Instructor: Mr.

Boston
GSW 1120-1000
Summer 2013

Unit 4: Researched Essay

GSW LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Demonstrate rhetorical knowledge through writing in a variety of academic genres and to a
variety of academic audiences.
2. Develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills through approaching academic writing
assignments as a series of cognitive tasks, engaging in multiple modes of inquiry, synthesizing
multiple points of view, critiquing student and professional writing, and assessing source
materials.
3. Understand the processes entailed in academic writing including recursive processes for drafting
texts, collaborative activities, the development of personalized strategies, and strategies for
identifying and locating source materials.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of the conventions of academic writing including format and
documentation systems, coherence devices, conventional syntax, and control over surface
features such as grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and spelling.
5. Engage in the electronic research and composing processes by locating, evaluating,
disseminating, using and acknowledging research, both textual and visual, from popular and
scholarly electronic databases.
6. Understand the importance of values systems in academic writing including the abilities to write
effectively to audiences with opposing viewpoints, to participate in an active learning community
which values academic honesty, and to value the place of writing within learning processes.

Preliminary Work
Typed rough draft of Research Essay: Due Monday 4/6 by 11:59 pm
Typed final draft of Research Essay: Due Thursday 4/16 by 12:00 pm
Overview
Each of you will compose an academic, argumentative researched essay at least 8-10 pages long on an
issue that you choose and I approve. Each essays argument should be supported by at least 8 different,
credible sources. You will conduct all of the research for this essay. This researched essay is nothing
more than a longer, more in-depth multiple source essay. It will contain the same sort of counter
argument, multiple source synthesis, argument, etc. It will be longer and more in-depth, but not
significantly different from the multiple source essay structure. The key difference between the MSE and
the researched essay is that while the research will be done for you in the MSE, you will have to come up
with an issue to write about and do the research for the researched essay.

Instructor: Mr. Boston

GSW 1120-1000
Summer 2013

1. Get an issue and then develop a Research Essay from your PreSearch Assignment
The first part of a successful researched essay process is to isolate an issue that you can
successfully write about. We will go through several prewriting strategies that might help you
come up with an issue that is both controversial and significant. As you search for something to
write about, I encourage you to research something that is new and interesting for you. The best
topics to choose are ones that you find very interesting and want to explore a new aspect of the
topic you have not thought about before; and topics that you find interesting but do not know a lot
about, and you want to learn more about it and find an arguable stance within the topic. This is
NOT the time to rehash a tired argument regarding abortion or the drinking age. Over the
years, Ive found that the following issues yield awful essays, so I refuse to read them.
Do Not Write about the Following Issues:
Lowering the drinking age
Abortion
Capital Punishment
Gun Control
You will then take the work you have been doing on your PreSearch Assignment and develop your
research question further by answering the question with your thesis and your research you have
conducted.
2. Conduct the initial research with your PreSearch Assignment
At this point, you should have collected sources that help you build your opinion and your argument.
Caution: While it might seem easy at this point to just collect web pages for information, realize
that your essays must use a variety of types of sources. That is, while you can use credible web
pages, you will also need to cite periodical and journal articles these can be found in the
librarys research databases. You might also cite books.
At this point, read and collect a dozen or so articles regarding the issue you hope to write about so that
you can get a good sense of the information that is available and if, in fact, your issue is arguable.
3. Write the PreSearch Assignment.
As you begin researching your essay, you will need to prove to me that you have a solid research question
and know what youre doing with your issue. This proof will come in the form of the PreSearch
Assignment.
Since the effectiveness your entire essay depends, in part, upon an engaging, argumentative, sufficiently
narrow topic and a thorough exploration of exactly what you hope to accomplish, the issue PreSearch
Assignment will help you communicate to yourself (and to me) what you know about your topic, your
audience, and your purpose. This assignment isnt a polished essay; rather, it is a conversation with
yourself in which you talk about what you know, what your audience knows, and what youll have to do
to make your argument believable for your audience.
4. Conduct Further Research on Your Polished Topic.

