Research Paper
Your final essay is a research paper that provides an opportunity to delve fully into a topic of your interest. Writing a research paper—
while a challenge—offers a reason to read, research, reflect, think deeply, then address and formally answer in writing a question worth
exploring. See the bottom of this document for possible topics.
This assignment is designed to utilize all of the skills we have learned this semester, including in-text MLA citation techniques and
documentation of sources we have learned in our lab sessions.
The length of the essay should be a minimum of four pages, but no longer than seven pages.
RESEARCH PAPER TIMELINE AND ASSIGNMENTS:
Select a controversial topic (See Assignment Schedule for due date)
Select a controversial topic that interests you (see possible options below) and inform your instructor which topic you’ve selected. A
controversial topic is one that reasonable individuals can argue over and that has at least two sides. Gun control and abortion are two
classic topics that are controversial; the life of your favorite actor or the history of baroque music are not controversial.
Once you select your prompt, you will want to begin researching reliable sources and compiling them into an annotated bibliography. This
is a good time to visit our LPC Library and especially the library’s website and database of academic articles.
List of sources, a working thesis, and first pages of rough draft – 10 points (See assignment schedule for due date)
When this step in the process is due, you will need to have compiled an annotated bibliography (a list of sources with brief descriptions
of the source) from your research on your topic. As you encounter sources that relate to your topic, be sure to paraphrase key ideas,
record word-for-word quotations you may want to use, and note page numbers from the sources that you can easily reference once you begin
to write the paper.
As a research paper, this assignment requires research, which means you need to include several sources within your paper to support your
thesis. As such, you’ll need to reference at least three outside sources:
• An article or essay from a reliable, trustworthy source. You should try to include an article from one of the LPC library
databases, if possible.
• One book on the topic, if available; otherwise, you may use another trustworthy source.
• One other source (i.e. another essay from the library database, a website, video, DVD, interview with someone knowledgeable about
the topic, etc);
• Note: Please do not cite Wikipedia for this research paper
Turn in your annotated bibliography along with the first pages of your rough draft. By this due date you will need to identify a working
thesis statement. (A “working thesis” refers to the idea that because your research will eventually lead to what position you take on your
topic, the final thesis will begin to take shape as you read and think about your topic.)
Your thesis statement—which in its final version will answer the question you have identified to research—is a one-sentence (or
occasionally two-sentence) statement of your central idea.
You’re encouraged to contact your instructor at any time and at any stage of the paper to check your progress and ensure you’re on the
right track.
Rough draft – 10 points (See Assignment Schedule for due date)
A portion of class time will be devoted to peer review, so bring four copies of your rough draft to class. Be sure to bring your paper on
a flash drive to make corrections during our lab session.
Your final draft (150 points) is due. (See assignment schedule for due date.)
Note these important steps:
Please title your Word document using your last name, like this: Potter Research Paper
The final draft of the research paper will be submitted Blackboard
We studied plagiarism earlier in this semester, so be sure to review what constitutes plagiarism so you avoid it in this essay. Plagiarism
may result in a grade of F for the research paper.