Assignments

OVERVIEW

In this class’s assignment sequence, you are asked to prepare and launch a platform (s) for content creation (examples include Shopify, Substrack, YouTube, X, Facebook, TikTok, Etsy, and/or Instagram). In the first assignment, you will pick and research an issue and a theme for your platform. In the second assignment, you are asked to further investigate the issue and theme, making a specific research-based argument on the issue and theme. In the last assignment, you are asked to start an online business or influencer platform. You are welcome to complete the project individually  or in teams of 4-6. The grade will be the same for everyone who chooses to be in a team. The requirements below are per individual, which means that you must multiply the requirements, such as the number of required sources, by the number of team members.

UNIT ONE: ANALYSIS

Context and Description: In this assignment, you are asked to identify an issue, search and locate sources of information on it by engaging in primary and secondary research, list quotes and paraphrases of prominent ideas, summarize each source, analyze the information critically, synthesize the information and your analyses, and put it all together in a well-organized reflective annotated bibliography. From quoting to rhetorical analysis and all the steps in between, you will learn to develop unpack dense information, read between the lines, and articulate insightful information and connections. See This Link about Honeybees for an example of an expert sharing their synthesis of research. You want to develop the same depth of expertise and communicate about your issue with equal quality.

To begin the process, you’ll need to develop an awareness of the main scholarly research results and non-scholarly information surrounding the issue you choose to study. Once you identify a major issue within or outside your profession that experts have been discussing and that you are motivated to explore, you are asked to engage in extensive research to understand the ‘conversation’ that has been happening among scholars/experts and stakeholders on that issue.

Requirements:

1. Use this Reflective Annotated Bibliography Handout as a guide to complete your assignment. Here’s a Student Sample.
2. Use at least 2 scholarly sources (one book chapter and one academic journal article) and 3 non-scholarly sources (news sources, government, commercial, and educational websites/reports).
3. Your sixth entry must use primary research. You are highly encouraged to interview a professor at Baruch who is an expert on your topic. If you cannot find an expert, you can do a Qualtrics/Google Forms Survey. At least one of the goals of your primary research should be to establish that there is a problem that is serious and that you can help solve with your research and writing.
4. Write a Rhetorical Analysis Letter. To help you in this process, answer the questions in this Rhetorical Analysis Guide for each of your sources to provide you with the information you need. In at least 500 words, using proper letter formatting, write a letter addressed to me with a rationale that answers the following questions/criteria:

1. 1. 1. The first sentence of your letter must be the main idea or analysis (also known as thesis statement) of all your sources together. The information in your thesis statement must follow the same order of information in the rest of your letter.
      2. You must explicitly demonstrate your rhetorical analysis of the sources. This refers to your ability to connect the purpose(s) of each source, the audience(s) of each source, and the impact of tone, genre, and media/mode of communication on the purpose and audience of the sources. These constraints must be explicitly discussed.
      3. You must synthesize between ideas, explain various relationships between ideas within and across your sources (consequence, definition, solution, explanation, examples, cause, agreement, differences, etc.). As you establish the relationships between sources, state what each source adds to the ‘conversation’ about the issue. Another way to think of this aspect is to ask yourself: how does each source communicate with the other? For example, one source provides more details than another on a particular issue, discusses the definition of an important concept, builds on the definition of the concept in another source, addresses the causes or consequences of your issue, approaches the same issue from a different perspective, or provides a solution to a problem raised in a different source.
      4. You must refer to ALL six sources in this letter so that you can explain the logical relationship between the ideas of each source.
      5. Include the synthesis letter at the top of your annotated bibliography.

Project Objectives: 1. Learn to analyze content critically; 2. Learn to draw connections between different ideas; 3. Be able to conduct research and identify relevant, reliable, and interesting information on a particular issue; 4. Be able to identify and use credible/reliable sources of information to answer research questions in preparation for a research-based argument paper; Be able to conduct a rigorous rhetorical analysis

Submission and Deadlines: All due dates are in the Course Schedule. Drafts 1 and 2 must be continuously revised  within Google Drive and available before the date they are due. The Final Draft must be available in the Google Drive before the beginning of the class when the course schedule indicates it’s due.

Grading:  Please find information here on: General Grading and Assignment Grading

Keywords: Analysis; Synthesizing Information; Secondary Research; APA Source Citation

Notes & Bonus Points: While conducting the interview is highly encouraged if you choose one research method only for your analysis paper’s primary research entry, if you decide to do both a survey and an interview, you are eligible for up to 2 bonus points. The interview allows you to begin building a relationship with a faculty member within your major. Faculty-student relationships are shown to be the most important aspect of a college education. See this link for example for a study that shows that a caring professor determines how happy and successful a student will be in their future career. You’re highly encouraged to make the interview your priority and schedule it as early as possible during the semester. Get in touch with a professor ASAP, the same day when you know your research topic. If somehow you really struggle finding a professor to interview, you can always do a survey with, for example, fellow classmates. For the survey, you’ll need at least 30 respondents. Finally, you can get another 2 bonus points by reading a source in another language and summarize it in that language or English.

