Unit Three: Researched Essay (6-8 pages) The researched essay will provide you with the opportunity to articulate a perspective on an issue of local, national, or global importance. Your essay will be developed through a process of evaluating resources, differentiating between multiple perspectives, and synthesizing your research. Evidence for your perspective should be supported by secondary sources that address the multiple perspectives represented by UW Oshkosh’s essential learning outcomes: sustainability, civic knowledge, and intercultural knowledge. These include investigating (Definitions of sustainability, civic knowledge, and intercultural knowledge will be uploaded to “Additional files”) Economy Society, including populations and social institutions Environment Culture, including arts, music, and humanities Technology Information and communication Government and laws There should be a minimum of five sources cited in the paper (paraphrase or direct quote). Please expect to do at least three revisions before submitting the paper (only the first revision needs to be submitted to the dropbox). Rough draft #1of research paper (submit to the dropbox and be prepared to work on it in class) Rough draft #2 due (submit to the dropbox and be prepared to work on it in class) Criteria for Success Successful papers will 1. Provide a clearly stated thesis that presents the answer to your focusing question. That means your thesis is NOT in the form of a question. This thesis should also serve as a blueprint for your paper. (You do NOT have to state the focusing question in your paper. In fact, it is better if you do not.) The thesis must be the last sentence of your introduction paragraph. Consider using words like “although” and “because” to add detail to your thesis, and be sure your position is clearly stated within the thesis. 2. Provide a solid argument, with strong research, based on a problematic and contestable thesis. Your paper topic perspective should include two of the three Signature Questions, but you do NOT have to specifically mention the Signature Questions in your paper. As you write the paper, the topic will naturally touch on the aspects of the Signature Questions. 3. Be sure your research is based on quality, reliable outside sources. There must be a minimum of five sources cited in the paper (direct quote or paraphrase). You may use the internet to find scholarly journal/newspaper articles through the library’s homepage or to search an organization/company’s website. Do not forget to look for books, and you may consider other sources like interviews, blogs, etc. Otherwise be aware that information found through Google, Wikepedia, etc. may be fine to obtain initial information, but it is not acceptable to cite as a source for this assignment. 4. Provide clear points with concrete examples to support those ideas (Point, Information, Explanation) and consider the parts of a classical argument with the claim, reasons, grounds, and warrants. Also consider addressing counterarguments in the paper. 5. Provide solid, clear textual evidence (quotations from expert and reliable sources) to support your thesis. Again, there should be at least five sources cited in the paper (direct quotation or paraphrase). Do not state “I believe,” “I think,” etc. Also, remain in third person (fourth and fifth rows in the pronoun antecedent worksheet) when writing the paper unless you are explaining a personal event. Then you can only use first person singular pronouns (first row of pronouns in Pronoun Antecedents worksheet. 6. Use PIE to introduce a quotation and explain the necessity or importance of that quotation. Do not actually state “this quote shows . . .” Remember that PIE can be done in one paragraph or several paragraphs; there may be several quotes or specific examples (inserts) for one point. Or there may be several insert/interpret to support one idea. The main point is that you go in-depth to support and explain your ideas! Please refer to PIE Paragraphs.pdf for help with this! 7. Smoothly incorporate outside materials (paraphrases, quotes, statistics, etc.) into the paper’s sentence structure. Remember, a quote cannot stand alone; you must incorporate it into your sentence structure. Dropped Quotes.html 8. When introducing an outside source, provide the person’s full name. It is also helpful to explain that person’s position or importance to add to his/her credibility. For example, “According to Dr. John Smith, a physics professor at Harvard University . . .” After providing the person’s full name, you may refer to him/her by last name only (never refer to a person by first name only—that is too informal in an academic paper). 9. Clearly explain the relationship among ideas and among the various parts of the essay so that every part contributes to a unified whole (well-organized, focused, and unified paragraphs). This means use transitions and strong topic sentences! Remember that a transition can be a word, a sentence, or even an entire paragraph that helps the reader understand the move from one point to the next. 10. Use an effective introduction that will provide either an opening lead, an explanation of the problem to be investigated, the background information, or an overview of the paper’s content. The introduction paragraph must include the thesis, which must be the last sentence of the paragraph. 11. Use an effective conclusion that provides either a summary of your essay, a short passage showing the relationship of your topic to some broader issues, a brief call to action, or a final concluding scene. 12. Use clear sentence structure throughout the paper. This includes using full sentences (no sentence fragments), proper grammar, and spell check. Do not use contractions. Stay in third person (unless giving personal experience). 13. Use an effective title that will forecast the content of your paper. 14. Properly use MLA or APA documentation throughout the paper. 15. Use in-text citations within the paper, and make sure every paraphrase and quote is properly documented. Each source listed within the paper must be included on the Works Cited page. The Works Cited page must be accurate, listing all outside materials referred to in the paper—and only the sources listed in the paper. The sources must appear in alphabetical order by the author’s last name (or the first major word of the title, if there is no author). Again, you may NOT use Wikepedia or other generic internet websites as a source. How many sources? Minimum of five cited sources! 🙂 Here are the peer review (draft one), revision (draft two), and editing (draft three) guidelines:
