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Jump to: Topic || Research || Annotated Bibliography || Position Paper
What’s this project about?
You are in the process of committing a number of years of your life to learning about a particular discipline, such as Elementary Education, Accounting, Sports Management, Physics, History, or Biology. You may also have specific career plans for when you leave Niagara.For this project, you will investigate, analyze and argue about a topic related to your major or future career which focuses on these questions:
- How do people make knowledge in your field of study or in your career?
- What happens when experts disagree? When and why do they disagree?
- How do you sort through all of the evidence surrounding a controversial question or idea and decide what your position is?
- How do you create a solid argument by using rhetorical appeals?
- How do you respond to counter-arguments?
This assignment asks you to identify a controversial issue in your field, research multiple perspectives on this issue, and to decide which perspectives you agree and disagree with.You’ll write an annotated bibliography (10 entries) and an position essay (8-10 pages) aimed at people outside of your field.
You will be expected to work both individually and in-groups to complete these assignments, as well as to complete multiple drafts and to show significant evidence of revision on the final versions. You will also be expected to pay attention to deadlines and to check the course Web site and the weekly agendas for the most current information about assignments, deadlines, and other vital information.
You may not “recycle” a paper or an annotated bibliography that you have written for another class for this assignment. If you wish to work on the same topic that you are pursuing in another class, that may be acceptable; please talk to both instructors and obtain their permission before you do so.
You can earn a total of 450 points for all of the assignments in this unit plus points for peer review activities; the amount of points for each component are available next to each component, as well as explained on each assignment sheet and on the course syllabus. Grading rubrics will be distributed with the final version of each project.
The Writing Center, in the Seton Presidential Lounge, offers free tutoring in writing; you are encouraged to visit them for additional help with your writing. You can make an appointment to see a tutor by calling 286-8075.
Choose A Topic and Form A Research Question
First, you’ll choose a topic and form a research question that you can use to help guide your research. Your topic should:
- Be related to your major or career OR to a major or career that you want to explore.
- Be about an issue in your field of study that has multiple perspectives or some controversy attached to it.
- Be a topic on which you can locate academic, trade, and popular sources.
The topic cannot be a “generic issue” such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty, stem cell research, lowering the drinking age, legalizing drugs, or other common social issues, unless you can show exactly how these controversies are dealt with in your academic field. IT MUST BE A TOPIC ABOUT WHICH THERE IS DISAGREEMENT: YOU ARE WRITING A POSITION PAPER, NOT AN INFORMATIVE PAPER. Your topic should be as specific as possible, and you should be able to articulate clear research questions about it to help you look for sources and develop a thesis.Here are some possible topics that would fit the assignment guidelines:
- Should elementary school students be taught how to use computers, or does teaching computer skills at a young age actually hinder their learning? (Education)
- What are the best strategies for dealing with prison overcrowding? (Criminal Justice)
- Does building a casino in an area cause economic harm, or does it benefit the area? (Tourism Management)
- Are electronic voting machines or paper ballots a better practice for elections in the United States? (Political Science)
- Is outsourcing information technology jobs a positive or negative practice for businesses in the united states? (Business)
- What are the best therapies for treating breast cancer? (Medicine)
- Do cognitive behavior therapy or anti-depressants work better in treating depression? (Psychology/Medicine)
- What really happened to the lost colonists of Roanoke Island? (History)
On October 23 and October 26, we’ll work on choosing topics and forming research questions. By October 28, you should e-mail the instructor (ekarper@niagara.edu) with a description of your chosen topic and your research question.
If after you have started researching, you discover that you need to change your topic because you cannot find sources, you must notify the instructor by e-mail or in person as soon as possible.
Conduct Research in the Library and Online
After you choose a topic and formulate a research question, we’ll discuss the creation of academic knowledge and how arguments work. After that, you will conduct research in the library and online on November 9 and November 11. During your research, you should locate at least ten (10) sources.To encourage you to seek out a variety of sources and to practice working with different types of sources, I’m going to ask you to choose sources from different categories – you’ll notice that each category has sources in it that come from both print and the Web.At least six (6) of your sources should be from the following categories:
- Books or essay collections
- Academic journal articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
- Trade journal articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
- Academic, educational, or professional Web resources
Four (4) of your sources can come from the following categories:
- Interviews with experts in your field
- Popular newspaper or magazine articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
- Commercial Web sites
- Specialized resources from your field, such as encyclopedias
- Other sources (please check with the instructor)
You can use encyclopedias such as Wikipedia or textbooks from your major courses as a reference for identifying controversial questions and perspectives, but you cannot use them as sources in the assignment because they do not provide enough depth and breadth. However, you can look up and use the references they cite as part of your research.Make sure that you give yourself enough time to locate sources. Also make sure that you consult with the instructor or with a librarian if you are having trouble locating ten sources.
