Research paper

ENGL 1010 Proposal Research Essay

Lynn SUMMER 2022

Length: 5 full pages – down to the bottom of the fifth page (not including the works cited page)

Format: MLA

Due Date: Monday, July 25th before11:59pm in the Research Essay Assignment Folder in “Assignments” on

Brightspace.

For your final essay, you will compose a 5-page persuasive, proposal research essay using 5 (five) secondary sources [up to three can be from our course materials - you must either paraphrase and/or directly quote from all five secondary sources in your essay] and a combination of rhetorical strategies to convince your readers to reevaluate and reconsider their position on the topic you choose. The purpose of your essay is to outline the issue and then to propose at least one viable solution to the problem you describe.

This research paper will need to propose a feasible solution to the most difficult challenge PSCC students face that leads them to stop short of completing their studies. In other words, the essay must offer at least one reasonable, thoughtful, intelligent way to solve or address for a large number of affected PSCC students some aspect of the debate you outlined in PAPER THREE.

The research paper must be at least 5 full pages long, not including the required works cited page. Essays that are short of the five full page length requirement will lose up to one letter grade per half page short of the assigned length.

Please note that I fully, 1000% expect you to re-use much of your Paper 3 in this final essay, which is why my expectations in terms of you submitting a polished, revised, fully proofread essay are much higher for Paper 4 and why the timeline is slightly truncated in terms of you composing the essay. Your Paper 3 argument will be the foundation of proving that there is a problem that warrants a solution. Thus, Paper 4 largely involves you crafting an explanation and defense of your proposed solution to the problem you defined in Paper 3.

Your research paper must include at least 5 (five) secondary sources with MLA format in-text citations as well as an MLA works cited page. You must get these sources from one of the PSCC library databases, an e-book from the PSCC library, non-profits who focus on successful college completion, or our course materials. Do NOT just use whatever sources you find on Google. To be most persuasive, you should consider including sources from more than one location or type and make very, very sure that all of your sources pass the CRAAP test.

Writing this essay will require you to inform your readers about the problem [define what the issue is]; explain why [why it is important and controversial] and how the problem affects your readers; take a clear position on that issue, and then persuade them to 1) take action to change the problem and 2) begin to consider a change in their position on the issue.

An effective essay that persuasively argues a position and offers a persuasive solution will:

(1) address a specific audience [your peers – college educated men and women] and purpose [persuade];

(2) take a clear stance on the issue in the form of an arguable assertion [thesis statement];

(3) support the assertion with good reasons [remember logos, pathos, & ethos] and logical evidence [use of your 5 sources];

(4) anticipate and address counter-arguments for the problem;

(5) propose a realistic, viable solution for the problem you have defined (must be specific to PSCC and show awareness of the student resources PSCC already does or does not offer);

(6) anticipate and address counter-arguments for your proposed solution; and

(7) provide a thought-provoking and informative introduction and conclusion.

You do not have to convince your readers that you are "correct"; it is impossible to convince all of your readers that your position is the only or the right one. We have discussed that your goal as a writer is to persuade your reader to take a single step in your direction.

Your thesis statement needs to assert a clearly defined position. If a thesis is done well, the writer's intention cannot be mistaken, and readers know that a strong argument must follow.

Your primary purpose is to convince your audience that your position and your proposed solution are valid, logical, and/or worth considering.

Every paragraph needs a topic sentence, discussion of that topic, evidence/examples to support your ideas, connection of any quote(s) to the point you are making in that paragraph and your overall argument, conclusion of the paragraph’s ideas and connection back to your thesis, and transition to the next supporting point (i.e. next

paragraph) as we have discussed in class throughout the semester (reminder: the outline of a well-developed paragraph is in Brightspace. USE IT).

Your assertions and supporting points should be consistent with available evidence. You cannot build an intellectual argument on opinion alone. Therefore, you must do research to find support for the argument, or claim, that you are making. The need for you to master integrating secondary sources as part of strengthening and developing your own essay is why I am asking you to find five external sources as support for your position.

You need to use your secondary resources as support for your argument to an extent, but do not let them take over your essay. The general rule of thumb is to include no more than three quotes per page of text. Only quote what is absolutely necessary to prove your point. In an essay of this length, you should not have more than one block quote (more than 4 full lines of text).

In regard to using and integrating these sources, follow the ICEC method – Introduce, Cite, Explain, and Connect. Any quote you put in your paper needs to be explained in your own words and directly connected to the argument your paragraph is making. Do not begin or end a paragraph with a quote; doing so should be impossible given that every quote will be introduced and every quote explained.

For this essay to be successful, it will need to exhibit clear organization, effective topic sentences, transition phrases, proper in-text MLA citation of every one of your five ACADEMIC sources, and fully-developed quotation integration.

The tone of this essay should be overtly formal and academic in nature. Do not include “I” or “in my opinion”

statements. Do not include contractions.

Because this is your final essay for this course and will have been reviewed by a tutor, I expect that this essay will be considerably better than a first draft. Misspelled/missing words, a lack of proofreading, insertion of informal elements such as contractions or “you/your,” and an abundance of grammar mistakes will significantly lower your grade. More than four comma splices, fused sentences, or sentence fragments will immediately drop your grade to a C or lower. It is time for you to remove these significant sentence concerns from your writing.

The required tutor review must take place at least 4 hours before the due date. I will not accept any tutor review that occurs less than 48 hours before the due date.

The Research Paper is due in the Brightspace Assignment Folder before 11:59pm on Monday, July 25th.

Please note that I cannot accept any late submissions for this essay due to the very tight grading deadlines.