Journal 7

English 1302 Fall 2021 Dr. Wedes /4

Paper 2: The Researched Argument

Due Dates

Draft	Due Date	Document Format	Submission Info	Grading
Rough Draft	10/11 11.59pm This due date is firm if you want points for the rough draft & peer review.	Word Doc, in APA Format	Posted to Paper 2>Revising Skills>Peer Review Paper 2-- share the draft to the group or else we will not be able to read your draft.	5 DW points for turning in a draft. 5 DW points for reviewing a draft.
Final Draft	10/15 You will be unable to begin Paper 3 until the final draft is submitted.	Word Doc, in APA Format	Posted to Paper 2>Revising Skills>paper 2 Final Draft Turn In .	Letter grade worth 20% (200 pts) of your total course grade.

This is an A+CE Signature Assignment: The purpose an A+CE assignment: To develop your ability to introduce, integrate, evaluate, discuss and reflect on information from academic texts in order to make a successful academic argument; to practice the type of research and writing that is often a part of upper-division courses; to be able to distinguish peer-reviewed academic research from non-peer-reviewed and educated-audience sources.

Purpose

To discover through research and then argue in favor of a unique position you are taking on protest movements. To learn how to present a STEM-style research paper such as might be written for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics courses.

Please note: For this paper you will not be focusing on one specific protest movement. Rather, you must research a theory that you have about protest movements as a whole to see if the theory holds water. For example, when do protest movements have a right to commit violence? Or at what point can a protest be considered an insurrection (like what happened on January 6, 2021)? There are hundreds of such questions that you might have about protest movements. Choose one that does not have a yes/no answer and research it. You may use individual protest movements as an example to illustrate a point within the body paragraphs of the argument section of the paper, but do not write a thesis about one protest movement. The thesis must be about the question/theory you were researching. This paper is not Paper 1 and should not look like Paper 1.

Sources

To educate yourself about your theory/question about protest movements, you must do research in academic sources. Paper 2 requires you to use the following 10 sources:

· 5 peer-reviewed articles (you learned how to find these in Library Unit 1 ).

· 2 book chapters from non-fiction books or 2 more peer-reviewed articles (see Library Unit 2 ).

· 3 fact-based media sources. Do not use media sources that are propagandistic and/or politically biased (see Library Unit 2 ).

What happens if the sources you use are the wrong ones or you don’t have all the required sources for the paper? The paper receives a failing grade.

What do you do if you can’t find all of the required sources for the paper? Email me at [email protected] or set up a Zoom meeting with me.

Developing a thesis

· Look at what others are already saying about protest movements. Test what others are saying about protest movements by looking up facts written by people who are not politically biased (peer-reviewed articles, fact-based media sources, non-fiction book sources).

· What interesting ideas did you discover in Journal 6 , your peer-reviewed articles, fact-based media, and non-fiction books? Focus on information that your readers might not be aware of regarding protest movements.

· Consider your audience. Whatever thesis you decide on must be geared toward an academic audience, one that wants to see solid evidence for every claim that you make.

· Develop a thesis that must be answered through complex research and discussion. Use “how” and “why” to turn your questions about protest movements into a potential argumentative theory. Do this by asking open-ended questions about protests. For example: “Why do some groups choose violent over non-violent protest?” or “How do protest movements fail?” or “How do protest movements succeed?” or “How should authorities respond to protests given the First Amendment right of people ‘peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances?’” or maybe, simply, “How do protest movements work?” (Feel free to develop your own question)

· Evaluate your thesis. Ask yourself:

· Is your thesis on topic? It’s purpose must match the assignment: To discover through research and then argue in favor of a unique position you are taking on protest movements.

· Is your thesis focused? It must be very specific so that there are searchable terms within it for you to use to find fact-based information on it.

· Is your thesis complex enough? It cannot be answered with a simple, one-word answer like “yes” or “no.” It must require research and analysis. The question/theory must not be answerable from your own knowledge.

· Are there four unique ways you can support your thesis? The argument section is 5 paragraphs long (an introduction and 4 body paragraphs). You must be able to write 4 paragraphs that are ¾ of a page long each to support your thesis without being repetitive.

Structure of the Paper

This paper is 14 paragraphs long: the Abstract (1 paragraph, to be placed first, but written last), the Introduction (1 paragraph), the Literature Review (3 paragraphs), the Argument (5 paragraphs), the Conclusions (2 paragraphs), the Recommendations (2 paragraphs). Paragraphs should be ½ to ¾ of a page long. To learn how to write each paragraph, you will go to the Paper 2>Writing Skills folder on Blackboard and complete each of the 6 units, including Journal 8. After you have completed all units in the Writing Skills folder, you should have a complete and correct rough draft of Paper 1.

Paper 2 must be organized in APA 7 format and in this order:

· Title Page (on a page by itself, containing the title, your name, the school name, the course name, my name, and the due date of the final draft).

