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Assignment 3: Possible Research Topics Essay
Directions for the Paper
For the final essay in this course, you will write a fully developed research essay. To do so, we will work toward that goal throughout this course. In this essay, you will share three topics of interest to you that you are considering for that final research essay. Because your final research project will be the focal point of the rest of the course, you want to be sure to pick a topic that can sustain your interest as you work for the next five weeks.
To prepare for this essay, use a prewriting technique, such as brainstorming or free writing, to think about issues that are of concern to you. If you are a parent, you might consider issues about your children’s education, including the need for strong math and science instruction throughout their educations, or about their physical health and the need for responsible choices in school lunches and for mandatory physical education in every grade of school. As a student yourself, you might choose to talk about how to revise Federal Student Aid programs to best support students, or you might consider investigating the most promising careers for students graduating in the next five years.
You could investigate bullying in schools, the importance of early childhood education, the separation of church and state, whose responsibility it should be for environmental protection, the importance or hindrance of unions in the workplace, and others. You should start by reflecting on issues that are important to you and on which it is possible to have more than one point of view.
For a wide variety of topics, please see the section “Subjects for Argumentative Essays” in the Appendix of your Language of Argument textbook, or you may choose from a list of topics provided by your instructor. You might simply choose to browse a news website to find an issue that captures your attention. Choose a topic that matters to you—one that you can convince your readers to care about.
The SIRS researcher, mentioned in the lecture “Finding Your Research in the South University Online Library,” is another good resource for current, controversial topics. First, read the online lecture from Week 1 titled “Finding Your Research in the South University Online Library,” and then begin your search at the SUO Library, using the SIRS researcher to locate possible topics.
To find SIRS researcher, launch the library from the Course Home; you’ll see an orange bar close to the top of the screen. Roll your mouse over “Quick Reference” and click on “Reference Resources.” Then pick “SIRS Issue Researcher” down at the bottom of the list. This index identifies a number of leading arguable topics and provides links to articles that present different points of view on different topics.
Once you have found three possible topics, compose an essay in which you share why each is interesting and what challenges each topic presents in terms of its use in developing a final 8- to
10
-page research essay that will be your final project. Remember that an essay must have an introduction, a body (here the body will contain three paragraphs, one for each potential topic), and a conclusion. Be sure that your essay contains all of the required components.
Your essay should be one to two pages long, about
40
0 to
5
00 words. Once you have completed a rough draft, set it aside for a few hours or a day. When you come back to it, work on making sure that your ideas in it are clear. Check that your thesis statement clearly indicates that you are presenting three possible topics for your final project in this short essay. Also be sure that each paragraph is devoted to a single idea and that your reasoning for being interested in that topic is clear. Be sure to have three body paragraphs. In your conclusion, you do not need to decide which topic you will choose, although you may indicate which one you are inclined at this point to choose. In Week 2, you will make your final choice and locate resources to support that topic. In this essay, you are sharing three topics that you are considering. However, you do need to find a means for concluding this essay in a satisfying way. Make any and all necessary changes to the content of your work, and be sure to properly cite any works that you have referred to in the essay.
Once you are sure of the content of your essay, then edit it carefully for grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. Use the
Editing Checklist
to help you to edit your work. Give it an extra proofreading before you submit it in the W1: Assignment 3 Dropbox by Tuesday, July 30, 2013.
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Assignment 3 Grading Criteria |
Maximum Points |
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Essay provides a clear position statement in an introduction that arouses the reader’s interest. |
10 | ||||||||||
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Essay presents three possible topics being considered for the final research essay. |
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Interests in and challenges of each topic are presented clearly in fully developed paragraphs. |
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Essay has an ending that adequately concludes the paper. |
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Essay is free of editing errors, uses correct APA format and citation style, and meets the minimum word count (400– 50 0 words). |
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Total: |
50 |
Assignment 3: Research Topic and Source Evaluation Essay
Revise the essay you posted in W2: Assignment 1 Discussion, based on feedback you have received from your instructor and your peers. Proofread your work carefully, ensuring that your in-text citations and references page entries conform to APA style.
By Tuesday, August 6, 2013, submit your revised essay via the W2: Assignment 3 Dropbox.