UNIT TWO: RESEARCH-BASED ARGUMENT

Context and Description: This assignment asks you to produce a research-based argumentative paper by building on the research you conducted for your analysis assignment. By now, you proposed and received approval to study an issue you care about, you read informative sources, summarized, analyzed, and synthesized them, and you reported the results of an interview or survey you conducted to complement any gaps in your knowledge about the issue. For this assignment, you are asked to use your research in the previous assignment and build on it by producing a thesis statement on the issue you studied and supporting it with reliable research-based evidence. Your task is to use evidence from your existing research to support this thesis.

Sample Writing Scenario: With any writing you do, please be sure to  identify your own rhetorical situation to ensure that your writing is meaningful.  Remember that a rhetorical situation includes the exigence that prompts the writer to write about a certain topic, the purpose of a piece of writing and its author’s information, the intended audience and its constraints on the writing, the mode and medium of communication, and the genre of writing. Your audience, for example, would include your peers in class and, for example, Baruch students and beyond if you publish your essay in Refract Magazine, which you’re encouraged to do!

Requirements:

1. 1800 words, double-spaced, using times new roman, and 12 point size. Use APA.
2. Use at least 10 sources for the paper, including all the ones you used in your Analysis paper. At least one scientific journal article, one book chapter, a report by a government agency or other organization is optional (ex. 2016-Edition CSR-S Monitor Report), and as many other relevant sources such as magazine articles, popular science articles, and news articles as possible must be utilized.
3. All your analysis paper sources must be used in this paper to reinforce your expertise in approaching writing as a process. To avoid overquoting. choose the best quotes to include in this paper and paraphrase any other ones you may wish to use.
4. As a first draft of this assignment, produce a detailed outline with all the sources you will use in the research paper. You will then expand the outline itself into a full paper due on the second draft due date.
5. Here’s the sample of a former student who wrote an excellent argument about bilingualism: Sample Argument Assignment.

Project Objectives: 1. Learn to write an academic research paper; 3. Learn to employ credible research to persuade an audience to achieve a specific purpose; 4. Learn to bring together the results of a months-long writing process to fruition in the form of a comprehensive argument; 5. Develop new knowledge of a topic for oneself and others, informed by personal experience, primary research, and existing knowledge.

Submission and Deadlines: All due dates are in the Course Schedule. Drafts 1 and 2 must be continuously revised  within Google Drive and available before the date they are due. The Final Draft must be available in the Google Drive before the beginning of the class when the course schedule indicates it’s due.

Grading:  Please find information here on: General Grading and Assignment Grading

Keywords: Argument; Research; Persuasion; Evidence; Fallacies; Stasis; Toulmin; Rhetorical Analysis

UNIT THREE: MULTIMODAL PLATFORM

Description: You are asked to build content for an audience through an online platform. The content should be impactful, authentic, coherent, meaningful, and purpose-driven. Examples might include a vlogging travel channel, a Fantasy Premier League channel, or a food channel.

You are asked to launch a platform (s) for content creation, which can include Shopify, Substrack, YouTube, X, Facebook, TikTok, Etsy, and/or Instagram.  You might choose to start an online business or influencer content-creation platform. You are welcome to complete the project individually  or in teams of 4-6. The grade will be the same for everyone who chooses to be in a team.

Requirements:

Content: Your content must be meaningful, engaging, focused, and creative. It should provide value for your audience, and should draw on your research earlier in the semester in some way. You should have a focused purpose, interesting content, relevant to a specific audience, be timely in light of news and cultural events, and address a problem in the world. Your work must not be created for the professor. The professor will evaluate your effectiveness in communicating effectively with a specific public audience, such as young college students, young women, English fantasy soccer fans, etc.

Organization: You should have a clear plan for how often to post to your platform, the length of your content. and the format of your content. Your content should be logical and not disorienting to the reader.

Visuals: Your content must use relevant and appropriate visuals to attract your audience and keep them engaged. Ideas should be followed easily without confusing. Visuals must enhance and facilitate understanding of the content.

Conventions: Content should meet the expectations of your audience and what is typically posted on the platform.

Submission: Use the deadlines in the course schedule. Submit the link to your content in the class Google Drive.

Scope: As an example, if your launch a YouTube channel, you’d want to create a logo, an introductory video, and one or more videos with content. Your YouTube channel could have, for example, 10 minutes worth of content, which could be between 2 longer videos, 5 short ones, or  10 really short ones like Reels or Shorts.