Research Paper Assignment

Danny Mayer
Fall 2009
Research Paper Assignment

This fourth (and final) writing assignment returns you to your blog work. Specifically, you will write a research paper that develops one aspect of your blog. You may choose to expand upon a theme or topic already addressed in one of your blog postings. Conversely, you may choose to develop an aspect of your topic that appears in many of your blog postings. With either choice, I am interested in seeing you transform the informal writings into a more developed, more formal, better researched writing.

If blogs are for short bits of information that don’t have to directly connect with each other, your task in writing the research paper is to sustain your focus on a single, dominant idea.

The article should further develop the analysis skills you began to use while writing your previous short summary/analysis essay, and your research skills you began to use while writing your long newspaper article. This assignment requires you to research and incorporate at least 5 outside (non-class) texts into your article; two of the sources should come from a library (ie, a site that is not Google, Yahoo, etc.).


Basic Guidelines: Essays should be between 1600 and 2000 words in length and have a title. They should also be typed in 12 font (Times New Roman font), double spaced, and have 1 inch margins all around. Papers should be in MLA format and include a works cited page. At least 5 outside sources; 2 of the sources must come from a library source.

In addition to these guidelines, we will work through several rough drafts of your work. Subsequently, you are required to prepare 3 separate drafts throughout the assignment. The first 2 drafts will be subject to peer reviews in class. Make sure to bring in drafts on due dates noted on the Week 11-16 Semester Outline (handed out and posted online).

Essays are due the second class period of Week 14 (November 18 or 19).

In addition to following the basic guidelines, I will grade you on your ability to engage with the following new and old principals. NOTE: We will not use MLA citations for this paper. All citations will be informal—that is, they will appear in the text itself. (ie, “According to a recent study in the NY Times,….” Or “Connors-Manke arguest that…”


New Principals: Ability to place research in MLA format; ability to locate and use academic (library) sources.

Old Principals: Ability to locate and incorporate outside research in a manner that does not plagiarize material; acceptable revision drafts that lead to an improved final paper.

Older Principals: Where necessary, creation of an effective summary that leads to detailed analysis; a placement of your ideas into a specific context that the reader can follow; an adequate introduction; a title that introduces the topic and grabs the reader’s attention; an effective integration of paraphrases and quotations into your paragraphs; ability to follow basic guidelines above.

Oldest Principals: awareness of audience (in choosing your topic), writing in complete sentences, using active sentences, defining any key terms, developing coherent and full paragraphs, utilizing elements of narration, description, definition, and/or comparison in your essays.

Outline for rest of the semester

Note: First day of week is for Monday or Tuesday classes (depending on which you are in); 2nd day of week is for Wednesday or Thursday classes (again, depending on which you are in).

Weeks 11-16 Semester Outline
Week 11
26 IC: Long Newspaper Article Due
HW: Read “An Economic Gap in the Road to Higher Education” (in Week 6-11 course packet)
28 IC: MLA Works Cited
Analyze “Economic Gap”
HW: Compose a research and writing proposal from your blogs. The final essay assignment has you transforming your blog work (informal writing on the internet) into ENG 101 writing (formal writing for the classroom). To help get you started, bring in a full paragraph (or 2) that lays out how you plan to transform your blog into a research paper. What research question(s) do you want to focus upon? What’s your purpose for writing in this essay?

Week 12
November
2 IC: In-Class Research/Source Analysis
HW: Complete Draft 1 of Research Paper
4 IC: Peer Review of Draft 1
Commas
HW: Read North of Center, issue 13
Blog Work

Week 13
9 IC: Blog Work and Research Paper Work (bring copies to work on in class and questions for instructor)
HW: Complete Draft 2 of Research Paper
11 IC: Peer Review of Draft 2
Semi-Colons, Colons, Dashes
HW: Blog Work

Week 14
16 IC: Review: Integrating Research
HW: Complete Draft 3 of Research Paper
18 IC: Research Paper Due
HW: Revise Short Newspaper Article essay (Optional)

Week 15
23 IC: Short Newspaper Revision Due (Optional)
HW: Revise Summary/Analysis Essay (Optional)
25 NO CLASS
HW: Blog Work

Week 16
30 IC: Blog Work II Due
Participation Grades II
Summary/Analysis Revision Due (Optional)
Revision Work
HW: Work on Long Newspaper Article Revision (Optional)
December
2 IC: Long Newspaper Article Revision Due (Optional)
Revision Work

Additional Wednesday and Thursday reading

This was (or will be) handed out in class this week. For those not here, read the following notes for 2 North of Center articles. These will be used to look at how I moved from drafting stage to the final writing product.

Remember to come to class with Draft 2 of your long article assignment completed.


