, works cited, etc. Partial draft (at least 3 pages) due by 11PM on 9/29 Final draft due by 11PM on 10/6 For this assignment, your main task is to report and analyze what other people say about your topic. As you likely know, “analysis,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a “detailed examination of the elements or structure of something.” In your Analytical Research essay, you will perform an analysis or detailed examination of the elements of the “conversation” that surrounds your research topic. In other words, you will analyze what is being said about your topic and how it is being said. Specifically, you will

• Concisely, accurately, and fairly summarize each research source • Synthesize your sources and identify similarities, differences, and gaps between them • Examine how authors construct their arguments about your research topic • Understand how these arguments originate in, and respond to, their rhetorical

situations. For a review of the elements of rhetorical situations, refer to Chapter 2 in Everyone’s An Author.

To sum up:

• your task in this essay is to analyze—to examine your research sources. Another way to think about it is you are “taking them apart”

• this means your main focus is on what other people think about your topic, rather than what you think (as in your opinion). In your next essay, the Editorial, you will use all the research and analysis you’ve conducted in order to build up your own argument and express your opinion.

Your tasks: 1. Choose a topic you would like to research. Choosing a small, recent, and less well-known topic might make your task easier and more fulfilling. If you’re stuck for ideas, think about issues in your academic field of study or in your nonacademic areas of interest. 2. Narrow your topic and frame an open-ended research question to guide your research. Your research question should be focused and open-ended. In other words, it should require more than a simple “yes” or “no” answer. The Research Topic Brainstorming Exercise will help you narrow your topic and frame a research question. 3. Perform research and take notes. Your research should include six sources, at least one of which must be scholarly. All your sources must be credible and relevant, and no more than five years old.

• If there is a logical reason to include an older source, however, see me and I’ll consider it. Also, in some cases, I will accept an interview with an authority on your topic as a scholarly source. Please check with me if you’d like to do this, and I’ll point you towards resources about how to effectively conduct interviews.

Your other five sources can be substantive newspapers and magazines. If it’s appropriate for your topic (if you are investigating a topic related to popular culture, for example), you can also include a few popular sources as part of your research. As you find and evaluate your sources, refer to Chapter 22 in Everyone’s An Author and the webpage “Critically Analyzing Information Sources,” which is posted in the Week Three Content section of d2l. 4. Compile an annotated bibliography. Your annotated bibliography should be evaluative, rather than descriptive. Please see p. 504 in Everyone’s An Author and section W- 14 in The Little Seagull’s Handbook for examples.

• In each annotation, 1) summarize the source; 2) evaluate the source; and 3) state how you will use the source in your essay and/or what the source contributes to your research. Please see the Annotated Bibliography prompt for more details.

5. Complete an essay brainstorming exercise to help you synthesize your research sources and generate a working idea for a thesis. 6. Write a rough draft of your essay that is at least three pages long. 7. Read and consider the feedback you receive from me, your classmates, and other readers, and write a revision memo. 8. Complete, revise, and submit your essay. Important Due Dates:

• 9/8: Research topic brainstorming exercise due • 9/15: Partial draft of Annotated Bibliography due • 9/22: Final draft of Annotated bibliography and Brainstorming Exercise due • 9/29: Partial draft of Analytical Research essay due • 10/6: Revision Memo and Final draft of Analytical Essay due