Write an Annotated Bibliography
After you have located research on your topic, you will write an annotated bibliography where you annotate at least ten (10) sources and summarize, assess, and reflect on each source.To complete the assignment, you should:
- Write ONE introductory paragraph for the annotated bibliography that presents your research question and explains what you’ve discovered in your research. (You do not need to write an introductory paragraph for each citation.)
- Create a citation for each source as if you were going to cite it in a works cited list. Alphabetize your citations (and their annotations) as if they were in a works cited list.
- Under each citation, write two paragraphs for each source where you:
- Summarize the source’s content: What are the main points being conveyed?
- Assess the source’s credibility and importance: Why is this a reasonable and useful source for your project?
- Reflect on why this is a relevant source for your project: Why is it important that you use this information in your project instead of some other source? (You can talk about how this isn’t a good source for your project if you don’t think it will be useful.)
- If you quote directly from any source in your annotation, attribute the quotations using MLA style conventions.
- Write with care and attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
You only have to write two paragraphs for each source; however, you must make sure that you summarize, assess, and reflect on the source in each annotation. See the sample annotated bibliography in the printer-friendly version for an example of what the project should look like.
Grading Criteria This project will be graded on the following criteria:
- How well you use MLA style to create a citation for each source.
- How well you summarize, assess, and reflect on each source.
- How well you use appropriate conventions for written English (grammar, spelling, punctuation, style and tone).
The first draft of the annotated bibliography is due on November 15; The final draft is due on November 20. You can earn a maximum of 200 points for the annotated bibliography.
Write A Position Paper
You’ll use the sources that you’ve collected and presented in your annotated bibliography to help you write a long academic essay where you take a position on the issue and use your research and your own ideas and opinions to explain and argue for your position.Specifics In the essay, you should:
- Describe the issue you have chosen to research.
- Describe the different positions which people in your field have on this topic using research and your own knowledge.
- Provide a clear and explicit thesis statement which explains your position and your reasons why this position is the best choice.
- Develop an argument for your position with reasons and evidence from outside sources as well as your own opinions.
- Use at least ten (10) sources of information in your paper. These sources should include some of the sources from your annotated bibliography.
- Connect your ideas using transition words and phrases.
- Write in an academic style. (You can use first person, but your language should be precise, concise, and more formal than other types of writing.)
- Create sentences that are precise, concise, and correct.
- Show evidence of revision in your final draft.
- Pay attention to English conventions for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Formatting
The essay should:
- Have a heading on the first page with your name, your section, and the date. (A title page is not necessary.)
- Have a title that is centered on the first page under the heading.
- Contain page numbers on all pages but the first.
- Be 8-10 pages long (double-spaced; twelve-point font), including your works cited list.
- Use MLA style to give credit to sources by providing in-text citations, attributive tags, and a works cited list.
We’ll work together in class to help you develop all parts of your paper. You’ll also have an opportunity to give and receive feedback with your classmates on your first draft, as well as receiving comments from the instructor.The first draft of the essay is due on November 30; the final draft of the essay is due on December 11. Grading CriteriaThis paper will be graded based on how well it:
- Describes the issue and explains the different perspectives.
- Takes a clear position and justifies the this position.
- Presents a specific thesis statement with a claim and reasons and has a clear focus.
- Presents and incorporates information, including using the works of others and the opinions and experience of the writer.
- Includes the minimum of ten sources.
- Organizes and presents information, including making transitions and connections between ideas.
- Uses MLA format to attribute information and format the paper.
- Shows evidence of revision by the writer.
- Presents information using strategies for clarity and conciseness.
- Uses appropriate conventions for academic written English.
You’ll receive comments on your first draft, and a grading rubric with your final draft that explains how your paper met the assignment guidelines. You can earn a maximum of 250 points for this paper. When you turn in your final version of the paper, you should also turn in your first draft and the peer review sheets you received. The peer review will be graded.
What will I learn during this project?
As you work through the components of this project, you will:
- Use writing for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating what you have learned from your research and to justify a position that you have taken.
- Respond appropriately to a rhetorical situation which asks you to conduct academic research and create two types academic writing.
- Demonstrate control of generic conventions for annotated bibliographies and argumentative academic essays including structure, development, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, and design.
- Demonstrate an understanding of writing as an open, collaborative, and social process and work through the stages of the writing process: invention, drafting, revising, and editing.
- Critique and edit your own work and the works of others.
- Develop a specific research question or focus to respond to a writing assignment.
- Identify a need for information and access, evaluate, use, and attribute primary and secondary sources in your work.
- Integrate the words and ideas of others into your work and avoid accidental or deliberate plagiarism.
- Write with clarity, brevity, coherence, and control of conventions such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
- Use technologies to conduct research and to draft, revise, edit, and design documents.
Download Printer-Friendly Version
Jump to: Topic || Research || Annotated Bibliography || Position Paper
What’s this project about?
