Final Project:. Analytical Research Paper + Creative Re-Mix
Timeline:
Wednesday, April 8th – Post three possible research ideas to blog
Monday, April 13th – Proposal Due
Monday, April 20th – Bibliography and Preliminary Outline Due
Monday, April 27th – Draft Due
Monday, May 4th – Analytical Research Papers Due (uploaded to turnitin.com)
Wednesday, May 13th – Presentation of Creative Re-Mix Projects
Analytical Research Paper
6-8 pages, 12pt type, double-spaced, with one-inch margins
This is an analytical research paper. This means that you will not simply be collecting information about your topic; you will also be interpreting your research findings and drawing conclusions about your topic.
Topics: Your first task is to come up with a topic for your research paper. Your topic should be related in some way to the crisis that we find ourselves in – to some aspect of the Coronavirus pandemic.
By Monday, April 13th you will submit your paper topic in writing, either in the form of a one-paragraph articulation of the topic, a traditional outline, or some combination of those two formats. You should be able to express your topic in terms of a single question that will guide your research. Then think about the writing of the paper as an effort to answer your research question. As you develop your topic, keep in mind the following questions:
–Is this an interesting topic? It’s particularly important that the topic genuinely interest you!
–Can I find adequate sources to research this topic?
— Is this a topic that will yield analysis, rather than simply the reporting of information?
–Is this topic either too broad or too narrow for a paper of this length?
Sources: In writing this paper, you must draw from a minimum of four sources. You will cite your sources in accordance with the MLA guidelines (8th Edition). We will be reviewing the guidelines together, and you will receive separate information with more detailed instructions about using and citing sources.
Once you’ve gotten the green light, your next step is to assemble your source materials, keeping in mind the requirements spelled out in the research paper assignment. If you are having difficulty locating sufficient source material on your topic, seek help from a research librarian or from Professor Sylvor.
Read and take notes. Be sure to use a note-taking system that allows you to keep close track of your sources. Notes should include paraphrase, summary, direct quotes, and your own observations about the source.
Review your notes and using them as your guide, create an outline for your paper.
Write a draft of your paper, keeping in mind the following:
- At the end of your introduction, your reader should have a clear sense of where the paper is headed. Your introduction should establish your topic, spell out the question that is guiding your research, and indicate what areas you’ll be looking at in order to answer the question.
- When you use source material, you will be citing your source parenthetically, giving the author’s name (if you haven’t mentioned it in the body of your paper) and page number, where applicable. You will include this parenthetical citation anytime you quote directly from a source, paraphrase a source, or refer to information or ideas gleaned from a source.
- Include enough quoted material to back up your claims, but not so much that it appears that you’re quoting more than you’re actually writing. Quote only what’s absolutely necessary to make your point; err on the side of shorter rather than longer quotations.
- When you introduce quoted material, don’t assume that I understand what’s significant about the quote. You need to be explicit in explaining what its importance is and how it relates to your overall analysis.
- Don’t forget that, in addition to sharing your research findings, your job is to draw conclusions based on your research. Your conclusion should spell out the answer you’ve come up with to the question you articulated in your introduction. You probably won’t know what the answer is until you’ve actually written the first draft of the paper. Imagine a reader who arrives at the end of your paper and asks, “so what?” Be sure that your conclusion anticipates that question and provides a response.
Once you’ve taken a break from the paper, return to your draft and edit it, paying attention to spelling and grammatical issues, but also to issues of content and organization. Don’t forget to review the paper’s structure at this point. Does your introduction establish a “road map” for the paper? Does each of your body paragraphs begin with a topic sentence? Have you written a conclusion that extends your paper from description into analysis by explaining what the significance of your findings is?
Based on these edits, revise your paper as necessary.
Create a Works Cited page that lists all the sources you refer to in your paper. (This page should say “Works Cited” at the top of the page.) This is different from a bibliography; a bibliography lists all the works you’ve consulted, but a Works Cited list includes only those sources you’ve actually quoted or referred to in your paper. Here too you will be following MLA 8th Edition (2016) guidelines in formatting your entries.
Creative Re-Mix:
At the same time that you are researching your topic and writing your analytical research paper, you should also be thinking about how you want to present your topic in your “creative re-mix.”. The re-mix project gives you an opportunity to explore your subject in a more creative, subjective way. It’s up to you to decide what form your re-mix should take and how it should relate to your research paper.
Some possible formats I could imagine using for the creative re-mix are:
Comic strip/cartoon
Blog
Video
Photo essay
Creative writing (short story, poetry, song)
Visual art
Interview
Interactive map
Timeline
Podcast
Oral history
Your Creative Re-Mix should take a form that you can upload or link to on our course blog. On our final day of class (May 13th), you will be presenting your project to the class.
Topic Ideas
You are, of course, encouraged to come up with your own topic. This list is just to get your creative juices flowing. I hope you will choose something that aligns with your own interests. If you feel strongly that you do NOT want to research our current situation, please reach out to me immediately with an alternative proposal.
Coronavirus and Gen Z
How will Coronavirus change society?
Distance Learning
Coronavirus and Income Inequality
The Ethics of Rationing Medical Care in a Pandemic
Social Media in the Age of Covid
Donald Trump and the Coronavirus
Red States / Blue States and Coronavirus
Vaccine Research and Coronavirus
Isolation and the Elderly in the Age of Coronavirus
Flu Pandemic of 1918
Leadership during Crisis
Covid 19 in Prisons
English 2150
Spring 2020
Professor Sylvor
Essay #1: Personal Narrative
3-5 pages, 12 pt. type, double-spaced
Draft Due: Monday, February 10th in class. Bring three hard copies of your draft with you to class.
Essay Due: Monday, February 17th, uploaded to turnitin.com by midnight.
For this first formal writing assignment, respond to one of the prompts below. Remember that in order to be successful, a personal essay much be rich in detail. As you draft and revise, be careful not to fall back on generic formulations or clichés. Think about anchoring your essay in a particular anecdote or example that will bring your ideas to life and make your experience concrete for your reader. A successful essay will read as if only YOU could have authored it!
- Describe an experience in which you (or your family) were “displaced.” What was it like to move into a new and unfamiliar space, either literally or metaphorically? What significance d id this displacement hold for you? What happened? What was your experience like? What issues were raised for you by this transition?
- Describe a leave-taking that you have experienced. Again, this could be literal or metaphoric. What were you separated from and why? Dig deep to figure out the emotional, psychological, or cultural significance of your leave-taking experience.
- Explore a place that is meaningful to you (a la Andre Aciman). What layers of memory or emotion are encapsulated for you in this particular place? What narrative(s) does this place connect to for you? What is the relationship between this place and the larger story of your life?
- Using Tan and Rodriguez as your jumping off point, explore your relationship to language. What different “languages” do you speak? What does it mean to move between or among different linguistic modes? How do these languages reflect or express the various aspects of your identity?
