Part I: Exploratory Essay: 600+ words

You have been thinking about several issues related to your discipline, major, or career. Now chose one issue within your field to complete the research sequence and your Argument Research paper.

At the beginning of your essay, explain why you are interested in this problem/issue and why you think it is significant. Explain the problem, who is most affected, and what may be causing this problem.

Then, write a first-person, chronologically organized narrative account of your thinking process as well as your research process: explain & describe how you investigate your problem through research, talking with others, and doing your own reflective thinking. Include details about key words or search terms used within your research. Explain how many “hits” you got from those terms. How did you alter your research to find the most helpful information? How did you determine what were the best resources?

Your goal is to examine your question, problem, or issue from a variety of perspectives, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of different positions and points of view. Your goal is to report on the process of research and discovery: how you located, identified, and evaluated your issue through various perspectives and sources.

For your research, be sure to use libraries and their databases. You may also use web sources, government documents, experts in the field, Google scholar, etc.

*In this essay, you must describe how you are researching and the successes or struggles you are experiencing.

Important: Be sure to include in-text citations & a works cited page—not part of the word count

Part II. Annotated Bibliography:

6+ sources—at least one from an opposing viewpoint/argument different from the one you plan to make. Each source needs a proper MLA or APA citation as well as an evaluation annotation. Each evaluation annotation needs to include genre/rhetorical context, summary of the content, and an evaluation of the source (what makes this source reliable)?
**Each source should include a proper full citation, followed by one paragraph of summary (4-6 sentences), which includes the genre context, & an additional 2-3 sentences of source evaluation. **

Part I: Exploratory Essay: 600+ words You have been thinking abo...