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  • Academic Writing, But If You Want Students To Choose Their Own Topics (As I Did), This Chapter

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    Yoga Jiwa Yang Jaya
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    This document outlines the requirements for a mini-research paper assignment. Students must choose their own academic topic that interests them and is familiar but not too broad or narrow in scope. They are instructed to find 3 reliable sources on their topic and take notes. The paper must introduce the topic, provide the student's perspective on it while using sources to support their views, and cite sources to avoid plagiarism. Drafts are due on November 17th and 24th, with student-instructor conferences scheduled before the final paper is due on December 6th.

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    Paper4 Guidelines(1)

    Original Title

    Paper4 Guidelines(1)

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    This document outlines the requirements for a mini-research paper assignment. Students must choose their own academic topic that interests them and is familiar but not too broad or narrow in scope. They are instructed to find 3 reliable sources on their topic and take notes. The paper must introduce the topic, provide the student's perspective on it while using sources to support their views, and cite sources to avoid plagiarism. Drafts are due on November 17th and 24th, with student-instructor conferences scheduled before the final paper is due on December 6th.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as RTF, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    22 views4 pages

    Academic Writing, But If You Want Students To Choose Their Own Topics (As I Did), This Chapter

    Uploaded by

    Yoga Jiwa Yang Jaya
    This document outlines the requirements for a mini-research paper assignment. Students must choose their own academic topic that interests them and is familiar but not too broad or narrow in scope. They are instructed to find 3 reliable sources on their topic and take notes. The paper must introduce the topic, provide the student's perspective on it while using sources to support their views, and cite sources to avoid plagiarism. Drafts are due on November 17th and 24th, with student-instructor conferences scheduled before the final paper is due on December 6th.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as RTF, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 4

    Thishandoutexplainsthelastpaperofthesemester,whichisaminiresearchpaper.

    Soonafter
    introducingthisassignment,wetookaclasstriptothePClabsothatIcouldshowstudentsafew
    onlineresourcesforconductingresearch.ThisassignmentcorrespondstoChapter14of
    AcademicWriting,butifyouwantstudentstochoosetheirowntopics(asIdid),thischapter
    maynotbeveryuseful.However,Chapters10and11onsummarizing,paraphrasing,quoting,
    anddocumentingsourceswerehelpful.

    Paper4:Arguingfromwrittenmaterial
    (Miniresearchpaper)
    Purpose:Thepurposeofthisassignmentisforyoutopracticemethodsofresearchingand
    writingaboutanacademictopic.
    PaperTopic:
    Youmaychooseyourowntopicforthispaper.Followtheguidelinesbelowforchoosingatopic.
    1.Chooseanacademictopicthatinterestsyou.

    Sinceyouwillbedoingalotofreadingandwritingaboutthistopic,makesurethatitinterests
    you.Thiscouldbeatopicthatyourelearningaboutinanotherclassoronethatrelatestoyour
    major.Ifyourtopicisimportanttoyou,thenyouwilllikelyfeelmoremotivatedtoreadabout
    it,talkaboutit,andwriteaboutit.
    2.Chooseatopicthatisfamiliartoyou.
    Youmightselectatopicthatyouarefamiliarwithfromyourotherclasses,oratopicthatyou
    havereadaboutbefore.Ifyoualreadyhavesomeknowledgeaboutyourtopic,thenitwill
    probablybeeasiertoexplainitandgivesupportforyourpointofview.
    3.Chooseatopicthatyouwouldliketolearnmoreabout.
    Makesureyourtopicissomethingthatyouwouldliketoknowmoreabout;ifyoualreadyknow
    allaboutyourtopic,thenyoumaybecomeboredwithreadingandwritingaboutit.
    4.Chooseatopicthatisnottoobroadortoonarrow.
    Makesureyourtopiccanbeaddressedina46pagepaper.Selectingaverybroadtopicora
    verynarrowtopiccanmakeyourpapermoredifficulttowrite.Forexample,pollutionasa
    topicforthispaperwouldbetoobroad,butyoucouldnarrowitdownbywritingaboutaspecific
    kindofpollution,orpollutionproblemsinaspecificplace.

    ResearchingYourTopic:
    Find3reliablesources.
    Onceyouhaveselectedagoodtopicforyourpaper,thenextstepistofindresearchsources.
    Thesesourcesmightbe:
    academicbookssuchastextbooks,referencebooks,orcollectionsofessaysabout
    yourtopic.
    newspaperorscholarlyjournalarticlesaboutyourtopic.
    websitesaboutyourtopic.
    otherkindsofsourcesthathelpexplainyourtopic.
    Ifpossible,itsusefultohaveavarietyofdifferentkindsofsourceswrittenbydifferentauthors.
    Makesurethatyoursourcesarereliable;thatis,thattheinformationtheycontainisusefuland
    trustworthy.Onceyouhavefoundyoursources,readthemandtakenotesaboutimportantor
    interestingfactsorideasthatyoucouldwriteaboutinyourpaper.

    WritingYourPaper:
    1. Introduceyourtopicandexplainwhyyouchosetowriteaboutit.

    2. Describeyourownperspectiveonyourtopic(whatyouthinkaboutyourtopicandwhy
    yourtopicisimportant).
    3. Useyoursourcestosupportyourperspectiveonyourtopic.Yoursourcescanhelpyou
    givebackgroundinformation,facts,examples,anddetailsaboutyourtopic.
    4. Makesurethatyouavoidplagiarismbycitingyoursourcesandbyquoting,paraphrasing,
    andsummarizingappropriately.
    PaperTimeline:
    Wed.,Nov.17:Draft1due(bringtwocopiestoclass)
    Wed.,Nov.24:Draft2due(bringtwocopiestoclass)
    Mon.,Nov.29
    Wed.,Dec.1:Studentinstructorconferences
    Mon.,Dec.6: Finalpaperdue(bringall3draftstoclass)
    Yourfinalpapershouldbe46pagestyped,doublespaced.

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