a current social issue and i wanted to talk about hate crimes and violent attacks on mexican street vendors
A research paper is an expanded essay that argues a perspective or analyzes a particular point by incorporating the ideas and information of others with your own thinking. It requires surveying a field of knowledge to build upon and back up your own thoughts on a subject.
The goal of a Persuasive Research Essay is to synthesize research on an arguable topic to create a well-informed and rhetorically impactful argument. So, your task is to write an argumentative essay that takes a position on a topic, supports that position using credible sources, addresses counterarguments, and rebuts those counterarguments.
For your research paper, you will be writing about a current social issue. The topic will be your choice. However, it will need to connect back to at least one of the themes we’ve covered in the scope of our course.
Some examples include:
Gender (ie: gender policing, harmful social norms/expectations, discrimination, sexual harassment, wage gap, body shaming/fitness standards, hate crimes, etc.)
Technology (ie: increased use of technology on mental health, addressing hate speech on the internet, spread of misinformation on social media, cyberbullying, data and privacy protections, smartphone and social media app dependency/addiction, etc.)
Economic Mobility/Socioeconomic Status (ie: meritocracy, achievability of the American Dream, lack of economic mobility for the middle class, taxation of the wealthy vs. middle class, access to healthcare, generational wealth, etc.)
Race/Cultural Identity (ie: single stories/media framing, balancing intersectionality, generational wealth, critical race theory debate, racial disparity in the justice system, hate crimes, etc.)
Ability Status (ie: lack of accessibility in public spaces, addressing the stigma associated with invisible disabilities, representation of disabled populations in media, etc.)
When attempting to brainstorm ideas for the focus of your essay consider the following guiding questions:
What kinds of pressures are people under these days?
What effects do these pressures have on individuals, societies, and cultures?
The object of your paper will be to promote social change by coming up with a proposed solution to the social issue you have selected. You will need to use outside sources and incorporate one of the readings from the class to explain your issue, why the reader should care about your issue, and propose a solution, or discuss the effects of a solution that has already been proposed and why it should be continued.
It is ultimately your choice which theme you wish to focus your essay on. So, when you are deciding, identify a path of inquiry that is open-ended, focused, and—most importantly—interesting to you. Identify your path of inquiry (research question) and your working thesis. Please remember that your thesis needs to make an arguable claim. And keep in mind, this is not set in stone, but is rather a starting point (think back to the T3 and O/P Thesis models). Then, you will begin to conduct research.
Using the GWC library databases and Google Scholar identify the different perspectives on your topic.
Consider:
What conversation already exists about this topic? Are you saying something new, or aligning with existing viewpoints?
Who are the authorities on this topic? What stance do they take? Who is weighing in?
What aspects of this topic make it arguable?
What other issues is this debate connected to?
Try to gather a diversity of sources in order to catch the contours of a complex conversation. Be sure to document your research along the way. You will need to incorporate three to four library database or Google Scholar sources into your essay in addition to a source from our course. This is the best place to find reliable and credible sources.
Assume your audience is unfamiliar with the sources, so this means you’ll need to spend some time summarizing key ideas, defining any terms that might be unfamiliar, and choosing short quotations from your chosen readings to help your reader get a sense of what the author is talking about.
With any formal academic essay, you are expected to use the appropriate tone, point of view, style, and diction. Formal academic essays, unless otherwise instructed, are written in the third person. There shouldn’t be any use of “I” or “you”.
Clearly introduce and follow up all quoted and paraphrased material; show readers how your sources support and prove your points, so they do not have to make those connections on their own.
