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Assignment Sheets for the

Research Proposal

and

Problem-Solving Essay

ENGL 1101 – Late Start Sections

Fall, 2023

This handout contains two Assignment Sheets

1) Research Proposal Paper

100 points

Due on Monday, November 20th

2) Problem Solving Essay

200 points

Due on Tuesday, December 5th

Research Proposal – 100 pts.

Use Times New Roman, 12-point font

Before you begin writing your final paper of the course, the Problem-Solving Essay, it’s important to carefully plan your research, approach, and essay. A common type of “prewriting” for a longer, research-based essay is to complete a Research Proposal. Note: you will be using the same topic for both your Research Proposal and Problem-Solving Essay. Go to page 3 of this handout to read about topics.

The following lists the requirements for your Research Proposal. Use the sub-headings (in bold), and follow the same formatting as the sample available for you on D2L.

A Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography on [your topic goes here]

Overview of the topic (one paragraph)

My Goals (four-five bullet points)

Audience (one paragraph) Identify your audience

Purpose (one paragraph) Connect your purpose in writing to your audience’s needs/expectations

Early Research (Summarize the research you have done on the topic) (one-three paragraphs)

Conclusions (one paragraph) After completing all the other sections of the Research Proposal, provide a paragraph explaining how you have refined your approach for the upcoming Problem-Solving essay.

Annotated Working Bibliography (see sample for format)

Include a Works Cited entry for each source (MLA format)

Provide a summary of the source

Indicate how you plan to use the source in your Problem-Solving Essay

Sources: Include four sources for your Annotated Bibliography

-One of your sources needs to be a Ted Talk

- Three of your articles/sources must come from MState’s Library Databases. I recommend starting with Megafile (Ebscohost) . Do not use any Encyclopedia (or Overview) sources for this assignment.

[Note from Nancy: Your Research Proposal must include all the sections listed on this sheet. Edit for sentence-level errors. No AI-produced text or plagiarism allowed.

Problem-Solving Essay (200 pts.)

1400 words minimum, plus a Works Cited Page

Times New Roman, 12-point font, typed-double spaced (MLA style)

Sources: You must use at least 4 credible sources for this essay (1 Ted Talk and 3 articles from MState’s Library Databases).

Writing Situation: You have recently become aware of a problem or situation that is troublesome to a group of people. Your role as a writer and researcher is to provide several examples of the problem and then offer ways your audience can address/fix/combat the problem in their own lives.

Topics: You will need to identify a current problem (or issue) that your audience can take steps to solve, address, or fix. It’s important to choose a topic with real-world solutions. For example, a topic such as the one presented by Barry Schwartz in “The Paradox of Choice,” would work well for a Problem-Solving Essay.

The Problem: too many choices negatively affect people’s well-being

Examples: (give at least three researched examples). (You can add a fourth from your personal experience.)

Solutions: (give the audience at least three ways to address this problem in their own lives)

Spend some time exploring your personal interests for possible topics. The best place to start is with the Ted Talk you posted to Discussions. If there wasn’t a problem or issue addressed in the Ted Talk, you’ll need to find a different one you can use for this assignment.

Off-limit topics: political figures, gun control, legalizing marijuana, the drinking age, and abortion.

Steps:

Write the Research Proposal (see Page 2 of this handout)

Write the Essay

Essay Requirements: The following points are guidelines for you to consider when constructing your essay. Most of the points will need to be addressed; however, individual topics will determine the degree to which each aspect is developed. Remember, your overall goal is to get your audience to accept your proposal for a solution to a problem or issue.

Introductory Paragraphs: Your introduction should engage your audience and then briefly explain your topic and why it is important. Unlike other shorter papers, your thesis statement may not appear in the first paragraph. Your introduction, as a whole, should be between two and four paragraphs in length.

Some ideas for organizing your introduction:

1. The first paragraph should “hook” your readers and get them interested in the problem at hand.

2. The next one to three paragraphs should give an overview of the problem. Give the “big picture” here.

Body: Include Researched Examples of the Problem/Issue:

Demonstrate the problem exists by giving examples, statistics, and information from expert outside sources. You will need at least three separate examples of the problem. This section should be between 2 and 4 pages in length.

Problem-Solving Section: How do you propose your audience fixes the problem?

Give your audience at least three specific ways to address/solve/fix the problem. This section needs to be one-three paragraphs in length.

Conclusion: Wrap-up your essay as a whole. You can remind your audience why following your advice will lead to better outcomes for them and others.

Research: You should be able to use the research you conducted for your Research Proposal. If you need to find more sources, you can continue researching in MState’s library databases.

Quoting from Sources: No more than 15% of your paper should be directly quoted from outside sources, so make sure to use summary and paraphrasing techniques. Work on integrating outside sources smoothly into your own sentences by providing a signal-phrase and author tags to introduce the quote. Do not drop quotes into your paper. Remember that whenever you use any information from an outside source, whether it is word for word or it is paraphrased by you, you must give credit to the original source.

Giving credit to the original source:

1. Use a signal phrase (author tag) to introduce the quote or paraphrase (As Susan Smith suggests...).

2. Use quotations marks around any borrowed words (three or more consecutive words from the original source).

3. If you quote, quote exactly.

4. If you paraphrase or summarize, make sure you change the wording significantly. Remember, you still have to cite paraphrased and summarized information.

5. Write a Works Cited Entry for all the sources used in the paper (only cite sources you actually use in your paper).

Evaluation: You will be evaluated on the following points:

● Full development of all the points outlined in this assignment

●make sure to meet the minimum word requirement

● Well-developed paragraphs with smooth transitions between paragraphs

● Ample and solid evidence from credible sources

● Clear and solid focus and organization

● Adherence to MLA guidelines for style and citations, include Works Cited Page

● A final draft that is free from grammatical, stylistic, and mechanical problems

●No AI-generated text. No plagiarism, either intentional or unintentional

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