Research Story

ENG102_MH_V5 | Writing Assignment 6: Research Story

Example: Color-Coded Research Story Last Name 1

First Name Last Name

English Composition II

Research Story

2 October 2021

More is Not Better: My Journey to Narrowing My Search

The Introduction (8)

“Code Red, Code Red. Active Shooter! Lockdown!” These are the words

every school child dreads hearing. They send shivers up your spine and your

heart into palpitations. (1) Every school child in schools all over the United

States has now experienced this panic. Since the mid 90s, we have seen more

and more violent episodes taking place inside schools. Columbine shook the

nation and Sandy Hook shocked every American. It seems every year we learn

of a new attack and see more school children die at the hands of disgruntled

shooters. I’ve often wondered what to do about the school violence problem.

Ever since I was young I can remember turning off the lights, barring the doors

to our classrooms, moving away from visible, open spaces, and taking cover

behind desks, in closets, remaining calm and quiet. We have gone through

active shooter drills in school learning what to do should we ever be in that

dreadful situation. It made me often wonder what actions administrators and

legislators have proposed to proactively protect students rather than asking

students to be on defense as targets. (2)I decided to pursue answering the

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research question “what is the best way to decrease gun violence in the

classroom” as a general guiding question thinking that more topics to discuss

would make a longer and more impressive paper; however, in the process of

research I found that if I wanted to be successful in argument I must narrow my

inquiry because the topic was expansive; I needed to craft specific reasons to

convince my audience, and I could not do that if I was constantly hopping from

solution to solution. (3)

The Research Process (8)

Although I was committed to taking the easy way and churning out eight

pages of text, I soon discovered if I wanted to have a solid, successful argument

I was going to have to narrow my research question (4). I began my search

reading the general overviews of the subject on “Opposing Viewpoints.” It

became clear this was a huge topic with many different strong solutions. There

were the ban all guns people. There were the arm the teachers people. Both of

these options seemed to represent complete opposite sides of the spectrum.

There were answers that seemed to occupy the middle positions, too: fund

mental health resources in the school, increase the number of resource officers

on campus, and make sure all schools have proper security installations

including locking doors and metal detectors. My head was swimming with

information. (5) If I wrote a paper that really looked at all the answers to the

initial research question I posted, my paper would have to be 100 pages long. I

didn’t sign up to write a book! (6)

I selected the one solution to the problem of school gun violence that initially

seemed reasonable to me.(4)I read through the list of various answers and the

accompanying analysis, which took some time, as I sought out balanced

opinions. One idea seemed to strike me as extremely interesting: arming

teachers in the classroom. Yes, I initially thought that this idea seemed to be

strong and appealing to me. Teachers should be equipped to protect their

students, and if potential active shooters knew that teachers were armed, then

they might be convinced opening fire on a school was not such a great idea.(5) I

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was on a quest to support this solution as the best solution to the gun violence

in school problem; therefore, this specific research inquiry began to guide my

research. (6)

Now that I had my narrowed question, I could begin to take a deep dive into

the merits and drawbacks of arming teachers.(4)I began pouring through data,

analysis, and expert testimony on all sides of the issue and from multiple

perspectives. I sought out sociologists’ opinions, those who specialize in gun

violence, teachers’ responses, reports of mishandling of weapons in the

classroom, teachers unions, and event analysis. Even though I thought I really

had my mind made up about the solution I had chosen, I tried to remain open

and critical of each source I read. I read each account rhetorically looking for the

author’s attempts to persuade the intended audience. I applied what I had

learned about rhetorical analysis in order to reflect upon each source. (5)I really

enjoyed reading these multiple perspectives critically, and I believe this process

helped lead me to a different thesis than the one I originally thought I would

defend. (6)

Although my initial gut reaction was that arming teachers was the answer to

school shootings, I came to the conclusion that there were few merits to arming

teachers in the classroom, and I had settled on my answer to the research

question: arming teachers to help prevent school shootings was an

unreasonable idea.(4) For one, the cost to properly train and provide teachers

with weapons was a costly undertaking. Many school districts struggled to

provide PPE and cleaning supplies for their own campuses during the

pandemic. The cost of firearms and ballistics and proper handling and sharp

shooting training was astronomical in comparison. Second, teachers don’t want

to be armed. Research showed that it was an unfavorable idea amongst

teachers, teachers unions, and administrators. Third, in a high pressure

situation, even a trained individual is unlikely to always hit their target without

injuring an innocent bystander. This creates a huge problem for schools and

teachers in terms of wrongful death and private lawsuits. Insurance coverage

alone would be another added cost schools would not be able to provide.

Further, research has shown that violence is more likely to happen in places

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where people have guns even if those firearms were initially meant for

protection and defense. Last, school shooters largely are not deterred by the

possibility they will get shot. Most school shooters have determined they will not

survive the attack, so arming teachers was not a deterrent.(5) There were so

many more drawbacks of arming teachers I could not ignore just how

unreasonable such a solution was; it was clear where this research journey

pointed me. (6)

It was then I landed on my thesis statement: Due to cost, training,

unfavorability among teachers, and chance for increased violence, arming

teachers in the classroom to prevent school shootings was infeasible(4)I had

many strong reasons to support this claim, and I even had spent time thinking

about the initial perceived positives of arming teachers and was prepared to

respond to them in refutation and rebuttal. It helped I remained open throughout

the research process allowing data and expert opinion to guide my inquiry. As

stated before, my initial thought was that arming teachers was a good idea.(5) I

was ready to start outlining my reasons and thinking through the particulars of

each. I was grateful I made this discovery early in the research process

because If I had continued down the path of arguing the merits of each solution,

I would have had a wandering research argument! (6)

The Discussion (8)

One conclusion I arrived at was that even though I was overwhelmed at the

prospect of writing a research paper due to the length and amount of required

research, that more content to present was not always better. I thought if I

selected a big topic with lots of answers I could then be relieved I would have

plenty to write about. However, it became clear pretty quickly I needed to zero in

on one solution if I wanted to convince my reader of anything. If I had

proceeded with my original plan, my paper would have read like an

encyclopedia entry instead of an argument. If I were to have made any

persuasive moves in that kind of an essay my essay would have had to have

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been long as a dissertation. By focusing on one solution and looking at the

merits or drawbacks I was able to craft reasonable arguments that connected

with my readers.(7)

1. Hook

2. Story Setup

3. Thesis Statement

4. Topic Sentence

5. Narration

6. Transition

7. Conclusion and Analysis

8. Subsections to Divide the Three

Components of the Story Last modi�ed: Thursday, October 28, 2021, 10:12 AM

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