Go directly to Assignment 11
RESEARCH ESSAY #2
General Information
This paper is your final exam. Again, this paper must be 4-6 pages in length, and have a minimum of 10 sources. Now you have the opportunity to show what you have learned. You may do this paper entirely on your own, or you can solicit help from your instructor and peers, as you wish. This final paper will show what you have learned about organization, mechanics, documentation, forms, and research skills. You will be using one new form -- an informal MLA title page in place of the formal MLA title page you used in Ass. 10.
This paper will also give you more freedom to choose a subject that interests you. It may be a paper that has a bearing on your future, like a career interest, or a medical problem, or some other topic that you have not had the time to investigate. It may be a national topic that has spurred your interest, or an environmental problem that concerns you. The field is open for a topic for this final paper, but you must be able to narrow your chosen subject enough to fit a 4-6 (excluding title and works consulted) page paper, write a good research question, and hand in a finished product for a final grade. The notes to be submitted will be different also. Be sure to read the section on notes later in this lesson.
There is another requirement for this paper: This paper will be PROBLEMATICAL RESEARCH.
Problematical research is a little different from Historical research, and the paper that results is usually structured differently. Problematical research begins with a problem, explains what the problem is, how it affects us, and attempts to solve the problem--or at least presents possible solutions that the experts believe will help alleviate the problem. The product of this assignment should be a problem that is facing the United States today (defined as still ongoing and can be researched in the last five years).
This type of research allows subjects in many fields, and you should be able to find a subject that interests you. Do you, or someone that you know, have a MEDICAL problem that you have always wanted to know more about but never had the time? Are you interested in ENVIRONMENTAL issues like the rain forests, or the endangerment of the Sperm Whale, but never quite understood what the problem was? Are you interested in POLITICAL issues that face our country, or SOCIAL or MORAL issues that stir up anger in our society? You might want to make a list of subjects that interest you in one of these broad fields, or generate others. Remember that this will be current research: current = last 5 years. This paper should reflect the latest in information on your problem.
For instance:
ENVIRONMENT
- Transporting hazardous wastes over our highways
- Freon damage to our atmosphere
- Concern for the Spotted Owl in Oregon
- Etc.
Remember that this subject will have to be narrowed as you read and learn about your subject: i.e. Cigarette smoking> Secondary smoke> The effects on non-smokers in restaurants.
Soon you will run across the subject for your next paper!
Additional Information on Problematical Structure - Required reading
A Difference from your First Paper!
Title page:
This second paper will use the informal MLA title page instead of the formal research title page used in the first paper. The MLA informal title page has your name information in the upper left hand corner of the page, the title of the paper double spaced below the name information and centered, and the body of the paper starting below the title. The page number is optional on the first page, and if used, is page 1. For more information on the informal title page, go to this link: Informal MLA Title Page
Requirements for final exam problematical research paper:
 | Informal MLA title page |
| 4-6 pages of content |
| At least one long quote (to show your understanding of long quote format |
| At least one short quote |
| MLA formatted document page numbers |
| Format MLA Works Consulted page with minimum of 10 sources |
| As a final exam, this must be an original paper researched for this class - do not use a paper that you have written before. |
Must reading for this last paper:
Purdue Owl (here you will find more detail on the new MLA forms).
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