ENGLISH PAPER TOPICS THIRD PAPER THE RESEARCH ESSAY OVERVIEW This paper will -

ENGLISH PAPER TOPICS

THIRD PAPER THE RESEARCH ESSAY

OVERVIEW This paper will be a 6 page, 1.5 or 2.0-spaced, typed analytical “research essay” and not simply a review or a summary of themes and ideas.

THE RESEARCH ESSAY A research essay proposes an argument and supports it with evidence drawing on textual sources, facts and other forms of reasoning. The main difference from other forms of essays is that a research essay includes a much larger variety of sources. These sources might do one of three things in a research paper:

(a) paint a picture of either the larger state of knowledge or the significant debates within the field of your topic;

(b) support your claims and main thesis argument; and/or or

contrary to your own.

Because it is so source-dependent, the effective research essay relies upon specific and frequent citation from its sources in order to be credible. At the same time it should also not lose sight of the fact that it is written and argued from the position of the writer—it requires a distinct thesis argument and should not simply be a summary of the views of others.

To keep these points in mind, I call our research essay an “analytical research essay.” Our Empoword textbook outlines some of the basic goals and expectations of the academic research essay (Part Three, Research and Argumentation).

OPEN TOPIC This is an “open topic” paper that should address any topic that touches directly or indirectly on any ONE of the following four (4) subjects:

SURVEILLANCE, DEMOCRACY + CIVIL RIGHTS, #METOO/FEMINISM, OR TECHNOLOGY

The topic allows you to revisit the topics of our class or to bridge them with your own areas of academic interest (you should NOT of course resubmit material from earlier papers in this course or papers from other courses in any form).

You may also choose to work on a research topic that you have not explored this term before but may be of interest. Some examples include: driverless cars; Wikileaks, Anonymous and “democratic” hacking; e-sports; online bullying; “designer babies”; civil rights or privacy rights in the digital age; law enforcement and policing (ex: #blacklivesmatter ; how do activists use social media?; when can citizens legally film/record the police?); creativity and copyright (online file sharing); Canada’s controversial bill C-51… Of course even popular topics should still be examined and explored through the use of academic and scholarly sources.

Whatever topic or subject you choose to write on I expect that you will respond critically, thoughtfully, and with appropriate textual citations documented according to basic academic standards.

FINAL “RESEARCH PAPER” REQUIREMENTS

ONE The final paper should make use of and cite from a minimum of one (1) text (film, reading or class handout) from our readings this term.

TWO In total, the final paper should include a minimum of five (5) sources. ** At least three (3) of those sources should be from academic peer-reviewed journals found in our library’s online database. All of the five (5) sources should be academically credible.

Additional sources NOT from our assigned class readings or NOT from academic databases must be academically credible. Sources about your topic on the open Internet are, generally speaking, NOT academically credible. Above all, ask your instructor if you have questions.

AUDIENCE The “audience” for your papers in this course is not the instructor but a general academic audience. This means you can make assumptions about the reader’s general (cultural, historical, factual) knowledge. However, you may not assume that he/she has textual familiarity with our course readings. In short, you must introduce your sources and texts from the “ground up,” as you will be asked to do for all of the writings for this course.

FORMAT The paper should follow the MLA citation format outlined in class, including properly located name, date, instructor and course information, in-text parenthetical citations, and a “Works Cited” page. Your “Works Cited” page does not count towards your total page count.

GUIDELINES This paper will be marked according to the following: clarity of presentation of ideas, including the absence of grammatical and other sentence-level errors; originality and clarity of thesis argument and development of a thesis; supporting of claims by textual citation or other evidence; demonstration of techniques and “best” writing practices covered in earlier assignments and course readings; precision of reading comprehension; adherence to requirements of the assignment. The credibility of your selected sources and frequency of citation of those sources are given special added weight in a research paper assignment, as they will be here.

DUE DATES

STEP ONE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. ASSEMBLE FIVE POSSIBLE ACADEMICALLY

CREDIBLE SOURCES FOR YOUR FINAL PAPER, WITH AT LEAST THREE OF THOSE SOURCES FROM THE DOUGLAS COLLEGE LIBRARY DATABASE. USE THE MLA FORMAT “WORKS CITED” PAGE FORMAT FOR EACH SOURCE. UNDERNEATH EACH ENTRY ADD A THREE SENTENCE (MINIMUM) SUMMARY OF THE SOURCE. THE TWO SENTENCES WILL BRIEFLY SUMMARIZE YOUR SOURCE. THE THIRD SENTENCE WILL DISCUSS HOW YOU WILL USE IT IN YOUR PAPER (WHY DID YOU PICK THE SOURCE? WHAT WILL IT SHOW? WILL IT DISAGREE OR AGREE WITH YOUR MAIN ARGUMENT?). AFTER THAT, AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE INCLUDE THE NAME OF THREE (3) ACADEMIC JOURNALS THAT MIGHT BE RELEVANT FOR YOUR PAPER – DUE IN YOUR

STEP THREE COMPLETE ONLINE PAPER REVISION EXERCISE IN THE “FINAL PAPER