Research Writing Unit
Mr. Steel
During
this unit of study, students will further develop their critical essay-writing
skills by learning how to write a research paper. Students will be required to
engage in several forms of research, and they will be taught how to incorporate
these sources into their writing using correct documentation procedures. The
purpose of encouraging students to consult a variety of sources is, first, to
deepen their critical essay-writing skills, and second, to help them gain greater
facility with a variety of research methodologies.
Work and Assessment
A. Students will
write a research paper about the meaning and significance of friendship.
Student research ought to span a broad variety of disciplines (ex.:
literary/poetic resources, philosophic treatises, anthropological, scientific,
zoological). Every student will be required to consult multiple research
resources concerning friendship. Students may use as many different sources as
they like. Minimally, THREE different types of sources must be consulted. These
types include the following:
|
q Books
(history, biography, fiction, non-fiction) q Magazine
articles q Newspaper
articles q Internet
sources q Museum
materials (archives, exhibits) |
q Visual
sources (art) q Audio sources
(music, speech) q Interviews q Movies and
Documentaries q Opinion polls
and statistics q Journal
articles |
Having
chosen research materials from at least THREE categories, students are to
investigate friendship and write a "source paragraph" about each
source they consult. Each source paragraph must indicate what they learned
about friendship from the source, as well as what the source did not tell them
that they would like to know, and their thoughts on where they might find this
information. The purpose of this exercise is to challenge students to recognize
the limitations of consulting only one source for any research assignment.
|
Research Assignment
(Source Paragraphs) |
40% |
B. Having completed
the research component of this unit, students will write a critical essay using
all of their research materials. Student papers will have a clearly-worded
thesis; they will include at least three body paragraphs that will serve as
premises in support of a thesis about friendship. Finally, all research papers
must include a concluding paragraph that sums up their findings, points out any
insights in their work, as well as mentions any perceived shortcomings. Student
work will be carefully proofread and documented, and submitted at the end of
the two week unit.
|
Research Paper |
40% |
C. Students will
be expected to complete two minor exercises in citation and bibliographic
referencing
|
Citation and
Bibliographic Referencing |
10% each 20%
total |