Research Story

ENG102_MH_V5 | Writing Assignment 6: Research Story

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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 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 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 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 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 modified: Thursday, October 28, 2021, 10:12 AM

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