1500 – 1700 Words on any topic
Research Topic ideas
Birth Control, Child Abuse, Gun control, Natural environment, Drug abuse, Climate change, Global warming, Education (Should education be cheaper or do college graduates make more money?), The effect of the no child left behind act
Context:You have engaged in a process of exploration and discovery of your research topic. You began with a topic, formed a thesis statement, and began research to support your thesis statement. You are now ready for the “culminating event,” to write an essay in which you will discuss your research, draw conclusions, and offer a persuasive argument.
What is a Research Essay? A research essay discusses the results of original research and contributes something new to the body of knowledge in a given area. Your goal in writing a research essay is to express an informed argument or thesis and try to persuade the reader to care about your findings and to accept your conclusions about your original question.
How and Why Write a Research Essay? Craft this persuasive essay for a general audience, an audience who might be interested in this particular topic, but lacks your expertise. In other words, pitch the article to someone like me or your classmates.
Your role as a researcher is to deepen others’ understanding of an issue, problem, or question, while also offering your own original perspective. Present yourself as an expert who can educate your audience on this topic. After all, you have been researching and writing about this topic for several weeks and are, at the very least, a local expert.
What are the Components of a Research Essay? In terms of its format, your essay should include:
- A title
- A body in which you present your research and conclusions:
- An original claim supported by reasoning and evidence
- Discussions of how your claim responds to the research you have done
- Some reflections on what remains to be researched relative to this topic
- Reference and citation of no fewer than four outside sources, at least two of which must be peer-reviewed articles
- A Works Cited page in MLA format
- Criteria. Focus: Writer identifies a focused and manageable research topic. • Writer has a clear, thoughtful, and substantive claim in response to the research question or problem. • Writer places the claim and its significance within the context of the broader conversation going on about the topic. Organization of Argument and Evidence • Writer builds a logical and clearly organized argument in support of the claim. • Topic sentences unify paragraphs. • Transitions clearly indicate relationships between ideas. • Evidence, including quotations, is effectively introduced, explained, and contextualized.
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