| |
Overview
In approximately one page double spaced (300
words), summarize and explain the issue you plan to address in your final
research paper.
Background
One of the first steps
to writing the research paper is deciding what issue you will eventually
adopt a position on. Having explored the topic in some breadth, you
will now narrow in on a particular question or controversy. The key
is determining what is and is not an issue.
Issues have certain qualities, which can be (over
simplistically) listed thusly:
-
Issues have multiple possible sides. "Gravity," for
example, is not an issue. Any question of fact, while it must be
determined through experimentation, does in theory only have one
possible answer. An issue must have debatable points.
-
At the same time, an issue must be able to be argued with
reasoned support to those who do not already hold the position.
"Which religion is the correct one?" is not an issue, for any support
relies on matters of faith and feeling. People may be persuaded to
change religions, but a neutral evaluator could not judge between the
arguments for one or the other.
-
An issue must be of some consequence to someone.
Now, as I've said over and over again, it doesn't have to be of
consequence to everyone, or even a particularly large group of
people. But "what major should I pursue?" is not really an issue
to anyone but the writer. You should be able to identify a group
of people to whom this is of consequence.
Identifying your issue is the first step to finding your
argument, and can avoid the papers that end up being largely informative
rather than argumentative.
Assignment Specifics
In approximately one page
double spaced, you must do the following:
-
Identify the issue. The best way to do this is in
the form of a research question. For example, to use an issue I've
been reading about lately (and as always, to go back to comic books):
-
Should comic books be subject to standards of obscenity
parallel to other printed material, or parallel to broadcast
television? What, if any, special considerations must be made
for the possibility of minors buying adult material in comic books?
-
Next, break the question down by determining what is at
the root of the issue. In rhetoric, we often refer to
conjectures, which explore what an issue is about. For
example, the question above might have at its core freedom of
expression, or it might have at its core appropriateness of
material that is readily available to minors, or it might have at
its core the validity of comic books as an artistic medium. Or it might
have more than one of thse. Which conjecture(s) I choose will greatly
shape my argument. Lay out the possible conjectures, and discuss
which you might pursue.
-
Next, briefly lay out the possible positions - that is,
the possible answers to the question.
-
Next, tell me why it matters. Who is affected by the
current situation? In the example above, I might say parents,
comic writers/publishers/store owners, law enforcement and policy
makers, and adult readers of comics all have a distinct stake in the
question. What interests do various groups have? What is at
stake for them? Who would benefit from change, versus who benefits
from the status quo?
Other Requirements
Given the brevity of the
assignment, I am not requiring that you use specific sources. I will take
as a given that you are reporting general information you have gleaned
from your research. However, I expect that any direct
quotations or close paraphrases will be cited. |
|