Essay Assignment #4: 

* RESEARCH on ANY TOPIC / w/ PEER REVIEWS & SIX PAGE FINAL PAPER

Timeline: 

• Nov. 15th: Two paragraph proposal due 

• Nov. 20th: First drafts due (minimum three pages with at least ONE source) / BRING 4 COPIES OF YOUR DRAFT TO CLASS!!!

• Nov. 29th: Peer Reviews due 

• Dec. 11th: Final Papers due

This paper assignment choice requires that you supplement your argument with a minimum of two published sources.  For this paper, you may choose ANY TOPIC to research. The main thing that you want to do in this paper is to either persuade your reader or provide information or insight into a subject that you are interested in. Most students find this easiest to do with a subject with which they are already somewhat familiar, though you could also research a topic with which you have no familiarity, but were always interested in learning more. 

I have always found that the best papers begin by asking a question within a topic that interests you. If you aren't interested in the topic, this is going to be a horribly boring and tortuous assignment. And even if you're one of those that doesn't like to write, there is no reason why this assignment cannot be interesting, because this is your chance to write about whatever you want, as long as you write clearly, convincingly, and use at least two published sources. 

So once you find your topic, you then want to ask a question. What is it that you want to either know or know more about? Most often, students tend to come up with a really broad subject, and then what I call one of those "what is the meaning of life?" questions -- the kind you could never answer in a book, less mind five pages. So you want to make sure that your topic is narrowed down and manageable. But when you are first starting out, brainstorming large-scale is just fine. 

For example: Let's say that you are interested in the subject of art activism. Ok, cool topic, but now we've got to seriously narrow that down, even before we ask a specific question. So let's break up the phrase, first. What kind of art are you interested in? And what kind of activism? What jumps out at you? Don't sit there and ponder this for hours, go with your gut instinct, or what you really like or have been drawn to. Graffiti? Music? (what kind? hip hop? Rap? Jazz?) Let's say that you like or have been drawn to graffiti lately. There's just something about the colors, the freedom of its expression, the rawness of it, and the subversity, even, that you like. Ok . . . so now what about the activism? Social? Political? Perhaps you immediately cringe at the thought of politics (you're sick of seeing Bush on the tube every night; maybe you did vote, but you feel like it's all hopeless at this point . . . no, your immediate instinct is that you have had it up to HERE with the political crap). Social . . . well, you are interested in this global warming thing. You've not seen that Al Gore movie yet, but your friends have and they say it scares the hell out of them. You've been wondering if you'll even have a world to live in by the time you are your grandparents' age (if all those damned countries don't bomb the hell out of each other - or we don't bomb them first - ugh, but you don't want to talk about politics!). Ok, so you don't know much about global warming, but you are interested enough to find out more. So there you go - graffiti and global warming. Weird combination, you might think, and what in the world does one have to do with the other? and how in the world are you going to write a six page paper about that?? 

Well, you've already asked your first question. What does graffiti have to do with global warming, or better yet, how might graffiti help the cause of global warming? Now you could go on google and see what you might find if you plug in the search terms "global warming" and "graffiti," but chances are, you won't find much. In fact, I plugged in those search terms and found TOO MUCH, but nothing that really said anything about the two together in any substantial way (456,000 websites). So, perhaps already, I'm realizing that my search (and topic) is now almost too specific. But just doing a little roaming around gave me better ideas. I ran across one website, for example, that talked about hip hop activism. And all these little niches of art activism made me wonder: is grassroots art activism more effective than mass media campaigns (like big media tv spots like "Save the Whales" or larger, more well funded non-profit organizations that attempt to reach out to much larger, wider audiences through the mass media?). 

That's a question that I came up with by starting off with a general topic, brainstorming, then roaming around . . . the question just came naturally, but it's narrow enough that I can cover it fairly well in six pages, with some good research that won't be too hard to find. And the best part about it is, I really wondered that. I didn't just make up the question out of my head because I was trying to think up one in order to give you all some example (consider that my own assignment to find a way to help you); I was just typing and looking and low and behold, a question popped up, and I thought -- there it is, it's perfect! If you use this same basic process, you will also be able to find a question . . . which will then serve as the basis for your research and paper. 

And then, as you write, you'll want to think about your audience. Who are you writing for? Of course, I was thinking about you - students - as I'm writing this; so I'm writing in a tone and style that I think will be both easy and engaging for you. Does what I just wrote sound like something I'd turn into a teacher's conference? or send in to be published? No - because they aren't my audience. You are. So you need to do the same when you are writing your paper. Of course, you're thinking that I (your teacher) am your audience, but I want you to think beyond that. For this paper, I want you to imagine a group of peers (other college students) to whom you are writing. So while you want to use a tone that will be equally engaging, you also want to convince them that what you are saying is true - or that you are providing them with information that is new or enlightening in some way. Don't tell them stuff they already know -- tell them something you think they, for the most part, don't know.

Your first step, after you figure out what you want to write about, will be to write a two paragraph proposal that explains what question your essay will attempt to answer and/or futher illuminate. Briefly discuss what insight you will offer about the topic you are researching and how you plan to discuss the topic (you can give me an outline if you like, but I prefer prose . . . just write . . . tell me how you plan to approach your topic). Also include what kind of information you would like to find—what information would be helpful to you in illustrating your points and providing the reader with something useful. Who do you think would benefit from reading your paper? Who will it interest? What might your audience believe or disbelieve? And what, if any, myths or current beliefs about your topic might you try to dispell? Whatever you know, write it. And whatever you don't know, but want to find out, write about it.

** Always, always back up your thoughts with some example, quote, or explanation.