ASSIGNMENT DONE

English 105 2017-2018

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT

Rhetorical Situation

Collaborative writing is a critical life skill: scholars, advertisers, engineers, project managers, scientists, and others write collaboratively every day. Sometimes different people have different responsibilities at different stages; sometimes people collaborate across time and space using tools like Google docs; sometimes people write together in person. The goal of any collaborative work is to create the best possible project by drawing on multiple minds and strengths: to do more than an individual could in the time available. Through this project you will pool your resources and abilities and learn from one another.

Okay, so you’re writing collaboratively, but what are you researching and writing about? What is the purpose? Who is your audience? The audience is me, other members of this class, and the NAU community. First, help that audience understand the nuances of an issue they have likely never considered but that affects everyone in your group. You’ll do this by synthesizing sources in a literature review section. Next, help your audience understand your group’s analysis of various elements of that issue: dig into some details. Finally, offer readers your collective, informed stance on the issue and what to do about it.

Be sure to do enough research to feel satisfied that as a group you’ve learned what’s necessary to answer your question(s), to make a solid case, and to allow an audience to trust that you know what you’re talking about (that you’ve done your homework with various trusted sources).

Tasks

· Create a contract for your project. (See “Contract and Literature Review” handout. )

· Find out what you have in common with your group and how that knowledge can help you find an issue to explore.

· Create a tentative research question to guide your research.

· Do some preliminary research (background); share your research with your group

· Draft a proposal: Situate your project, explain your plan, and be sure to include a refined research question, a timeline, and sources consulted so far. (300-600 words/~1-2 pages)

· Continue researching. Look at a wide range of credible sources from a variety of types of publications/viewpoints (e.g., scholarly, journalistic, scientific, governmental, medical…).

· Conduct an oral interview, a brief survey, or another form of qualitative research to help you learn more and provide additional perspectives for you and your readers.

· Determine how your research is answering your research question. What data will serve as exhibits you’ll analyze to come to a better understanding of the issue? What data will serve as evidence for your stance? What data supports your claims about what to do?

· Draft your Literature Review and Works Cited (in progress) for workshop.

· Select (or, even better, create) at least two visual elements you will label, cite, and refer to in the text of your project. These visual elements (and your discussion of them in the text) must help readers understand something: they could be anything from an existing image you analyze to a graphic you create to data you find and put together in a chart.

· Draft the entire project. It must read as one smooth project. Every group member is responsible for reviewing every element of every draft before each deadline.

· Create an original, engaging, descriptive title for your collaborative research project.

Length and Format

· 2400-3000 words (approximately 8-10 double-spaced pages). Include the word count.

· Use MLA or APA format. Do not use line-breaks between double-spaced paragraphs.

· Use headings for sections (e.g., Introduction, Literature Review, Findings...). Ensure that the entire project uses the same font and format.

Due Dates

· Contracts due in class ________________

· Proposals due (background sources consulted): ________________

· Literature Review Drafts + Works Cited workshop: ________________

· Full project In-class Workshop (Bring two paper copies!): ________________

· Your Peer Conference Day/Date/Time: ________________

· In-class Polishing Workshop (Each person brings copy!): ________________

· Revised Submission Draft (one copy per group): ________________

Enhancing Your Understanding

Re-read and annotate this assignment. Then write down your initial ideas and tentative timeline.

Resources

· Everyone’s an Author: Chapters 8, “The Need for Collaboration,” 15, “Reviews” (literature review section); “Project Proposals” (p. 356-360); 17 “Analyzing and Constructing Arguments”; 18-28 on research-related tasks (e.g., 18, “Strategies for Supporting an Argument”; 22, “Evaluating Sources”; “24, “Synthesizing Ideas”); 3, “Reading Rhetorically”

· Can I Use I?: How Do I Answer the ‘So What?’ Question?; How Do I Back Up My Argument with Sources?”; “How Do I Make My Paper Longer?”

· Bizup, Joseph. “BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing.” Rhetoric Review 27:1 (2008): 72-86. DOI: 10.1080/07350190701738858

Questions?

Ask in class or visit my office hours: Tu/W 10:00-11:30 Peterson 301