Research Paper about youth suicide

Final Research Paper: What’s the New Cognition? Estrangement in Octavia’s Brood

For your final paper, please select a novum you find cognitively estranging in one short story. Using outside research, write a 6-8 page, double spaced, 1 inch margins, 12pt font, Times New Roman research paper that investigates the new cognition the estrangement leads you to explore. The page requirement does NOT include the Works Cited.

Organization, Section I

2 paragraphs that outline the claim, complete with stakes. Recall, strong claims are specific, take a stand on something controversial, and they matter. Your claim should provide a map for the paper.

· This part you will constantly be revising

· Most important part of paper

· Functions as a map, all the important points are mapped in claim, then expanded in the other sections (Think Suvin Summary, Paragraph 1)

section 2

2 paragraphs that introduce the short story, name a specific novum, discuss why it’s estranging for you (first person), what assumption it interrupts for you, and what new cognition you have reached because of this estrangement. This section must have:

· A definition of cognitive estrangement (borrow from Summary Papers) which includes a proper introduction of the essay and the author Darko Suvin. Include an explanation of why reading science fiction is good for current political struggles. I suggest beginning this section with Suvin.

· A proper introduction of the short story and author

· One specific novum

· A quote describing the novum, properly cited from the short story

· A description of why it is estranging for you (no one else)

Name the assumption/social norm it interrupts

· Describe the new thinking this estrangement generates/BRIDGE to research focus

· The short story is just a springboard, a place to launch the rest of your paper from. It is the inspiration behind the exploration of whatever social issue you chose. Here is one way to transition in Section 2:

· In “Estrangement and Cognition,” Darko Suvin argues SF can lead to social change because it has the potential to change how readers understand themselves and their worlds. The novum, or new thing, in an otherwise recognizable environment, creates a distance between the reader and what she thinks she already knows. This distance engenders a critical vantage on a norm or assumption which allows new thinking, or a new cognition, on an otherwise unquestioned subject.

In Vagabond’s “Kafka’s Last Laugh” the lack of voting was a novum that estranged me. [insert quote describing the lack of voting]. This is estranging to me because I grew up being told that my vote matters. My alienation […] led me to question my assumption about […]. My estrangement in the short story leads me to consider the current debates about activism, art and social change. More specifically, I am interested in how […] and I argue […]

Section III:

Two or Three paragraphs describing the problem . Persuasively paint a picture of the context you are writing within. Use your research strategically, and in a focused manner, to set up the social issue you choose. (Who, what, where, when, etc.)

· How you describe the problem should be carefully considered. Remember, this is an argument paper, so you want to intentionally portray the problem in a way that sets you up to make a powerful claim.

· Use (and explain) specialized terms particular to your topic

· Quote experts to help frame the problem (1 quote per paragraph, using Quote Method)

· Show the complexity of your issue

· Make your reader care

Section IV

Use your research to write a few paragraphs describing the differing sides of the debate . Remember, most issues have more than two sides. This section should strategically describe who is saying what about your social issue. You can’t summarize everyone, so pick strategically. Who/or what perspective do you see yourself arguing with??? You must narrow in on who you are debating with and summarize the pieces of their claim relevant to your claim.

There should be a lot of “According to So and So, the leading expert on blahblah […]” and “However, policy expert So and So suggests the opposite in her article “Blah blah blah” where she argues for blah.” Use: Conversely, On the other hand, Similarly, Interestingly…

Section v

Write at least TWO Paragraphs inserting what you are arguing about the issue —what are you contributing to these debates? What are they missing, misreading, or ignoring (for example)? What are you arguing? Take a stand. This is YOU talking to the experts in Section 4, about the problem described in Section 3.

Time to interject your claim within the context you created thus far. Three Strategies:

1) Agreeing but with a difference

2) Disagreeing with Reasons

3) Okay, but…

See “They Say, I Say”: Entering Academic Conversations