Notes for Building a basil economy

A Sunday contract

Dear Troy and Lyle,

We have been talking for some time of pooling our different skills together for work on each other's homeplaces. What follows are some late-night sketches toward a common contract.

History: Keene and fruits of common labor; even before that, Shack at Wes's property; even before me, going back to your college years, when you were both stuck in Wilmore with a High Bridge state of mind; also mention feasts at Shack and Keene.

Skill Sets: Troy (carpentry and indoor know-how, like what to do to insulate your house), Lyle (rockwork and other outdoor landscaping and knowledge), Danny (truck and steady, unspecacular work—setting the bar low, but always showing up to set it.)

Material Sets: There is also the issue of our collective collection of tools. Ladders, trucks, etc.

Choice of Date: (build off history and skills)

Activities: Troy: Firepit, honeysuckle clearance, rock gathering; Lyle: Getting your man-shack in order. Me: shed for tools; work on inside of house—things Mark Klarr doesn't need to do; conversation about what my backyard might become; skills that each of you have that I may take with me, and hopefully skills I might offer you in return.

Lunches/Dinners, with all our respective families, and any friends, invited at any point we're together. (Return to history)

We will rotate Sundays on a schedule we will collectively decide upon.

Thoughts?

best,

Danny

P.S. I can't start next week as I will be attending Keeneland with Troy. We are currently seeking a sober driver for the event.



Notes for a Bike Polo article

Kyle Hord and Mike Rozzi blew threw the loser's bracket to capture the Greater Lexington Two-on-Two Bike Polo Tournament this past Sunday at Coolavin Park.

--delayed b/c Bill showed up at Coolavin

--10 minute games; no scoring limit; 2 on 2

--Jarid (with an I) and Alex Brooks: team of bruisers; finish in 3rd place w/ smaller trophy; “new Alex,” slaughter in Game 12;

--Their foes: Andy XXXXX, Chris Simpson, and Ben XXXXX, and the story of Simpson's withdrawal as tourney organizer.

--theory of Ben's problem of coming in cold—lose first game pretty soundly, but Ben warms up for hardfought final game. Even scores only goal for his team in the game.

Notes:

Simpson: King of the reach-around

Game 7 descripton

Blood Brothers beat Murder-town

Boyd's Blood and Game 2 Heavy Description

Tedder's return to action

Number of goals scored; still retains characteristic burst of speed

Pat creates trophies

“As soon as Pat started his welding job, his offense just died.”

Also his welding of the trophies for this night.

Bruisers finish in 3rd

Rozzi a new force on the scene

Tournament co-champion Mike Rozzi is a recent transplant to Lexington. Rozzi moved this past summer from West Virginia and met up with some bike polo fellows through Bike Lexington and Alley Cats channels. “It's great. It's nice to enter a city and right off meet a community like this,” Rozzi noted.
Still a rookie, Rozzi came into the day as a wildcard. His August arrival—after the Bluegrass Games State Tournament—meant that he was relatively untested in harsh tournament conditions. While he's still learning the nuances of the game, this much is evident: the rookie has a quick pedal and a feathery brake hand.

QUESTIONS FOR BRIAN TURNER: Flicker Account; What is Andy XXXX's last name; Ben's XXXX; is there a list of tourney results?; leading scorer?; Pat's last name (welder, who made the trophies, and if his occupation is related to welding and you don't think he'd mind the press, where he works).; any quote as Bluegrass State Games Commissioner of Bike Polo.

Outline through Week 11

Week 5
17 IC: Summary/Analysis
Read “Slow Food for Thought”
HW: Blog Work
Read “Is the Mall Dead”

Week 6
September
22 IC: Integrating Other People’s Ideas (sources)
Blog Work
HW: Read “An Economic Gap in the Road to Higher Education
24 IC: Introductions
HW: Read North of Center, issue 10
Work on Summary/Analysis paper

Week 7
29 IC: Blog Work and Summary/Analysis Work (bring copies to work on in class)
HW: Complete Summary/Analysis Paper
October
1 IC: Summary/Analysis Paper Due

Week 8
6 NO CLASS
8 FALL BREAK

Week 9
13 IC: Generating Research
HW: Read North of Center, issue 11
15 IC: MLA Citations
HW: Complete Draft 1 of Long Newspaper Article

Week 10
20 IC: Using Research
Revision Work (Bring complete drafts to class to work with them)
HW: Complete Draft 2 of Long Newspaper Article
22 IC: TBA
Revision Work
HW: Read North of Center
Complete Final Draft of Long Newspaper Article

Week 11
27 IC: Final Draft of Long Newspaper Article Due
HW: TBA

Long Newspaper Article Assignment

Note: No MLA works cited for this essay.


