FINAL RESEARCH PAPER

FINAL RESEARCH PAPER

This final paper is worth 40% of your overall grade. This paper is a representation of everything you learned about Academic writing, from paragraph structure to rhetorical strategies. This should be your best work, demonstrating your understanding of the recursive writing process and Academic essay construction. PLEASE READ THE WHOLE INSTRUCTIONS VERY CAREFULLY !!!

· Write an Argumentative paper focusing on the following TOPIC

· Climate Change

· Your essay should be narrowed and focused on a particular aspect of the broad, overlaying issue.

· This paper has to be 8 to 10 pages long.

· For this paper, you can use a maximum of 10 sources. Theses sources can be from wherever you like, as long as they are quality sources. ACADEMIC SOURCES IS GOOD

· You are allowed to use graphs and visuals in your paper. However, any visuals cannot take up the page length of the paper. For example, a paper that is 8 pages with visuals does not meet the requirement of an 8 page paper. Any visuals need to add to the length of the 8 page paper. So, if you have two graphs in a paper, your final paper should be at least 9 pages or longer.

· How narrow and specific your topic is.

· how argumentative your over-all paper is). Your Argumentation (How well you argue your claim and

· The variety of the sources you used/how creatively you researched your topic.

· How you use your sources to explain and back up your main claim and your sub-claims.

· The logic and explanation of the proofs you use to back up your claim and sub-claims.

· How you fully explain your claim and sub-claims so that the reader completely and utterly understands them.

· How you use your sources fully, allowing for your sources to make your claim and sub-claims as clear as possible.

· Your over-all formatting and usage of MLA Style

· Your ability to write an argumentative paper using different Rhetorical strategies you’ve learned.

· Your ability to write a concise and coherent paragraph that is focused on supporting and explaining your sub-claims.

· Your ability to write a formal paper with few, if any, grammatical and sentence structural errors.

· The over-all professional presentation of your paper.

HOW TO WRITE AN 8-10 PAGE PAPER

–There are Three main parts to working on an 8-10 pages paper:

-Structure

-Research

-Formatting and Style

-If you work on the paper in parts, the 8-10 page paper is more manageable.

Structure:

-In order to make an 8-10 page paper work, you need to focus on Specifics and Details. The more specific you are and the more details you provide, the better your grade. It’s Quality, not Quantity. Because this is a longer paper, you will have to provide many more specifics and details than you are used to. The more specifics and details, the better your grade will be.

When working on your paper, you should break the paper down to its component pieces:

-Topic: What your paper is about, what the issue is.

-Claim: Your stance on the issue: What you want to push on your reader. This has to be proven.

-Subclaims: The claims that back up and support your stance.

-Proofs: How you prove that your subclaims are correct.

Topic:

-You should understand your topic before you begin writing. It helps if you do research first, reading up on all the angles. The better your research, the better your paper (we’ll talk about this later). If you don’t know anything about your topic, or you think you do but you’re wrong, you’ll have to do double-work when you fix mistakes.

-Claim:

You should spend a significant amount of time developing your claim. The more sophisticated your claim, the better your overall paper. If your claim is too simple, your paper will be simple as well.

Bad Claim:   The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory have many things in common.

An All right Claim:   The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory have many things in common, and the movie does a good job at explaining what Plato meant.

A Good Claim:  Plato’s Allegory comes up in a very unique way in the 1999 movie, the Matrix.  It might seem like a simple action flick, but there is depth and meaning in what the movie tries to convey.

An Excellent Claim:  Unfortunately, most people couldn’t care less about Plato’s Allegory.  But many would be surprised to learn that the Matrix delves into the very essence of the problem, which Plato tried to address.  Does it matter that there are gunfights and kung fu moves in between the philosophy?  No, not really. 

Subclaims:

-These might be the most important parts of your essay. You’ll need a lot of good, solid subclaims to make this paper organized. You should think about what and where you are going to focus your attention.

-The Minimum amount of subclaims you should have is 6 for a paper this long. That means you’ll have 6 separate sections involving 6 different points of discussion and research. That is roughly 1 and a half pages per subclaim.

-The Maximum subclaims you should have are 10. More than that and you’ll either have to write more than 8 pages or you’ll have to rush through the points (which you shouldn’t do).

Proofs:

This is where you use exact quotes, paraphrasing and extended quotes. This is where you also cite your sources. Remember: EVERY TIME YOU USE AN OUTSIDE SOURCE, YOU HAVE TO CITE AND TELL ME WHERE YOU GOT THE INFORMATION FROM.

Subclaims and Proofs:

-The subclaim/proof relationship is easy to understand as long as you understand why you are using proofs. You are using proofs to back up and verify your statements. Your subclaims are weak and unimportant without a good proof (or proofs) to make them stronger, smarter and more reliable.

