A good academic research question has these qualities: (1) it interests you, (2) it may interest your audience, (3) it has no easy answer, and (4) it is related to your reading. To formulate a question to guide your research, respond to the following prompts. Your grade for this assignment depends on how clearly and thoroughly you respond to each prompt (50 points total).
1. Find an interesting claim made in an essay that you read for this class. If you would like to use a claim made in a text we have not covered, please see me before our next class. You should try to find a short quote that accurately summarizes the author’s claim. (5 points)
– This links of essays that you will write about choose one:
– ” http://morningsidereview.org/essay/why-i-revise/ ”
OR
– http://morningsidereview.org/essay/the-feminist-agenda-of-vampire-slaying/
Example: Derek Bok believes that education should “not just train students for jobs but try to cultivate a wide range of interests and prepare students for a variety of pursuits that tend to increase satisfaction with life” (157).
2. Explain your interest and acknowledge your readers. (5 points)
Example: I am interested in this statement because I have always been told that I am supposed to go to college in order to get a good job. I wonder why I should take courses that are unrelated to what I want to do. I think my readers will be interested in this topic because they may also be thinking about the purpose of their education.
3. Formulate a research question (or two or three related questions). This question (or these questions) will act as the thesis for your final synthesis. (5 points)
Example: What is the purpose of a college education? (Why should people go to college?)
4. Think of at least three possible answers. You will likely think of more answers once you start doing research for your paper. These answers should translate into topic sentences for your main paragraphs (thesis statements for your various sources). (10 points)
Example:
a. Most people may think that they go to college in order to be trained for future employment.
b. Others may think that the purpose of a college education is to prepare people to be good citizens.
c. Another reason may be for a person to learn to become independent.
d. Some people may want to explore areas of study so that they can find out what their strengths are and decide what career they would like to pursue.
5. Prepare an Annotated List of Works Cited of possible sources. For an example, see page 84 in Harbrace Essentials. (25 points)
Be sure that your list includes the following:
a. A complete bibliographic entry formatted according to MLA guidelines
b. A brief summary of the source (approximately three to five sentences)
c. An explanation of how the information in the source is related to the claim, the question, or both
d. An explanation of how the information in the sources is related to the information in the other sources
