Student Sample Research Essay Process Assignment

Shared with permission from Gurvir Singh from Professor Thavaratnam’s 2023
COMM 171 class.

UNIT 6

1. Title of the source:

“Last year, Canada became my home. Feeling like a Canadian will take a bit longer.”

2. Summary of Source (100 words/1 paragraph)

The Article “Last year, Canada became my home. Feeling like a Canadian will take a bit longer” by Sindhu
Mahadevan, published by the CBC on January 29, 2023, familiarizes the audience with the problems immigrants
like herself may face when moving to a new place and how feeling at home does not mean belongingness.
Mahadevan says that whenever someone asks about her being Canadian, her mind jumps straight to the description
of her immigration status, although the question may be one of belonging. She moved to Canada in late 2021 but
still struggles to find a natural attachment to the country. She contrasts her experiences in America with Canada and
feels that even though the Americans were welcoming, the American Immigration System alienated her. Moving
from America to Canada changed her life significantly, even if the process was nerve-racking. Mahadevan finally
feels at home in Canada but still struggles to shake her anxieties of estrangement. In the end, however, she seems
confident and hopeful that someday she will leave her worries behind and finally would be able to feel a sense of
belongingness.

3. Discuss the strengths and flaws based on the type of source you are using (100 words).

Argument: The student picked a narrative, so see below

Strengths: HOW is the argument logical, fair, and reasonable? Why might some reasonable
people agree with the author?

Flaws: What are the problems, flaws, or gaps in the argument? Why do you think people may
disagree with the author? Think critically. What new questions and areas for development does
the argument raise?

OR

Narrative:
Strengths: What makes the narrative seem truthful, important, and relevant? Why should the
narrative matter to other people today?

 Accuracy- The article is very accurate. All the example or evidence used by the author
are extremely accurate and provide sufficient information to the readers to relate to
general problems faced by immigrants.
 Evidence- The author herself is an immigrant. She uses example of celebrating festivals
and performing rituals of her community to appeal emotionally to the audience.
 Relevancy- Canada is home to about 8 million immigrants and this number keeps on
increasing every year, making the essay relevant to most of the Canadian population and
to those looking to immigrate to Canada.

Flaws: What voice or perspective does the narrative allow us to hear that is perhaps often
hidden? Moreover, what do you think are some other possible perspectives on the same
issue/problem raised in the narrative? In other words, how would the same
experience/issue/problem look from a different perspective?

 The examples are not discussed in detail.

 The article wording is complex at places and make not be easy to read at times.

Unit 7
Academic integrity
1. Discuss two problems that can result from using ChatGPT and other AI tools to write
your essay? (100 words)

One problem that can arise from using ChatGPT and other AI tools to write an essay is that the
resulting text may lack coherence and clarity. Although AI can generate sentences that are
grammatically correct, it may not be able to produce logical and coherent arguments or convey
complex ideas in a way that humans can easily understand.

Another issue that can occur is plagiarism. Since ChatGPT and other AI tools rely on large
databases of texts and previously written content to generate new content, there is a risk that the
resulting essay may include text that is identical or highly similar to existing works. This can
result in accusations of academic dishonesty and can have serious consequences, including
failing the assignment or course, suspension, or expulsion.
 2. How can students use AI tools such as ChatGPT in a positive way to learn- in a manner
that does not breach the academic integrity policies at the college? (100words)

Students can use AI tools such as ChatGPT in a positive way to aid their learning by using it as a
reference tool to generate ideas, improve their writing skills, and explore different perspectives
on a given topic. For instance, students can use ChatGPT to learn about grammar to improve
their writing.

To ensure that the use of AI tools does not breach academic integrity policies, students must
acknowledge the sources of the generated content and only use the AI-generated text as a
reference, not as a replacement for their own original work. Additionally, they should thoroughly
review the content generated by AI tools and ensure that the final essay is their own original
work, with properly cited references. They should always consult their instructors before using
AI in assignments.

Write down a list of the key words you used for your topic.

