Comp II Essay Two.

Paper instructions:

Literary Persuasive Research Paper

In your literary persuasive research essay, you will not only select a primary text (short story, play, or poem from the

textbook) to interpret, but include research that makes an argument about the cultural/societal issue raised in the text

that is applicable to today. The primary text (poem, short story, or play) should serve as the springboard for the paper,

with the research supplementing and supporting your arguments. You may use any short story, poem, or play within

our textbook as your primary source. You are not to write a summary. If you select a story that was written years ago,

you will need to draw out a societal issue that is still applicable today.

Possible topics include: gender, gender relationships, family relationships or roles, violence/domestic abuse, religion,

appearances, race relations/stereotypes, economic class, fitting in with society, suicide, war, gun control, etc. All short

stories and poems contain an argument that the author is trying to convey, so any piece from the book will work—pick

a topic that interests you.

This essay will be worth twice as many points as the other essays. The essay is due Wednesday, Sept. 17th by

11:59PM. You may submit your essay up to one week late for a one-letter-grade deduction. Submit your primary source

selection and topic choice to the discussion board by end of week 3 (If you have to change your topic, it is okay, just let

me know). If you would like me to help you with your paper or to read over it before it is due, simply send me an email.

If you want me to look at it prior to turning it in and get feedback—please email it to me no later than Thur. Feb. 13th.

Essay Requirements:
•Your essay should be a full five-to-eight pages long. A works cited page is required, as a separate page at the end of

your paper, in addition to the five to eight pages.
•Be sure to have a strong introduction with thesis statement, multiple body paragraphs containing research,

transitions throughout your essay and a strong conclusion. Discussion of the primary source should be evident in your

introduction and conclusion as well as within the body of your paper.
•You will use at least four sources besides the primary source (5 sources total), so you will need at least one

paraphrase, summary, or quotation from each source. Quotations from the primary source are expected, so you will have

a citation for it as well in the works cited page.
•One long quotation (more than four lines) is required (pg. 86)–be sure to format properly.
•The secondary sources should justify and/or strengthen your ideas/interpretation. Do NOT rely too heavily on one

source. A general rule is to have at least one quotation or paraphrase in each body paragraph. For each quotation, you

need 3-4 sentences of explanation. Thus, a body paragraph should contain and be organized as follows: a topic sentence,

quotation/paraphrase, 3-4 sentence explanation, quotation/paraphrase, 3-4 sentence explanation and a concluding

sentence/thought (which also serves as a transition to the next paragraph). Each body paragraph will be about 10

sentences.
•Do NOT use Wikipedia or any other encyclopedia (use the links to resources instead). It is strongly suggested to

avoid information from websites that are not considered to be a credible published source. Online databases will provide

the most useful information (article published in newspapers and magazines will be most helpful). You can use Cowley’s

databases or the state library website (see below) to get magazines and newspapers.
•Two of the four secondary sources MUST come from the databases—EBSCO, INFOTRAC or another online database.

The fourth source can be from a credible website (preferably from an organization). Also look at Google News or Scholar
•Proper MLA formatting (see chapter 5—especially page 86 of your textbook and the student example on page 87).
•When writing persuasively it is important to include a counterargument. Be careful that it doesn’t appear you are

presenting both sides and not writing persuasively, but in order to be persuasive you need to present one or two

arguments for the opposition and attack those positions. This can appear in a separate body paragraph towards the end

of your paper or within some of the body paragraphs. See chapter 3.

Suggested Timeline:
1.Pick a primary source from the textbook by end of week 3.
2.Research secondary sources during week 3/4
3.Create an outline for your essay end of week 4
4.Write a rough draft of your essay (you may need to write multiple drafts) **You can email me a rough draft for a

quick review/feedback. Cowley also offers free online tutoring from tutor.com (use the link from within Blackboard). You

will upload your essay and within 24 hours you wil get feedback on your essay. during week 5
5.Revise/Edit your paper (should be prepared to revise multiple times) a couple of days before due date.
6.Submit final draft to Blackboard by Wed. Sept. 17th (end of week 5)

Places to research:
1.State Online Library: http://www.kslib.info/index.html (in the left menu, towards the bottom select: Online Resources,

which will take you to all the online databases—(recommend using Expanded Academic, Infotrac, or General OneFile).
2.GoogleNews http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&tab=wn Rather than just searching the internet search google

news for published articles/information. Also, Google Scholar.
3.Cowley Library: http://www.cowley.edu/library/db.html Passwords for databases are in CampusConnect.

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