You are in the process of committing a number of years of your life to learning about a particular discipline, such as Elementary Education, Accounting, Sports Management, Physics, History, or Biology. You may also have specific career plans for when you leave Niagara.
For this project, you will investigate, analyze and argue about a topic related to your major or future career which focuses on these questions:
- How do people make knowledge in your field of study or in your career?
- What happens when experts disagree? When and why do they disagree?
- How do you sort through all of the evidence surrounding a controversial question or idea and decide what your position is?
- How do you create a solid argument by using rhetorical appeals?
- How do you respond to counter-arguments?
This assignment asks you to identify a controversial issue in your field, research multiple perspectives on this issue, and to decide which perspectives you agree and disagree with.
You’ll write an annotated bibliography (10 entries) and an position essay (8-10 pages) aimed at people outside of your field.
You will be expected to work both individually and in-groups to complete these assignments, as well as to complete multiple drafts and to show significant evidence of revision on the final versions. You will also be expected to pay attention to deadlines and to check the course Web site and the weekly agendas for the most current information about assignments, deadlines, and other vital information.
You may not “recycle” a paper or an annotated bibliography that you have written for another class for this assignment. If you wish to work on the same topic that you are pursuing in another class, that may be acceptable; please talk to both instructors and obtain their permission before you do so.
You can earn a total of 450 points for all of the assignments in this unit plus points for peer review activities; the amount of points for each component are available next to each component, as well as explained on each assignment sheet and on the course syllabus. Grading rubrics will be distributed with the final version of each project.
The Writing Center, in the Seton Presidential Lounge, offers free tutoring in writing; you are encouraged to visit them for additional help with your writing. You can make an appointment to see a tutor by calling 286-8075.
Choose A Topic and Form A Research Question
First, you’ll choose a topic and form a research question that you can use to help guide your research. Your topic should:
- Be related to your major or career OR to a major or career that you want to explore.
- Be about an issue in your field of study that has multiple perspectives or some controversy attached to it.
- Be a topic on which you can locate academic, trade, and popular sources.
The topic cannot be a “generic issue” such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty, stem cell research, lowering the drinking age, legalizing drugs, or other common social issues, unless you can show exactly how these controversies are dealt with in your academic field. IT MUST BE A TOPIC ABOUT WHICH THERE IS DISAGREEMENT: YOU ARE WRITING A POSITION PAPER, NOT AN INFORMATIVE PAPER. Your topic should be as specific as possible, and you should be able to articulate clear research questions about it to help you look for sources and develop a thesis.
Here are some possible topics that would fit the assignment guidelines:
- Should elementary school students be taught how to use computers, or does teaching computer skills at a young age actually hinder their learning? (Education)
- What are the best strategies for dealing with prison overcrowding? (Criminal Justice)
- Does building a casino in an area cause economic harm, or does it benefit the area? (Tourism Management)
- Are electronic voting machines or paper ballots a better practice for elections in the United States? (Political Science)
- Is outsourcing information technology jobs a positive or negative practice for businesses in the united states? (Business)
- What are the best therapies for treating breast cancer? (Medicine)
- Do cognitive behavior therapy or anti-depressants work better in treating depression? (Psychology/Medicine)
- What really happened to the lost colonists of Roanoke Island? (History)
On October 23 and October 26, we’ll work on choosing topics and forming research questions. By October 28, you should e-mail the instructor (ekarper@niagara.edu) with a description of your chosen topic and your research question.
If after you have started researching, you discover that you need to change your topic because you cannot find sources, you must notify the instructor by e-mail or in person as soon as possible.
Conduct Research in the Library and Online
After you choose a topic and formulate a research question, we’ll discuss the creation of academic knowledge and how arguments work. After that, you will conduct research in the library and online on November 9 and November 11. During your research, you should locate at least ten (10) sources.
To encourage you to seek out a variety of sources and to practice working with different types of sources, I’m going to ask you to choose sources from different categories – you’ll notice that each category has sources in it that come from both print and the Web.
At least six (6) of your sources should be from the following categories:
- Books or essay collections
- Academic journal articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
- Trade journal articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
- Academic, educational, or professional Web resources
Four (4) of your sources can come from the following categories:
- Interviews with experts in your field
- Popular newspaper or magazine articles (from library databases, Web sites, or print journals)
- Commercial Web sites
- Specialized resources from your field, such as encyclopedias
- Other sources (please check with the instructor)
You can use encyclopedias such as Wikipedia or textbooks from your major courses as a reference for identifying controversial questions and perspectives, but you cannot use them as sources in the assignment because they do not provide enough depth and breadth. However, you can look up and use the references they cite as part of your research.
Make sure that you give yourself enough time to locate sources. Also make sure that you consult with the instructor or with a librarian if you are having trouble locating ten sources.
