reaserch paper --- Topic : ( using Cell phones effect the social community)

Researched Argumentative Project

Proposal: 3/21 Annotated Bibliography: 4/3 Workshop: 4/26 Final: 5/1

re·search noun

the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

ar·gu·ment noun

an exchange of diverging or opposite views

a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong.

By this point in the semester, you have learned a multitude of writing skills. You have learned to rhetorically analyze, carefully summarize, and thoughtfully critique the ideas and texts of others. You have also begun to hone your grammatical and technical skills. Now, in your final major assignment in this course, you will combine all of these skills in order to construct an argumentative research project.

This project consists of multiple research elements that will help you understand and utilize the writing process for college-level research. You will craft a research proposal, create an annotated bibliography, construct a researched article, and build a brief counterargument article.

As always, I encourage you to choose a topic in which you are interested. Remember, it’s very difficult to write about something you don’t care about, so feel free to choose a topic relevant to your major, hobbies, social interest, etc. However, be sure to keep in mind our list of NO-FLY topics: gun control, abortion, the Black Lives Matter movement, gay rights, the war in the Middle East, and marijuana legalization. The goal here is to try and find a space for your own voice on a topic, so try to avoid the obvious subjects which have been overly-argued about. It is also important that you choose a topic about which you can offer an argument. For instance, writing a paper on the history of red lipstick is not argumentative, but writing a paper on red lipstick as a feminist statement through history is definitely argumentative. Just keep in mind the purpose of this project to to present an argument supported by academic research.

Project Requirements

Proposal – 10%

· 2-3 pages

· Proper formatting (see Proposal Guide and Model)

Annotated Bibliography – 15%

· At least four sources

· At least one journal article, at least one non-traditional resource

· Proper formatting (see Badass Anno Bib Guide and Model)

Researched Argumentative Article – 65%

· 5-6 pages

· MLA format

· Correctly formatted in-text citations

· Correctly formatted Works Cited page

· At least one relevant image to support argument (properly cited)

Counterargument – 10%

· 1-2 pages

· MLA format

· Written from opposing perspective

· Utilizes at least one logical fallacy

The Proposal

The purpose of a research proposal is to help you narrow down your research topic and begin to plan your overall research project. As the name would suggest, your proposal will propose or suggest what you would like to research and how you would like to research your topic. Research proposals may be brief for lower-division undergraduate classes (1-3 pages) or extensive for upper-division or graduate-level classes (5-25 pages). For this assignment, your proposal should be between 2 and 3 pages in length.

The first step is to choose a research topic. For this assignment, you should begin by choosing a general topic in which you are interested. You may find it helpful to choose a topic related to your major. Thus, if you are an English major, and you might choose the author Edgar Allan Poe as your topic. This is obviously a very broad topic, so narrow down your interest. Try to brainstorm more specific aspects of your topic through very general research about what you already know.

The next step is to formulate a research question. Your question needs to be one that you can actually answer within the requirements of your essay. For this class, your final research project should be between 8 and 10 pages, so you need to make sure your research question is specific enough to be answered within 5-6 pages, but not so specific you cannot generate enough content to meet the length requirement.

You should begin to seek out secondary sources through the library. Remember that you should only be utilizing academic resources, i.e. journal articles, databases, academic anthologies, etc. Include in your proposal what you have already found, where you found it, and what you will continue to look for as your research continues.

You should then develop a research project schedule. This schedule should include all major due dates as well as your own personal goals for completing stages of the process.

The last section of your proposal should contain your conclusion regarding why and how you would like to develop your research project. You should also request permission to begin your research from your instructor.

The Annotated Bibliography

The purpose of an annotated bibliography is twofold. First, an anno bib helps you keep track of your research by allowing you to record your reactions to each source you read or see. Second, it helps me (your instructor) understand where you are in your research process. Creating an annotated bibliography is a lot like making a Works Cited page, except you create an annotation – a detailed comment – about each source you’ve listed. The annotations for each bibliographic entry should summarize, analyze, and reflect on the purpose and relevance of the source to your research.

Your annotated bibliography should contain at least secondary four sources, all of which must be relevant to your research. At least one of those sources must be an academic journal article. At least one source should be non-traditional: YouTube video, documentary, political speech, infographic, etc. Your remaining sources may be whatever genre you choose. Each source should be carefully annotated. I warn you now, do not simply use a citation machine or export a source’s citation from the library website. These are often incorrect, and your grade on the anno bib relies heavily on correct formatting.

The Researched Argumentative Article

After crafting a research proposal and an annotated bibliography of sources, you are ready to write your researched argumentative article. Your article should offer a brief outline of your topic, clearly present your argument on the topic, and carefully utilize secondary sources to support your argument. While writing your article, imagine that the intended audience is your fellow classmates. Therefore, you should express your ideas and your opinions in such a way that is accessible yet formal enough to be appropriate for a college classroom.

A successful researched article will achieve the following:

· Have an interesting and thought-provoking title

· Present a clear thesis statement that details your opinion on the research topic and provides your “road map” of evidence

· Give a concise (less than two paragraphs) overview of the arguments and/or any socio-historical context necessary to understanding your research topic

· Incorporate academic sources that support your argument

· Show intentional organization skills in the arrangements of your main points of evidence

· Employ logic and rhetoric to persuade your audience

· Demonstrate an awareness of the rhetorical context surrounding your topic

· Utilize one visual element (a painting, photograph, meme, etc.) that adds context to your argument

· Include proper MLA in-text citation and a works cited page

Your researched article should follow strict MLA citation and formatting style, and should be 5-6full pages in length. Your works cited page should include a minimum of 5 sources (not including primary sources and the citation for your image). You may choose to include all or some of the sources you located in your annotated bibliography. In addition, you should remember that your works cited page does NOT count towards your minimum page requirement. Whatever visual element you choose to include should take up one quarter of a page or less. The purpose of this component of your project is to allow you to demonstrate your ability to conduct academic research and support your opinions with evidence and reasoning.

The Counterargument

A counterargument offers an opposing perspective on a topic. The value of writing a counterargument lies in learning to consider ideas and opinions outside of our own. This allows us not only to challenge our beliefs and ideas in a meaningful and healthy way but also strengthen our ability to anticipate arguments our audience might pose while reading our writing.

A successful researched counterargument should accomplish the following:

· Have an interesting and thought-provoking title

· Adopt and effectively argue an opposing perspective on your topic

· Incorporate at least one academic source that supports your counterargument

· Effectively utilize at least one logical fallacy

· Follow strict MLA citation and formatting

· Respond thoughtfully to your researched article

· Include a works cited page

Your researched counterargument needs to be 1-2 full pages in length and demonstrate grammatical and technical proficiency. You should incorporate at least one academic source to support your counterargument, but you may include up to three as you see fit. The purpose of this component of your project is to allow you to demonstrate your ability to carefully consider opposing perspectives.