research essay

Unit 7 ENG 120

Research Essay

Due: 11:59 PM EST Sunday

The Research Essay will require you to research and choose readings to incorporate into your essay. After reading and watching the content on

Research Essays, choose one of the following topics for your essay (listed below). Be sure to choose a position on the topic. For example, if you

choose music therapy, be sure to discuss if music therapy benefits clients more than being prescribed medications. Think about the possible negatives

and positives for each topic to narrow the topics below. The essay will be four to five pages in length and employ APA format.

Follow these guidelines to write your Research Essay:

 The Research Essay should be four to five pages in length and include at least three scholarly sources. Choose one of the following topics

and choose one position on the topic:

o Art/music therapy

o Holistic medicine

o Healthcare

o Education reform

o Social media

o Free Birth Control

o Male/female roles and stereotypes

o Nutrition

o Plagiarism and cheating

o Nature versus nurture

 Include an APA title page

 Include APA in-text citations wherever you reference the text.

 Include a reference page in APA format.

 Be objective and avoid using “I”, “you”, and “we”.

Students: Be sure to read the criteria, by which your paper/project will be evaluated, before you write, and again after you write.

Research Essay Rubric

Unsatisfactory – 1 Developing – 2 Proficient – 3 Exemplary – 4

Organization The student does not tie

information together or

demonstrate an understanding

of relationships among

materials. The essay does not

flow and appears to be

created from dissimilar

issues.

The student does little to tie

information together from all

sources and does not

demonstrate an understanding

of the relationship among

material obtained from all

sources. The essay does not

flow and disjointedness is

apparent.

The student attempts to tie

information together and

demonstrate an understanding

of the relationship among

material obtained from all

sources. The paper flows with

little disjointedness.

The student ties information

together and demonstrates an

understanding of the

relationship among material

obtained from all sources. The

paper flows well from one

issue to the next.

Thesis

Statement

The thesis statement is not

clearly defined.

The thesis statement is too

broad for the scope of the

research essay.

The thesis statement is focused

but lacks direction. The paper

is about a specific topic but the

writer has not established a

position.

The thesis statement is focused

narrowly enough for the scope

of the research essay and

provides direction for the

paper.

Integration of

Information

The student does not

demonstrate a full

understanding or application

of concepts learned in the

course.

Student, to a certain extent,

understands and has applied

concepts learned in the course.

Student, for the most part,

understands and has applied

concepts learned in the course.

Some of the conclusions,

however, are not supported in

the body of the paper.

The student fully understands

and has applied concepts

learned in the course and

provides concluding remarks

that show analysis and

synthesis of ideas.

APA

Format

There is no evidence of

proper APA style anywhere

in the research essay.

The research essay contains

more than seven APA errors

in title page, objective tone,

citation, and active voice.

The research essay contains

four to six errors in APA style

title page, objective tone,

citation, and active voice.

The research essay contains

fewer than three errors in APA

style title page, objective tone,

citation, and active voice.

Grammar,

Mechanics

Errors in mechanics make the

research essay difficult to

understand.

There are seven or more errors

in mechanics, usage, grammar,

or spelling.

There are four to six errors in

mechanics, usage, grammar, or

spelling.

There are fewer than three

errors in mechanics, usage,

grammar, or spelling.

20 = 100% 16 = 90% 12 = 79% 8 = 70%

19 = 98% 15 = 87% 11 = 77% 7 = 68%

18 = 96% 14 = 84% 10 = 75% 6 = 66%

17 = 93% 13 = 81% 9 = 73% 5 = 64%

*A zero can be earned if the above criteria are not met.