Discovery essay

The Discovery Essay, as the name implies, seeks to discover something about a topic. Although your discovery paper is based on research, you are not writing what you might think of as a “research paper.” Your goal with the Discovery Essay is to pose a question to research or area to explore and to find something out rather than prove something. Within your chosen subject area, you will find a topic you genuinely wonder about that stems from your experiences and interests. As you’ll discover in doing research, there isn’t one answer to your question or issue—there may be multiple answers, conflicting answers, or no answer at all. Your essay will address 1) your interest in the issue; 2) what others have to say about the issue; and 3) the significance for you in what you’ve discovered. Your 1500-2000 word paper will need to contain at least 5 carefully researched sources.

Reflect on what new "discoveries" about your topic you have made after reading through several articles and/or looking at it historically. How has your understanding of changed or deepened? Elaborate on the discoveries you have made by explaining what you thought in the past, why you may have thought it, what caused you to alter your views (or not alter them), and what larger significance you see in your new realization.

Feel free to be creative, even funny. Think of the class as your audience.

Use this Discovery Essay as a stair-step into your Research Essay. Think of a topic you are interested in and want to know more about.