+1 862 207 3288 What to Do:
• Belief Test it and Why is this belief so popular? The paper will be like what I have typed
• What would you like to tell people about?
• What are people who are interested in talking about it?
• Issues?
In “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff contends that teachers shouldn’t deem only certain subjects as worthy of intellectual pursuit. Doing so, he argues, results in students not having the opportunity to exercise their intellects for what they’re already using them rigorously for—their own interests and passions. As Graff notes, “Real intellectuals turn any subject, however lightweight it may seem, into grist for their mill through the thoughtful questions they bring to it” How are they turn this subject or engage. (298). And this—rigorous intellectual pursuit—is what students do when pursuing their own interests and passions.
For Essay 3, then, write a research essay that deals in an intellectual way with a topic, issue, or question relevant to one of your interests or passions. In other words, “nerd out” on something you like.
If you have trouble finding a focus, you may want to consider what people who share your interest have been talking about lately or what big questions they’re trying to answer. You may want to engage relevant counterarguments or dispel common myths or misconceptions. Some of your sources might be “naysayers” or people whose opinions somehow compete or contrast with yours. Inviting competing and contrasting opinions encourages you to develop and articulate your own opinions.
Also, as always, remain open to changing or developing your opinion. As you research and write, you may learn things that cause you to revise your attitudes and opinions.
This essay also may be a way for you to bring understanding to one of your interests by applying concepts from a different realm to it. Think of the way the authors of “Offense Wins Championships, Too” use the economic theory of “loss aversion” to explain how changing the way scores are kept in sports may cause playing defense to be valued more highly. In this way, the authors apply an economic theory to sports to yield a new insight.
Audience:
Write to either a) people who know a lot about your topic and are perhaps members of a certain community to whom the topic is important; or b) people who don’t know much about the topic but may benefit somehow from learning about it.
Explanation of Style:
Also include a 100- to 200-word explanation of the stylistic choices you’ve made. Remember, when you make stylistic choices, take audience into account.
Research Requirement:
Use at least a) 1 book or scholarly journal article; and b) 3 other sources of substance*. You’re welcome to exceed the requirement!
*This “source of substance” should have authority and credibility and should offer quality information or perspective. Possible sources of substance include news items; interviews conducted in person or via phone or email with people who have relevant knowledge or perspective; a second article from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal; and any internet source that has credibility and authority.
Avoid “fluffy” sources like eHow.com and Wikipedia. (Anything of value on Wikipedia can be confirmed by finding the original credible source of that valuable information.)
Value: 120 points (final draft) Due Dates: Please refer to the schedule in the Syllabus for due dates for drafts.
Minimum Length: 1000 words Maximum Length: 1500 words
Citation Requirement & Works Cited Page: As always, use MLA in-text citations and include a works cited page that contains MLA works cited entries for all of your sources.
Topics that may not be written about for this essay:
The topics below may be important ones, but they may not be written about for any essay assignment for this class because a) so much has been written about them that unique perspectives are difficult to create; b) so much has been written about these topics that essays about them are far too easy to plagiarize; and c) I’ve read so many essays on these topics that I loathe them!
Here are the topics that are “off limits”:
• Anything to do with obesity—including “the freshman 15”
• Anything to do with texting while driving or driving while distracted
• Anything to do with abortion
• Anything to do with gun rights or gun regulations
• Anything to do with marijuana
• Anything to do with the general effects of using technology or how technology is “taking over”
• Anything to do with drinking age
• Anything to do with funding for NASA
• Anything to do with drinking more water to be better hydrated
• Anything to do with organ donation unless you’re arguing that people shouldn’t do organ donation. I’d like to read that argument.
• General “people should be fitter” topics
• Anything to do with the death penalty
• General “people should eat healthier” topics
Challenges:
• Drawing from other people’s writing to synthesize a discussion of your own.
• Writing a thoughtful, thorough discussion.
• Integrating at least the required amount of research into your writing.
• Focusing on a topic, issue, or question that has the right scope for an essay of this length. In other words, the focus of your isn’t too broad or too narrow and can be given good treatment in 1000 to 1500 words. This may involve identifying a topic, issue, or question of appropriate scope.
• Crafting an essay for a specific audience.
• Writing a 100- to 200-word explanation of your stylistic choices.
• Quoting effectively.
• Citing correctly (using MLA style).
Checklist of traits of a well-written academic essay:
__Introduction that establishes topic, purpose, significance, and main idea
__Clear, articulate thesis that forecasts with precision what you argue in the body of the essay
__Effective topic/transition sentences
__Sufficient evidence to support your claims and to illustrate the claims of counterarguments
__Clear and thorough interpretation of the evidence
__Paragraphs with clear focus (they develop their main idea and don’t wander into other discussions)
__Fulfillment of length requirement and research requirement
__Effective and correct introduction of quoted material
__Signal phrases establishing author and title
__Conclusion that echoes your main idea and somehow makes it memorable
__MLA in-text citations used each time you use something specific from a source
__Works cited page with properly formatted works cited entries
__Correct MLA formatting
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