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A clear thesis statement is located at the end of the first paragraph. |
5 | |||||||||
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Essay provides substantive evaluation of the credibility of eight sources. |
15 |
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In-text citations conform to APA style and include author, publication date, and page or paragraph numbers. |
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References page contains a correctly formatted entry for each source. |
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The essay itself is properly formatted, including a title on the cover and at the top of second page and the word “References “ at the top of the references page, a cover page with proper headers and the remainder of the paper with different but correct headers. |
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Essay is free or virtually free of grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors. |
Assignment 2: Final Essay Resources, Short Bibliographic Essay
Be sure to take care to complete all parts of the work. For this second step in the process of this assignment, revise your essay based on the feedback you have received from your instructor and your peers. Proofread your work carefully, ensuring that your in-text citations and references page entries conform to APA style.
By Tuesday, August 13, 2013, submit your revised essay via the W3: Assignment 2 Dropbox.
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Assignment 2 Grading Criteria |
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The first paragraph gets attention for the topic, and a clear thesis statement is located at the end of the first paragraph. |
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Essay accurately represents the main points of eight sources, using quotation, paraphrase, and summary, in a logical order. |
80 |
| 40 | |
| References page contains a correctly formatted entry for each source. | |
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The essay itself is properly formatted, including a title on the cover page and at the top of the second page and the word “References“ at the top of the references page, a cover page with proper headers and the remainder of the paper with different but correct headers. |
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Essay is free or virtually free of grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors, and it uses appropriate transitional devices throughout. |
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200 |
Assignment 3: PowerPoint Presentation of Your Final Paper
As soon as you receive feedback from your peers and your instructor, begin your revision of your presentation. By Tuesday, August 20, 2013, submit your presentation in the W4: Assignment 3 Dropbox.
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The first slide included the title of the presentation and the author’s name. |
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The second slide briefly introduced the topic and presented the thesis. |
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Information on slides was presented in a logical order and was sufficiently detailed. |
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Visuals had an obvious connection to the text and contributed to achieving the author’s objectives. Font was large and legible. |
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A final slide concisely stated the conclusion. |
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References were included following the concluding slide. |
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Slides were free of spelling and grammatical errors. |
Assignment 2: Final Research Paper: Final Draft
By Tuesday, August 27, 2013, save your essay in , x, or .rtf format and upload it to the W5: Assignment 2 Dropbox.
When you submit your final paper to the W5: Assignment 2 Dropbox, it must be 10 to 12 typed, double-spaced pages (the body is 8 to 10 pages; the other pages are additional—see below).
(Please
click here
for a sample paper.)
· Title page: this includes the title of your essay, your name, the class, your instructor’s name, and the date (on one separate page).
· An abstract is not required, but may be included.
· Body of the paper: The paper body should be eight to ten pages in length, with proper documentation evident throughout.
· References page: This separate page should include at least eight sources. Encyclopedia articles (such as those from Wikipedia or Ask.com) are not acceptable as sources for this project. Documentation for references must be correct according to the APA guidelines.
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Paper provided a clear thesis statement in an introduction that aroused the reader’s interest and took a particular position on the topic under discussion. |
25 |
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Paper provided a clear focus throughout, with no irrelevant information, and including logical connections among ideas. |
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The position taken in the thesis was supported with logical and relevant evidence in the form of reasons, examples, and quotations. |
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All information from sources was cited properly within the paper according to APA style. |
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Paper was free of logical errors, biased testimony, false statistics, and language that should be avoided. |
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Conclusion reinforced position statement and appropriately ended the paper. |
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Reference page was included and correctly formatted. |
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Paper was free or virtually free of grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors. |
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The body of the paper contained a minimum of eight pages (not including the Title and References pages) double-spaced. |
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250 |
Running head: TITLE OF PAPER 1
TITLE OF ESSAY 3
Title of Short Paper
Student Name
South University Online
Title of Short Essay
Start the first paragraph here and double-space the entire essay. Type size should be no larger than 12. Don’t use bold or italicized font for the essay. The first sentence of each paragraph should be tabbed over once. Write! Write! Write!
References
Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of article in sentence casing. Magazine/Journal Title Capitalized x (x), xx-xx.
Author, A. A. (Copyright). Course xxxx: Title of course in sentence casing: Week X: Specific lecture in sentence casing. Retrieved from URL
Title of article. (Date of publication). Newsletter/Web Site Title Capitalized. Retrieved from URL