-Subclaims and Proofs:

Subclaim: Russia is at fault, both directly and indirectly, for the violence currently taking place in Eastern Ukraine.

Proof: Reports from Journalists from the New York Times.

More Proof: Reports from a Journalist from The Washington Post.

More Proof: An essay written by a Professor, detailing the issues in Eastern Europe.

More Proof: Speeches from President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry.

Subclaims and Proofs:

Most students simply give one proof. That is why most students receive a lower grade. Details and Specifics are the key. The more details and specifics I see, the better your grade. Typically, for every subclaim you have, you should plan to have at least three different proofs using evidence from good, strong sources.

A basic outline:

Introduction

-Show and Explain the claim

Subclaims and Proofs

-Explain your subclaims and prove them using good evidence

Rebuttal

-Showing the counterargument and then refuting it (you’ll use sources here too)

Conclusion

Research: The Academic Sources

-Pick sources that are short enough to read thoroughly (about 2 to 5 pages). You don’t have time to read long pieces.

-Make notes and use the best quotes and information from the source material. Just don’t pick anything. Take your time and use good, helpful information.

-Find one good quote and extended quote from each source. Think about where the quote should go and how you’ll use it.

Research: Other Sources

-Use strong, smart and reliable sources. Don’t waste your time with sources that make no sense and don’t matter.

-Don’t try to adjust your paper to fit the sources you’ve found. But don’t try and change the source to fit your paper. Your topic and the research either fits or it doesn’t. You can’t force it. Don’t waste your time. Move on and find a better source.

Research: Other Sources

-Videos on YouTube or television can be used as a source, but they are difficult to use and usually don’t contribute much to your paper.

-Don’t use sources in your paper just to fill up space. That is one of the major reasons students do poorly in a paper like this.

-Block Quotes shouldn’t be more than 5 lines long. However, you can break the Block quote up, or change the block quote to exact quotes.

Research: Other Sources

-Using sources to develop and flesh out your paper is the BEST way to make your paper longer in a constructive way. Your paper is only as good as the sources you find. USE YOUR SOURCES. Giving plenty of evidence shows critical thinking and sophistication. Not using sources looks lazy.

Formatting and Style:

-Write your introduction and conclusion LAST.

-Double check to make sure your sentences aren’t too long.

-The more paragraphs you use, the better.

-Don’t lose steam. The end of the paper should be as developed and well written as the beginning of your paper.

-Don’t waste the reader’s time.

Formatting and Style:

-Do all your MLA formatting after you finish your paper (the first draft). The last thing you should do is your work cited page.

-IF YOU DON’T USE AN MLA STYLE GUIDE, YOUR MLA FORMATTING WILL BE WRONG.

-When in doubt, Cite it.

-Sense you are using a lot of proofs, there should be a lot of citations.

Formatting and Style:

-Read your paper Out loud before you work on your second draft.

-Read your paper out loud before you work on your third draft.

-Don’t try and “sound smart.” It’s not the words you use. It is how you use them.

-Use a hard-copy when working on your final draft.

-Don’t trust Spell-check.

Final Points:

-This assignment is testing your time management skills. Budget your time wisely and this paper will be much easier.

-Take pride and ownership in your work.

-If you get stuck, try writing a new section. Don’t force yourself to work on a section that’s not cooperating.

-Your research is always smarter than you are.

-Trust yourself.

THIS IS THE GOOD EXAMPLE FROM THE TEXTBOOK THE PROFESSOR THOUGHT US. IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO READ IT.

Thesis: Many people believe that Climate Change is a real problem and we should do something to stop it.

Opinion: I believe that Climate change IS a real problem and we should do something about it. (Weak)

Claim: Climate change IS a real problem and we should do something to stop it. (Stronger)

Opinion: I think Climate change IS NOT a real problem and we should do nothing about it (weak).

Claim: Climate change IS NOT a real problem and we should do nothing about it (Stronger).

-Both claims are not correct or incorrect. They are not true or false. They have to be proven.

People can have a difference of opinion. Also, people can disagree on whether a fact is true or not. However, it is your job to PERSUADE people that your CLAIM is correct.

Some Claims are easy to prove.

Claim: It is hot outside.

-To prove this claim, you go outside. If it is hot, then you are correct. If it isn’t, you’re incorrect.

Some Claims are very difficult to prove.

Claim: The United States should remain in Afghanistan for as long as it takes to defeat the Taliban and the terrorist the Taliban harbor.

-For this claim, you will have to PROVE it.

Fact: Climate Change is a real phenomenon.

Fact: Climate Change is a real phenomenon.