Research Paper

Using research, critical thinking and media literacy, investigate an idea or practice in any form of media that you have become curious. Write a report and deliver a presentation that will teach our class about what you have discovered.

·      Your topic due date is printed on the class syllabus

·     All topics must be approved by me 

 

TOPIC: Choose your topic by looking through the Chapter Openers and Close-Ups in the textbook. Choose a topic that's interesting to you and begin your research by going on the De Anza Library website and searching for scholarly articles. Look for articles of interest to you; be flexible and ready to alter your topic as you research databases for interesting articles.

 

PAPER ORGANIZATION REQUIREMENTS

Introduction    - where the issue is brought forth for discussion. You may need to define necessary words or concepts here to help your audience's understanding of the issue. This can also be where you discuss the history of your issue. Be sure to include your one-sentence thesis statement that will allow you to focus the writing in the rest of your paper. Aside from the thesis statement, no other opinion in this section, just the backstory told in as objective a way as you can.

A thesis statement, simply put, is your opinion about something written "as if" it was fact. Example: Media literacy should be taught to children ages 6-12 to help them understand how they are manipulated by video game advertising. This is clearly my opinion, but I'm stating it "as if" it is a known fact.

·      Note that I am very focused in this thesis statement: I don't just say children, rather I say children ages 6-12. Therefore my research should only be on children 6-12 years old, so investigating how teens are affected would be inappropriate (and a waste of my time).

·        Next, I'm concentrating on "media literacy about advertising" only, not literacy about other forms of media, such as television shows, or comic books, or digital media . . . just advertising!

·        Finally, I'm concentrating on video games, not board games, or sports, or Internet website games.

BODY - each paragraph begins with a topic sentence that will allow you to take your discussion into one of the areas you want to explore. The topic sentence should then be supported or challenged by your research (which will be cited "in text" to tell your reader where this information came from).

·        Use quotations sparingly. In academic writing it is preferred that you paraphrase the information you have found using your own words because that shows your reader you understand what the original author means. Quote briefly only if the words are "too good" not to use.

·      ALWAYS give the original author credit for his/her idea, even if you paraphrase it, with an in-text citation. If you do not, you are committing plagiarism, which is stealing someone else's ideas. It is both illegal, as well as unethical (see the class syllabus for my commitment to uphold De Anza College's policy on this). Example: In the documentary "Before the Music Dies," Erykah Badu, a contemporary singer, suggests that most female singers must meet the audience's idea of sex appeal before they will be given a recording contract (Shapter & Rasmussen, 2006).

·        For each piece of research you use, you should explain how or why this information is relevant to your discussion. It may be helpful to think that the body should be about 40% research, and 60% of your discussion about what the research shows in regard to your thesis statement.

·        As a fair-minded scholar, it is ALWAYS a good idea to give voice to the other side of an issue. In conducting research, you may be exposed to information you never considered; allowing you to see the issue is not as black-and-white as you originally thought. Present these findings as
objectively as possible.

CONCLUSION - in this section you will tie together your thoughts about this issue. Using critical thinking, you will help your reader understand what you have learned, and you will explain how this has affected your original thesis.

·      Maybe, after all of your research, you have come to another opinion than the one you started off with. That's okay because it shows you have learned something. Tell the reader about this.

·        On the other hand, your research may have convinced you that you were right all along, and that's okay, too, because you have found experts who share your concerns or back up your thoughts. Again, you have learned something. Tell the reader about this.

·        Finally, it is also OK to admit that you are now conflicted about the topic. You may have found research that makes a case for each side, and you find all of it to be compelling, and something you want to wrestle with and think more about. Again, this is OK because you have learned that your issue is more complex than you originally thought. Tell the reader about this.

·     Academic writing is not about your "feelings" so much as it is about what you learned during your research. For example: What's good about this? What's weird about this? Who will gain by this? How will this change the world? Who will lose, and what will happen to them? Who is responsible? etc. You start with your feelings and then you become a detective to uncover the real story.

RESEARCH INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS

You are expected to include a minimum of four reputable sources:

1.      The textbook must be one source - you will lose substantial points if this is not included.

2.      An an article from a peer-reviewed scholarly journal article accessed/printed through the De Anza library must be one source.

