Research Position Paper

The culmination of your semester’s work, the Research Position Paper presents the opinionated results of your research into a meaningful topic. It presents your thesis clearly, establishes its legitimacy with ample evidence from academic sources, defends itself against the most persuasive counterarguments, and persuades your reader to change her mind, appreciate a new perspective, or take an action.

ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICS

• The Paper is an Argument. Its purpose is to persuade readers of the rightness of your opinion based on the evidence you’ve compiled and synthesized.
• The Paper compiles the work of the entire semester. It uses elements and material from your Definition Essay, your Causal Essay, and your Rebuttal Essay.
• The Paper shows evidence of significant research. It blends what you have learned from academic and other sources with your own personal experience and observations to produce a unique point of view that could have been produced only by you.
• The Paper meets the minimum 3000-word requirement. It makes the most of those 3000 words, wasting none on BS or boilerplate. It is not wordy or repetitive.
• The Paper achieves the high standards of academic integrity. It cites its sources accurately and thoroughly, borrows nothing without citation, and credits every outside influence.
• The Paper includes a References section. Most papers will need to cite 10 sources to accurately credit the influence of the materials compiled. Be very concerned if your paper cites fewer than seven.

DETAILS

• Post your Research Position Paper before class on MON DEC 04
• Unless you publish well before the deadline, the odds are good that you will not receive feedback from your beloved professor on this assignment. Make your first draft the best it can be.
• Include References.
• Title your post Research—Username.
• Publish your definition essay in the Research Paper category and your own Username category.