writing homework
sashawonderDocumented Research Essay Assignment (20%)
This Documented Research Essay Assignment is designed to refine and assess your writing, research and documentation skills.
1. Part one :Outline (introduction, thesis, main arguments, conclusion)
(10 marks)
1. Part two : Please prepare a five+ paragraph documented essay (five or more paragraphs) that examines a particular thesis or argument relevant to two or more essays, from the textbook. (10 marks)
First, find a topic that is common to one or more essays.
Examples: Ethnicity and assimilation. Essays: “An Immigrant’s Split Personality” (Yi), “Jan Wong Wants to See Canadians De-Hyphenate Themselves” (Wong), “Finding a Nationality That Fits” (Vincent).
Second, articulate an issue or thesis that is pertinent to two or more of these essays.
Example One: Canadians should “de-hyphenate” themselves (this is Wong’s thesis)
Example Two: It is difficult for first-generation immigrants to assimilate to the surrounding culture. (this could be your own thesis)
You can either: 1. Pick your own thesis to defend (as in Ex. Two) . 2. Choose to defend the argument of one of the authors (As in Ex. One). Or 3. Argue against a particular thesis of one of the authors.
Next, you must argue for the thesis you have chosen, by:
a) Outlining how each of the authors under discussion treats the issue, or where they stand on the position.
b) Drawing on your own ideas and experience relevant to your thesis.
In other words, you must defend or argue for whichever thesis you have chosen by drawing on both your own ideas and experiences, and the experiences and arguments of the authors under discussion. You must also include at least one outside source, for example from the internet or the library, to back up your argument, as a source of either ideas or data. However, you do not need to discuss or summarize outside sources in any detail.
References and Citations: All published sources, whether from the textbook or not, must be properly cited in APA format.
You must include at least two properly cited direct quotations from your sources in your essay. You may include paraphrased quotations as well.
You will need a reference page at the end of your essay.
Some further hints and suggestions:
1. Do not write long summaries of the essays under consideration. Your job in this assignment is to formulate and defend an argument, not to summarize. You’ll need to mention each author’s thesis, and briefly outline their arguments, but that is all you need to do.
2. Author biographies are not necessary, and are really a waste of space (and my marking time!).
Suggestions for topics and readings:
The Internet: “Google Never Forgets” (Fawcett), “Fleeing Facebook” (King), “Facebook in a crowd” (Niedzviecki)
Labour Issues: “No Sweat …” (Garyfalakis), “Labouring the Wal-Mart Way” (Parmar), “Farming it Out” (Amuchastegui)
Life in Montreal: “A City for Students” (Tryphonopoulos), “Hit the Brakes” (DeWolf)
· Your essay must not be plagiarized: You will be given a grade of zero if you submit unacknowledged material as your own. There will be no opportunity to rewrite.