A research paper.
- a clear response to ALL of the directions that will be given after I choose the tutor
- 8-12 pages in length;
- in correct MLA format and style, including in-text citations and the Works Cited page (do not include a cover page);
- well organized with effective transitions between ideas and paragraphs;
- efficient with regards to close work with sources, including, but not limited to, precise and concise summary and the smooth integration of direct quotes, block quotes, and paraphrases;
- the product of original, deep critical thinking, both with regards to content and form.
- meticulously proofread and primarily free of sentence-level errors;
- contain a minimum of eight sources representing diverse perspectives (including the ones I have provided).
- contain additional tertiary research.
- Use Tompkins’ essay as a model for your own.
- From the list below, choose ONE of the issues facing the United States. I have identified the issue and provided you with required sources, which you must analyze, evaluate, compar
e, and synthesize in your paper. - While you may already have a position on the issue you select, do not formulate your conclusion/major claim until thoroughly researching a diversity of perspectives on the issue. Practice the critical thinking skills you have learned in this course and keep an open mind. You may want to review previous modules, but you should give your mind and heart over to the research and the process of discovery–about the issue and about yourself. Tompkins shares a lot with her readers, and this in turn strengthens her argument. You should do the same.
- Conduct extensive research on the question/problem and distinguish between primary, secondary, and tertiary sources (Links to an external site.), as Tompkins did, and then narrow them down to best represent a diversity of perspectives in your paper. You are not restricted to U.S. sources. You must analyze and synthesize five perspectives in addition to the ones you are given to total 8 perspectives. Tertiary sources will undoubtedly be needed and used, but they do not count in the 8 required perspectives (because they do not represent perspectives).
- Once you determine your conclusion/major claim, identify your audience, which should be uninformed and/or resistant to your position. Like Tompkins, you are going to take them through your research to lead them to your conclusion.
- Use inductive reasoning and Tompkins’ structure as a model for the writing of your essay:
- narrate history and personal relationship (experiential, observational, and or intellectual) to the question/problem; if you have no history or relationship to the issue, you may use someone you know–be creative–as want to, like Tompkins, begin with a strong appeals to pathos and ethos to engage your readers;
- establish broader, national context for question/problem–this is your kairos;
- present/define question/
problem; - summarize, analyze, compare, and evaluate authors AND their arguments representing a diversity of perspectives (key: it is not enough to look at the primary text, as you must look at the writer and the original source of publication to evaluate bias, as Tompkins did);
- synthesize research and response to it;
- present your conclusion, your resolution or solution to the question/problem (which may side with one or more of your sources), and provide reasons and evidence to support it–this should be a minimum of two, well-developed pages, not just a final paragraph;
- if applicable, share any new question/s or problem/s encountered as a result of your research and critical thinking (as Tompkins did in her last paragraph).
- Adapt Tompkins’ style and tone with your own; it is particularly effective for a resistant audience, a way of showing (rather than “telling”) and persuading them to arrive at your conclusion. Yes, you may use “I,” as you are taking your audience through your epistemological adventure, but be strategic with it.
- Note: Remember, rarely is this type of argument (often called “Rogerian” as well) is NOT meant to utterly convince an audience; in fact, it is enough to just get a resistant audience to reconsider their own position/perspective in light of reading your comprehensive research and synthesis. One might also say that many people do not have fully informed opinions on subjects–this paper counters that. Arguments at this level are not about “winning,” and this is not a course in debate. This is about persuading an uninformed or reluctant reader (one who does not agree with you) to reconsider their position.
- TIP: Your reader should not know your position until the end of the paper; as Tompkins did, you are arguing inductively. Also, do not insult your uninformed/reluctant audience. Tone matters. Most of you will review Tompkins before starting this.
8 hours ago
Choose from this list Contemporary Issues Facing the United States with RequiredSources
You must choose one of the following three options for your paper–papers not on one of these topics will receive a zero.
(Note: While the Grossmont College Databases, especially Opposing Viewpoints, are excellent and should be used for your paper, you should also have no problem finding a plethora of perspectives on any of these current issues.
A. Reparations to African-Americans for Slavery
Required Sources:
- “The Case for Reparations,” (Links to an external site.) by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- “The Case Against Reparations,” (Links to an external site.) by Kevin D. Williamson.
- “Millennials May Eventually Shift Public Opinion on Slavery Reparations,” (Links to an external site.) PBS News Hour.
- Jordan Anderson, Letter to P.H. Anderson, (August 7, 1865) (Links to an external site.)
B. Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation to the Supreme Court
Required Sources:
- “Why Judge Kavanaugh Should Be Confirmed to the Supreme Court” by Travis Weber and Gacek, The Family Research Council: EF18H23.pdf
- “The Boy’s Club that Protects Brett Kavanaugh” (Links to an external site.) by Emily Witt
- “Trump Picked Kavanaugh. How Will He Change the Supreme Court,” (Links to an external site.) Politico Magazine. (You are required to use two of these perspectives)
- “I Wrote Some of the Stolen Memos That Brett Kavanaugh Liked to the Senate About,”(Links to an external site.) by Lisa Graves, Slate.
- If you are shooting for an A on this paper, you must watch and use the testimonies of Judge Kavanaugh and Dr. Ford, available on YouTube. It is suggested that everyone at excerpt part of them.
C. Hip-Hop in the United States
- “Can Hip-Hop Inspire a New Generation of Architects?” (Links to an external site.)
- (Links to an external site.)“Jazz Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis Calls Rap Music ‘more damaging than a statue of Robert E. Lee’,” (Links to an external site.) by Ben Kaye.
- “This Is America,” (Links to an external site.)
by Childish Gambino. - “How Hip-Hop Holds Blacks Back,” (Links to an external site.)John H. McWhorter
Sample Student Tompkins-Style Final Essay
Solution Preview
Reparations to African-Americans for Slavery
The United States of America is a developed country that gained its independence on 4th July 1776 from the British after the United States based rebel leaders won the revolutionary war against their colonial masters – the British, making the United States of American Declaration of Independence starting a new country (Joe, 10). Notably, the American history goes way back before the 1500 BC when Native American who constituted of the Indian Americans and the Indigenous Americans. It is stated that the main activities the Native and Indigenous Americans practiced were hunting and gathering, making it their cultural and economic activities. Nevertheless, Africans were brought from African countries to America as slaves forming another minority group that is present in modern America.
(2,336 words)