English 1302 Research Assignment

50% of semester grade

Mrs. Swarthout
1. Project Proposal:
In order to get approved to do research at the college or university
level, or to request grant money to conduct research, the first step is to
write a Project/Grant proposal. A proposal asks permission. This will be
the case for any kind of research or grant request regardless of what
you major or field of study. Due to the fact that you have completed
little research thus far (on this assignment) you will be writing a
condensed or shortened version of a proposal. The final product of this
research paper will, in fact, be more like a college/university proposal.
a. Tentative title (optional at this point)
b. Research Questions: Every research paper need to answer a
question, a research question. Write a research question for your
paper. (Ex. Why is the legal drinking 21? What is the history
behind the death penalty? Should abortion be legal? Why legalize
marijuana?)
c. Write your proposal:
i. The first paragraph explains why you want to research the
topic and includes information from your first three
sources.
ii. The next paragraph/section is Methodology. This section
explains how you intend to conduct your research and
includes additional research questions.
d. Works cited/Bibliography
e. Other important proposal information:
i. It is in first person and it is about your plans.
ii. This is a working guide which means that as you research
you may find that you stray from your original plans or
ideas; in other words, a proposal is not set in stone.
iii. You need three sources for your proposal:
iv. Should be in APA (refer to spiral book or PurdueOwl)
v. Use headings: Question (s), Project, Methodology, and
Sources
Example first paragraph:

My thesis argues the beginning of the belief in low academic

abilities of black students can be traced to the establishment of the
freedmen schools. Even before the emancipation of slaves,
freedmen and contraband schools were being created in both the
North and the South. The number of black students, both
contraband and free, began to increase with the onset of Civil War.
The Civil War let loose upon the South millions of freedom-seeking
blacks. What to do with them was the severest issue facing the
nation (Morris 1). As the children of the freedom-seeking blacks
flooded into schools and the attendance soared to numbers as high
as sixty students in a single room school, the concern over teaching
these children grew considerably. Out of this unease emerged a
number of organizations, such as The Freedmens Bureau and
numerous other freedmens aid societies including one managed by
freedmen, the African Civilization Society. Among other
accomplishments, these societies developed the freedmen schools
and designed curriculum explicitly for the newly freed students. The
reading and spelling curriculum developed for the freedmen schools
included idealized representations of black people in society. The
Freedmans Library Readers published by the American Tract
Society most closely reflected the educational beliefs held by the
Freedmens Bureau, the government agency that supervised
freedmen schools and the education of black children. In 1865,
Lydia Maria Child published The Freedmens Book. These two
readers, though similar in format and scholastic function, varied
greatly in content and black depiction.

Due Date:
Project Proposal Grade:
2. Annotated Bibliography:
a. What is an annotated bibliography?
A list of citations to books, articles, and documents,
followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive
and evaluative paragraph, the annotation, informing the
reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the
sources cited. The citations have the appropriate
bibliographic format.
b. What is the process?

i. Locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and

documents that may contain useful information and ideas
on your topic.
ii. Briefly examine and review the actual items.
iii. Choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives
on your topic.
iv. Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate
style. (MLA, APA, Chicago).
v. Write an explanation summarizing the central theme and
scope of the source showing that you have read and
understand it.
c. What do you write?
i. Include one or more sentences that:
1. Evaluate the authority or qualifications of the author
2. Comment on the intended audience,
3. Compare or contrast this work with the worth,
effectiveness, and usefulness of the others you have
cited.
4. Explain how this work illuminates your topic.
5. Include relevant links to other work done in the area.
ii. Example:

d. Other important information about the annotated bibliography:

i. You need to have 10 annotated sources
ii. APA or MLA (see me if you think you want to write in MLA)
iii. Remember to list sources in alphabetical order

iv. You must note if the journal article or database information

is peer-reviewed.
v. You must print and store your printable sources in a
research binder. This binder will be graded as part
of your research paper
vi. You will be scored in the following areas: quality of
sources; quality/reliability of sources; variety of
sources; writing fluency of annotations; and APA or
MLA format. (See attached rubric from UTEP for scoring
breakdown.)

Due Date:
Annotated Bibliography grade:
3. Research essay:
a. Write a paper arguing, explaining, theorizing, or exploring your
research topic.
b. The paper must be between 6 and 8 pages, no longer-no shorter
(excluding your works cited page)
c. The paper will be scored in the following areas: purpose;
content; organization; feel; tone; sentence structure;
word choice, grammar, spelling, and writing mechanics;
length; use of references (resource binder); quality of
references; and APA/MLA format. (See attached rubric from
Purdue for score breakdown.)
d. You must use all 10 sources in your essay. Either quote them or
cite within the actual essay, not only on the works cited page.

Due Date:
Research Essay grade:
4. Presentation:
It is not uncommon for professors to require a presentation of your
research. Presenting your research also gives helps you to identify
what information is most important and interesting, without boring
your audience.
a. You will make a Keynote/PowerPoint/Prezi presentation with 12-16
slides, no more-no less.
b. You not actually be presenting these presentations to the class so
you will be required to include presentation/lecture notes on the
slides.
c. You will be scored in the following areas: organization; subject
knowledge; graphics; research; screen design; spelling,

grammar, and writing mechanics. (See attached rubric for

scoring breakdown.)

Due Date:
Presentation grade:
5. Conference Board:
The final step is to prepare for a possible conference presentation. At
large scale conferences very few participants orally present their
research. Accepted participants will create a conference board of their
research.
a. The board, with less space than your PowerPoint, must contain
the most important aspects and findings of your research and be
visually appealing. In other words, the board must attract
attention, keep your viewer interested, and speak for itself.
b. The average time that a viewer will look at your poster will be 60
seconds; therefore, your poster will be evaluated using NC
States 60 second poster evaluation rubric (attached). Your
poster will be scored in the following areas: overall
appearance; white space; text/graphics balance; text
size; author identification; research objective; main
points; and summary.

Due Date:
Poster grade:
Other important notes:
1. The turn-in method for each assignment varies so be sure to play
attention to your instructor.
2. If you are instructed to turn the assignment in via dropittome:
dropitto.me/swarthoutenglish Upload password: English
3. While you can record the majority of research grade on this document,
other participation grades will also be averaged into the final grade.
4. Keep this packet for the duration of the assignment. I will NOT supply
you with another one. In fact, store it in your research binder!
5. Check my website for updates and changes:
swarthoutenglish.weebly.com