This third writing assignment returns to North of Center as your target audience. Specifically, you will write a feature (front page) story for the paper. (You may choose to write for a different paper, but you must get permission from me by Tuesday October 20.) You may choose to return to a theme or topic already addressed by one of the paper’s writers (Lexington refugees, UK’s drive to be a Top 20 University, the need for different, non-straight or non-white communities, etc.). Conversely, you may choose to develop a topic of your own choosing that you see would fit with the paper’s intended audience.

The article should further develop the analysis skills you began to use while writing your previous short summary/analysis essay. Rather than respond or analyze one article, this assignment requires you to research and incorporate at least 3 outside (non-class) texts into your article. The aim is to have you used these sources to analyze, or break down, your topic into parts so that you may enlighten the reader as to what’s important about the subject you’re writing on.

Basic Guidelines: Essays should be between 1600 and 2000 words in length and have a title. They should also be typed in 12 font (Times New Roman font), double spaced, and have 1 inch margins all around.

In addition to these guidelines, we will work through several rough drafts of your work. Subsequently, you are required to prepare 3 separate drafts throughout the assignment. The first 2 drafts will be subject to peer reviews in class. Make sure to bring in drafts on due dates noted on the Week 6-11 Semester Outline.

Essays are due the first class period of Week 11 (October 26 or 27).

In addition to following the basic guidelines, I will grade you on your ability to engage with the following new and old principals. NOTE: We will not use MLA citations for this paper. All citations will be informal—that is, they will appear in the text itself. (ie, “According to a recent study in the NY Times,….” Or “Connors-Manke arguest that…”

New Principals: Ability to locate and incorporate outside research in a manner that does not plagiarize material; acceptable revision drafts that lead to an improved final paper.

Old Principals: Where necessary, creation of an effective summary that leads to detailed analysis; a placement of your ideas into a specific context that the reader can follow; an adequate introduction; a title that introduces the topic and grabs the reader’s attention; an effective integration of paraphrases and quotations into your paragraphs; ability to follow basic guidelines above.

Older Principals: awareness of audience (in choosing your topic), writing in complete sentences, using active sentences, defining any key terms, developing coherent and full paragraphs, utilizing elements of narration, description, definition, and/or comparison in your essays.

Summary/Analysis Assignment

Apologies for not posting this earlier:

This second writing assignment will have you writing a summary/analysis paper. First, you will choose one of the articles in either of the course packets (the readings for weeks 1-5 or weeks 6-11), or you will choose one of the longer pieces in North of Center. Second, you will summarize the article, noting the key issues the article addresses. Finally, you will analyze how the article addresses the issues.

Remember, by analysis, we mean a breaking down of the entire issue into parts so that you may enlighten the reader as to how the article works—or in some cases, where and why and how you fell it does not work.

Basic Guidelines: Essays should be between 800 and 1100 words in length and have a title. They should also be typed in 12 font (Times New Roman font), double spaced, and have 1 inch margins all around.

Essays are due the last class period before Fall Break.

I will grade you on your ability to engage with the following new and old principals.

New Principals: Creation of an effective summary that leads to detailed analysis; a placement of your summary into a specific context for the reader; an adequate introduction; a title that introduces the topic and grabs the reader’s attention; an effective integration of paraphrases and quotations into your paragraphs; ability to follow basic guidelines above.

Old Principals: awareness of audience (in choosing your topic), writing in complete sentences, using active sentences, defining any key terms, developing coherent and full paragraphs, utilizing elements of narration, description, definition, and/or comparison in your essays.

Analysis Idea

If you are looking for something (a "text") to analyze and would like greater flexibility than using the course readings or North of Center, here's a show that would make a great analysis, particularly for you people blogging on college transition.

If you have other ideas, GET THEM APPROVED BY ME BY September 24.

Faculty and Staff,

On Thursday at 9:30 p.m., NBC will premiere a new series called Community. Expected to be one of the season’s biggest hits, Community is set at fictitious Greendale Community College and stars Chevy Chase and Joel McHale. The series is about community colleges and the role they play in providing individuals with a second chance.

KCTCS is embracing the new series and the dialogue it will create around two-year colleges. Dr. McCall has taped a commercial to air on Kentucky NBC affiliates during the show. Like other comedies such as The Office, the comedy pokes fun of the operations of two-year colleges, but mainly focuses on the relationships between the characters. We believe this is an excellent opportunity to communicate to the citizens of this state the real truth about community and technical colleges and how they are Transforming Lives. Transforming Kentucky.

You won’t want to miss it!

The commercial is already available on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMQkVdLrIVI

To learn more about the show visit: http://www.nbc.com/community/