Keep a record of your research (Identify the sources you

have come across during the research process):
Economic and Social Report
- Source title and author: Self-Reported loneliness among recent immigrants, long term immigrants and
Canadian-born individuals by- Max Stick, Feng Hou and Lisa Kaida
- Relevance: This research survey helps me to prove the relevancy of Sindhu Mahadevan’s essay. It also
provides in-detail information that supports and confirms the authors opinion.

Website
- Source title and author: Alone in Canada by- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
- Relevance: This article helps me to understand the situation of immigrants and problems faced by them.
The primary essay does not provide the readers with solutions to get accustomed to the new country and
this article helps with that.

News Website
- Source title and author: As an immigrant, I know how it feels to be ‘lonely and isolated’ in my new
country by- Selma Kiwirra
- Relevance: This article is written by an immigrant just like Mahadevan, who had been to 4 continents and
gives me her perspective as an immigrant and most of her experiences resonate with those of Mahadevan’s
and help me explain why her article is accurate.
Library / Database Sources
- Source title and author: Information Experiences of Bangladeshi Immigrations in Canada by- Nafiz Zaman
Shuva
- Relevance: This source helps me explain and understand why immigrants feel lonely while moving to a
new country. It also provides some ways to integrate into the new community easily and quickly. This
helps me to better understand Mahadevan’s experiences and help improve the accuracy of the primary
article.

Annotated Bibliography Unit 8

Write the annotated bibliography for three of your best research sources. One of the sources must
be peer reviewed. Each annotation can be 2-5 sentences. The first few sentences can be a
summary of the article and the last few sentences should illustrate the way you will use your
source to evaluate your source. IE) what part of the response section will the research go in?
What framework will it support?

Source 1: Alone in Canada

APA: Centre For Addiction and Mental Health. Alone in Canada. 21 ways to make it better.
Retrieved March 6, 2023,
fromhttps://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/guides-and-publications/alone-in-canada

Annotation: “Alone in Canada. 21 ways to make it better” published by the Centre For Addiction
and Mental Health is a self-help guide for the Canadian newcomers to help them cope with the
cultural shockand sense of loneliness. It includes 21 tips such as celebrating holidays, celebrating
achievements. Mahadevan also includes such tips in her article including celebrating a person’s
cultural events. Hence, this guide helps me prove how Mahadevan makes good use of her
personal experience to appeal to the emotion and provide solid evidence to support her claims.

Source 2: Self-Reported loneliness among recent immigrants, long-term immigrants, and

Canadian-born individuals

APA: Max Stick, Feng Hou, & Lisa Kiada (2021, July). Self-Reported loneliness among recent
immigrants, long-term immigrants, and Canadian-born individuals. Retrieved March 6, 2023
from ://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202100700001-eng

Annotation: “Self-Reported loneliness among recent immigrants, long-term immigrants, and

Canadian-born individuals” by Max Stick, Feng Hou and Lisa Kiada is an economic and social
report published on Statistics Canada on July 28, 2021. This report consists of a survey
conducted between 3 different groups of immigrants; recent immigrants, long term immigrants,
and Canadian-born individuals to study the effect of time on the person’s sense of belonging.
This report proves that the sense of loneliness in immigrants persists for a long time and helps
me to prove Mahadevan’sclaim that feeling like a Canadian will take time. This report provides
data regarding immigrants who feel lonely in Canada which the primary article lacked. This also
helps me prove he accuracy of the primary as it includes both pre and post Covid-19 data.

Source 3: As an immigrant, I know how it feels to be ‘lonely and isolated’ in my new country.

APA:Selma Kiwirra (2019, February). As an immigrant, I know how it feels to be ‘lonely and
isolated’ in my new country. Retrieved March 6, 2023
fromhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/pov-selma-kiwirra-immigration-cbc-asks-
1.5036164

Annotation:The article “As an immigrant, I know how it feels to be ‘lonely and isolated’ in my
new country by Selma Kiwirra was Published by the CBC on February 28, 2019. This article
talks about the author’s experience as a Canadian immigrant and the problems she faced. This
article gives me Selma’s perspective as an immigrant. Both Selma and Sindhu had similar
experiences. This helps me to get a general idea of the topic and prove it’s relevancy. This article
also helps me to prove the accuracy of Mahadevan’s article.