Instructor: Mr. Boston

GSW 1120-1000
Summer 2013

After you have composed your PreSearch Assignment, your topic, argument, and supporting points will
be more focused and polished then when you first started looking up research. Some of your sources you
have already explored may not even relate to or support your argument. This is the time to go back
through your sources to weed out those that are not relevant, and to conduct more research to find sources
that clearly support your argument and topic.
Remember, I cannot stress enough, do not let your sources control and write your paper. Make your
argument and your supporting points control the paper and only utilize the sources to support and back
YOUR claims.
5. Write the essay.
Once I have approved your issue, you should follow the same writing process as the MSE. Remember
that each researched essay will be at least 8-10 pages and each essays argument should be supported by
at least 8 different, credible sources. These sources must be synthesized with each other and your ideas.
Keep in mind that real synthesis involves the integration of your ideas with those of two or more
closely related sources.
Things you need to know:
Audience: Your audience is going to be very important to this essay. You will need to determine your
audience and make it clear in your writing that you are addressing the appropriate audience.
Purpose: You are to argue on a topic of your choice (besides the topics that are off limits). You will be
taking a stance on your topic. You will then arguing your stance to convince your chosen audience that
your position is the most reliable and sturdy argument.
Support: You will need 8 separate sources of at least three different types (journals, books, interviews,
websites). Do not use Wikipedia unless it is a reputable source for your topic (like pop culture issues and
hobbies) and you can prove that it is reputable; however, Google scholar is fine. All websites need to be
able to be proven that they are reputable sites. Remember, blogs and personal web pages are not reliable
sources.
Format: Please see below.
Length: This paper needs to 8-10 pages long. The page count does not include the works cited page.
Paper Guidelines: All essays turned in must follow these guidelines to be acceptable for submission:
Your essay is expected to be at least 8-10 pages in length. If you write 8 pages, it must be a full 8
pages.
Papers should follow MLA format. Examples and information on MLA can be found in K&M. As
well, we will discuss MLA format in class.
Essays must be word processed, double-spaced, and have standard 1 margins on the right and
left sides, top, and bottom of the page.
The font used for your final drafts should be 12-point Times New Roman.
Pages must be numbered with your last name and page number in the upper right-hand corner.
Your essays must have a title, but please dont include a separate title page with your papers.
When you submit a final draft of an essay to me for evaluation, you will need to include a number
of other materials along with it, arranged in the following order:
A GSW Rubric should be on top (goldenrod color).
The assignment sheet should be included next.
The final (or most recent) draft of your essay should be included next.

Instructor: Mr. Boston

GSW 1120-1000
Summer 2013

The various drafts of your paper should be included next, in reverse

chronological order. Only drafts which contain substantial revisions or which
peers or I have commented upon should be included, however.
On the bottom of the stack should be a completed Audience and Values
Exploration/Student Process Analysis Sheet (beige color) and all other prewriting
you have done for the assignment.

Researched Essay RE
40% of final grade + must pass to be eligible for portfolio assessment
Once you have successfully completed the PreSearch Essay, it is time to do more research so you can
answer the research question youve come up with. Remember that answering the researched question
will require you to have a broad understanding of the issue at hand as well as its greater context.
When it comes to drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading the RE, you should follow the same writing
process as the MSE. Remember that the Researched Essay will be 8-10 full pages long and the essays
argument must be supported by at least 8 different, credible sources. These sources must be synthesized
with each other and your ideas. Keep in mind that real synthesis involves the integration of your ideas
with those of two or more closely related sources. The RE must contain at least 4 separate multiple
sources synthesis paragraphs.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Required Length:
Required Sources:
Required Synthesis:
Purpose:

8-10 full pages

at least 8 different, credible sources
at least 4 multiple source synthesis paragraphs (the type of synthesis you did in
the MSE)
compose an academic, argumentative synthesis researched essay an issue that
you choose (and I approve via the PreSearch essay).

This researched essay is nothing more than longer, more in-depth multiple source essay. It will contain
the same sort of counter argument, multiple source synthesis, argument, etc. The RE will be longer and
more in-depth, but not significantly different from the multiple source essay in structure; however, the
level of critical thinking will likely be much greater in this essay.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
The differences between the Researched Essay (RE) and the MSE is that you will be conducting all of
the research for the RE, the RE needs to be at least 8 full pages long and the RE needs to be supported
with a synthesis of at least 8 different, credible sources.