Research Prompt Paper #4 - English Composition II | ENGL 1102, Study notes of Grammar and Composition

Download Research Prompt Paper #4 - English Composition II | ENGL 1102 and more Study notes Grammar and Composition in PDF only on Docsity! ENGL 1102.14/English Composition II – Spring 2011 Instructor: Rebecca Hazelwood Paper #4 – The Research Paper The research paper is very similar to the other papers you’ve written this semester in that it combines those analytic elements you’ve already used (such as in close readings/explications/thematic analysis) with research to produce an in-depth examination of a work or works in seven to nine pages. The research paper is the culmination of your semester of writing papers. Because of this, your research paper is worth a total of 25 percent of your grade (five percent of your total grade is your annotated bibliography; 20 percent of your total grade is your paper). For this paper, you will be asked to find a work or related works that we’ve read in class and find a question that the text provokes. Afterwards, research your topic and answer your question within your paper. Remember that asking yourself a question is important; Booth, Colomb, and Williams state in The Craft of Research, “If a writer asks no question worth pondering, he can offer no focused answer worth reading” (45). Research topics should be appropriately narrow so that you may actually solve your question within seven to nine pages. Topics should be narrow enough to be fresh ideas, or ideas that hopefully no one has written about before. As Booth, Colomb, and Williams state, “A research topic is an interest defined narrowly enough for you to imagine becoming a local expert on it” (41). Pick a work or a couple of works that we’ve read that you’re interested in, but make sure you have a strong interest in it (or them). Think of a question that your work (or works) provokes, which can serve for your topic. Then narrow your topic. Research your topic with credible sources. And last, write your paper and cite your sources properly. Research papers are the simplest to define. For more, see The Owl at Purdue’s site (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ owl/resource/658/02/): Research: What it is. A research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research, critical thinking, source evaluation, organization, and composition. It is, perhaps, helpful to think of the research paper as a living thing, which grows and changes as the student explores, interprets, and evaluates sources related to a specific topic. Primary and secondary sources are the heart of a research paper, and provide its nourishment; without the support of and interaction with these sources, the research paper would morph into a different genre of writing (e.g., an encyclopedic article). The research paper serves not only to further the field in which it is written, but also to provide the student with an exceptional opportunity to increase her knowledge in that field. It is also possible to identify a research paper by what it is not. Research: What it is not. A research paper is not simply an informed summary of a topic by means of primary and secondary sources. It is neither a book report nor an opinion piece nor an expository essay consisting solely of one's interpretation of a text nor an overview of a particular topic. Instead, it is a genre that requires one to spend time investigating and evaluating sources with the intent to offer interpretations of the texts, and not unconscious regurgitations of those sources. The goal of a research paper is not to inform the reader what others have to say about a topic, but to draw on what others have to say about a topic and engage the sources in order to thoughtfully offer a unique perspective on the issue at hand. This is accomplished through two major types of research papers. Prompt: Write a research paper about a narrow idea that you are interested in, based on a work or works we have read this semester,