· Abstract (brief, 1 paragraph summary of your paper including keywords, on a page by itself)

· Introduction (1 paragraph, with title of essay written above it in bold and including either an offset quote, statistic, or anecdote from one of your sources and the thesis as the last sentence)

· Literature Review (3 paragraphs, telling why your sources consider the thesis puzzling and giving an overview of arguments sources have already made and what your sources have already said about your thesis).

· Argument (5 paragraphs including an introduction and 4 body paragraphs supporting your thesis).

· Conclusions (2 paragraphs, 1 discussing a major discovery uncovered by your research and 1 limitations paragraph talking about what your research was unable to discover).

· Recommendations (2 paragraphs where you discuss two specific actions that readers can take to enact change in regards to your thesis about protest movements and tell them step-by-step how to take those actions).

· References (see Journal 7 , consisting of your 10 required sources).

To get a visual of the format, click on the Example Paper . Please note: Anyone who attempts to copy the thesis, arguments, recommendations, or conclusions or use the sources cited in the Example Paper will be charged with plagiarism and asked to write a whole new paper.

Document Format

· Word Doc

· 1” margins, left aligned.

· Indented, double-spaced paragraphs.

· No extra line spaces between headings, paragraphs, references, or titles. Use this video for help.

· 12 pt professional-looking font (Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri).

Grammar

Pronouns, wordiness, vagueness:

· No personal pronouns may be used anywhere in this paper. Personal pronouns include: I, me, my, mine, you, your, you’re, yours, we, us, our, ours.

· Directly worded, specific sentences. No wordiness, no vagueness. Use this link for help with wordy sentences: Wordy Sentences

Other grammar

Grammar errors should not impede the readers’ ability to understand your paper.

Here is a list of grammar errors to watch for and links to explanations about them:

· Apostrophes (possessives, contractions)

· Plural words (s on the end)

· Comma splices, fused sentences (run-ons)

· Capitalization

· Fragments and vague pronouns (which, it, this)

Paper 2 and the Portfolio

This paper, heavily revised, must be included in your course portfolio (due on the class day) along with a reflection essay. This portfolio is also the final exam and is worth

30% of your total course grade. Do not attempt to do this essay until after the final draft has been graded.

Grading Criteria is on page 4...

Grading Criteria

Skills	Criteria	How you did	Points possible
Reading Skills	The paper’s success proves that the writer closely followed the instructions on the Paper 2 assignment sheet.		10
	It is clear from the new ideas and specific details provided in the paper, that the student thoroughly researched this topic and learned some new and exciting information about it.		20
Researching Skills	The writer successfully researched Paper 2 as is proven by the 5 peer-reviewed articles, 2 book chapters or 2 more peer-reviewed articles, and 3 fact-based media sources that are paraphrased and/or quoted within the paper and appear on the Reference page.		30
	The writer provided an accurately formatted APA 7 Reference page after the Recommendations section of Paper 2 with all 10 required sources listed.		10
Writing Skills	The Abstract is brief, summarizes the thesis, topic sentences, conclusions (first paragraph), and recommendations. Has searchable keywords.		10
	The Introduction is engaging and intriguing and catches readers’ attention with an offset quote or an anecdote or a startling statistic.		10
	The thesis is the last sentence of the Introduction, is on topic, and is the focus of the entire 14-paragraph paper. The thesis is argumentative (takes a side), not factual or explanatory.		10
	The Literature Review is 3 paragraphs, each paragraph dealing with the topics as listed in Journal 8. All 10 required sources were paraphrased.		20
	The Argument section is 5 paragraphs, with a brief introduction & thesis and 4 focused, well-researched body paragraphs.		10
	The Argument section is clearly a product of research with sources integrated into each body paragraph. Each body paragraph argues for the topic sentence which is clearly connected to the thesis. It does not summarize any sources.		10
	The Conclusions section has one paragraph that describes an important realization made by the writer and cites the source that helped the writer reach that realization. It has a second paragraph that discusses the limitations of the writer’s study.		10
	The Recommendations section is two paragraphs long and discusses two concrete, physical actions readers can take and how to take those actions.		10
	Sources are correctly integrated into the paper in APA 7, including paraphrases and transitions (signal phrases) into quotes. No quote takes up more than 3 lines of the paper.		10
Revising Skills	The paper is complete: there are 14 paragraphs and a strong attempt has been made to ensure that each section is on topic and well-supported with sources.		10
	The writer wisely chose important areas of the paper to revise based on the comments they received during peer review.		10
	The writer made use of the Writing and Reading Center or used the links on the Paper 2 assignment sheet to edit for grammar, as is evidenced by the polished state of the essay.		10
Total Pts	200-179 pts = A; 178-159 pts = B; 158-139 pts = C; 138-119 pts = D; 118-0 pts = F		200