3.      Two more college-level sources.

 If you use online sources, the website MUST have an "About Us" section so you can investigate the sponsoring organization and determine whether this group is providing information that is accurate, and any bias is clearly identified. This should be mentioned in your paper, as well. For example: The American Academy of Pediatrics is clearly "biased" toward children's good physical, mental, and psychological health. As a scholar, you are responsible for finding, evaluating. and (ultimately) using only reputable information.

If you choose to use a blog, or another opinion-based website, or a crowd-sourced resource such as Wikipedia, this will be in addition to the four required sources. Again, as a scholar, you have to determine if this information is truly relevant. In some cases it could be very enlightening, and really add to your audience's understanding of the topic. This is where using critical thinking becomes important.

APA CITATION REQUIREMENTS

In-text parenthetical citations are required whenever you include material from a research source. All sources must be cited within the paper using APA citation style (in-text citation information is also available on the Bedford-St. Martin Documentation site. You can find it by googling "Diana Hacker" and "apa citation style”.

A References page is a separate page at the end of your report. The citations on the References page should "match" the in-text citations. You should know that I spot-check this, particularly if something seems interesting - or incorrect - to me. Your research paper could very well be one of those I choose to investigate.

QUALITY OF WRITING REQUIREMENTS

LENGTH - The research paper will be a minimum of 1,200 words, or approximately 4 pages (1 inch margins, double spaced, 12 point font) and will follow the conventions of college-level English writing. Include the total word count on the first page of the document. The maximum number of words for this assignment is 1,500 (approx. 5 pages)

COLLEGE-LEVEL WRITING STANDARDS - As the writer of this report, you are expected to produce work that is well organized, written as objectively as possible, interesting, spelled correctly, and grammatically correct. Be careful not to include texting abbreviations, profanity, or slang unless it is intentional, and explained within the text.

No writer produces his/her best work in just one draft. Create your first draft knowing that it is just a first attempt, and that it must be revised. This takes a lot of pressure off you because you know in the first draft you are just "getting information down." In subsequent drafts you will think about organization, sophistication of language, moving research around, etc.

If you need help with writing this paper, I suggest you go to the Writing and Reading Center for walk-in tutoring help. Bring your written draft copy to the tutors to ask for their recommendations about revision, grammar and spelling errors, organization, etc. You have already paid for this through your tuition fees - take advantage of this free service.

PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS

The written portion of this assignment is worth 100 points. The presentation portion is worth an additional 50 points. You choose the date of your presentation. The only "excused" absence is hospitalization, or some other true emergency. I will require written confirmation of the emergency (such as a doctor's note) if you missed your presentation date and you want to earn 50 points.

An emergency is not:

·      a cold (no matter how crummy you feel). You can go home immediately after your presentation if you need to.

·        your printer broke or you ran out of ink

·      you left your class report at home, the dog ate it, etc.

If you miss your date, you may have an opportunity to present your report on the next class day, but there is no guarantee. Students who are scheduled for each day always have priority.

·      An on-time presentation earns 50 out of 50 presentation points

·      A one-day delay in presentation earns 25 out of 50 presentation points

·      A two-day delay in presentation earns 15 out of 50 presentation points

GRADING

An Annotated Bibliography  will be due two weeks before the Research Paper is due, and will be worth 100 points. Doing revisions can bring your grade up. More information will follow.

 

The research paper is worth 100 points. The paper will be graded on the four  requirements shown on the grading rubric for this assignment: organization, quality of research, APA citation/references and quality of writing.

For the presentation, you will NOT be graded on your diction or speech-making abilities, so there is no need to be nervous about giving this presentation.

For the presentation you will be graded on:

·        Giving your presentation on your scheduled day

·        Including a visual component

·      Presenting your topic in an interesting way for 5-7 minutes. Do not read your paper out loud. You can include discussion questions for the class.

ONE MORE THING

Your FINAL exam in this class may include questions from students' class presentations. You will take notes during the presentations and we will discuss the presentations at the end of each day. I will allow you to use these notes on the FINAL exam. Be sure to attend every class presentation day so you don't miss out on this information!