Annotated Bibliography

ASSIGNMENT: Research Paper

Your Research Paper will focus on either Man Alive or Educated.

While we may not have covered all the material prior to your beginning to write this paper, you can most certainly read ahead and focus on the text that is of particular interest to you.

The objective is to demonstrate your ability to think and write critically about a given text while incorporating secondary sources to support your thesis. For example, you have written a research question (which was part of your Annotated Bibliography), which has culminated in a working thesis statement (demonstrated in your Annotated Bibliography). From here, you will continue to conduct research and incorporate the relevant findings into your paper.

It is imperative that you learn how to integrate source material (the quotes chosen from relevant research) and develop a clear argumentative/persuasive paper. You must use a minimum of four (4) sources. Yes, you were required to produce three (3) for the Annotated Bibliography, but for your paper, you must use a minimum of four (4).

You will also learn to present complex ideas in a logical and clear manner.

The length of the paper should be between 1500 and 1700 words. Yes, this limit is important, as learning to write within a given word limit figures significantly as you move forward. So practicing to be succinct and evaluating what is essential to the overall meaning and scope of the text and the assignment expectations are essential to becoming a good writer.

The appropriate register for this Research Paper is formal. The paper must adopt an objective tone. Often times I am asked, “Can I write this from the first-person or second-person point of view, and the answer is no. Use the third-person point of view, as this establishes a stronger argument, suggesting that what you are writing is factual, rather than simply your opinion.

Convention: Using either a good rhetoric textbook or the University of Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/, use MLA conventions.  Further, while sub headings are sometimes permitted in MLA style papers (and APA), for this assignment, you must use a narrative transition to move your reader from one idea to the next. NO SUBHEADINGS ARE PERMITTED.  For more information on Annotated Bibliography check on this:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annotated_bibliography