Write an Annotated Bibliography
After you have located research on your topic, you will write an annotated bibliography where you annotate at least ten (10) sources and summarize, assess, and reflect on each source.
To complete the assignment, you should:
- Write ONE introductory paragraph for the annotated bibliography that presents your research question and explains what you’ve discovered in your research. (You do not need to write an introductory paragraph for each citation.)
- Create a citation for each source as if you were going to cite it in a works cited list. Alphabetize your citations (and their annotations) as if they were in a works cited list.
- Under each citation, write two paragraphs for each source where you:
- Summarize the source’s content: What are the main points being conveyed?
- Assess the source’s credibility and importance: Why is this a reasonable and useful source for your project?
- Reflect on why this is a relevant source for your project: Why is it important that you use this information in your project instead of some other source? (You can talk about how this isn’t a good source for your project if you don’t think it will be useful.)
- If you quote directly from any source in your annotation, attribute the quotations using MLA style conventions.
- Write with care and attention to grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
You only have to write two paragraphs for each source; however, you must make sure that you summarize, assess, and reflect on the source in each annotation. See the sample annotated bibliography in the printer-friendly version for an example of what the project should look like.
Grading Criteria
This project will be graded on the following criteria:
- How well you use MLA style to create a citation for each source.
- How well you summarize, assess, and reflect on each source.
- How well you use appropriate conventions for written English (grammar, spelling, punctuation, style and tone).
The first draft of the annotated bibliography is due on November 15; The final draft is due on November 20. You can earn a maximum of 200 points for the annotated bibliography.
Write A Position Paper
You’ll use the sources that you’ve collected and presented in your annotated bibliography to help you write a long academic essay where you take a position on the issue and use your research and your own ideas and opinions to explain and argue for your position.
Specifics
In the essay, you should:
- Describe the issue you have chosen to research.
- Describe the different positions which people in your field have on this topic using research and your own knowledge.
- Provide a clear and explicit thesis statement which explains your position and your reasons why this position is the best choice.
- Develop an argument for your position with reasons and evidence from outside sources as well as your own opinions.
- Use at least ten (10) sources of information in your paper. These sources should include some of the sources from your annotated bibliography.
- Connect your ideas using transition words and phrases.
- Write in an academic style. (You can use first person, but your language should be precise, concise, and more formal than other types of writing.)
- Create sentences that are precise, concise, and correct.
- Show evidence of revision in your final draft.
- Pay attention to English conventions for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Formatting
The essay should:
- Have a heading on the first page with your name, your section, and the date. (A title page is not necessary.)
- Have a title that is centered on the first page under the heading.
- Contain page numbers on all pages but the first.
- Be 8-10 pages long (double-spaced; twelve-point font), including your works cited list.
- Use MLA style to give credit to sources by providing in-text citations, attributive tags, and a works cited list.
We’ll work together in class to help you develop all parts of your paper. You’ll also have an opportunity to give and receive feedback with your classmates on your first draft, as well as receiving comments from the instructor.
The first draft of the essay is due on November 30; the final draft of the essay is due on December 11.
Grading Criteria
This paper will be graded based on how well it:
- Describes the issue and explains the different perspectives.
- Takes a clear position and justifies the this position.
- Presents a specific thesis statement with a claim and reasons and has a clear focus.
- Presents and incorporates information, including using the works of others and the opinions and experience of the writer.
- Includes the minimum of ten sources.
- Organizes and presents information, including making transitions and connections between ideas.
- Uses MLA format to attribute information and format the paper.
- Shows evidence of revision by the writer.
- Presents information using strategies for clarity and conciseness.
- Uses appropriate conventions for academic written English.
You’ll receive comments on your first draft, and a grading rubric with your final draft that explains how your paper met the assignment guidelines. You can earn a maximum of 250 points for this paper. When you turn in your final version of the paper, you should also turn in your first draft and the peer review sheets you received. The peer review will be graded.
What will I learn during this project?
As you work through the components of this project, you will:
- Use writing for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating what you have learned from your research and to justify a position that you have taken.
- Respond appropriately to a rhetorical situation which asks you to conduct academic research and create two types academic writing.
- Demonstrate control of generic conventions for annotated bibliographies and argumentative academic essays including structure, development, paragraphing, tone, mechanics, and design.
- Demonstrate an understanding of writing as an open, collaborative, and social process and work through the stages of the writing process: invention, drafting, revising, and editing.
- Critique and edit your own work and the works of others.
- Develop a specific research question or focus to respond to a writing assignment.
- Identify a need for information and access, evaluate, use, and attribute primary and secondary sources in your work.
- Integrate the words and ideas of others into your work and avoid accidental or deliberate plagiarism.
- Write with clarity, brevity, coherence, and control of conventions such as syntax, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
- Use technologies to conduct research and to draft, revise, edit, and design documents.
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