Essay #3: Self-Directed Research Paper

For this assignment, you will research a topic connected to Monsters you are interested in learning more about. You will read articles, books, and other materials outside of class, and may elect to interview people whose expertise or experience is relevant to your topic.

My research proposal is: To research how monsters’ myth effect people since our childhood.

I am interested in this topic because i watched some movies about monster killing people when i was growing up. This might give people some nightmares in the future or give them some cureless scares.

I might combine some old movies and some bizarre news from the past to use for this project.

I will need some recommendations for old western movies about monsters.

Your Task:

For this essay, you will pick a topic about Monsters to research.

The Steps:

1. Pick an issue related to monsters that interests you e.g something from the class or Frankenstein’s Cat.
2. Narrow down the topic to something you can cover in 6-8 pages e.g. How have zombies movies influenced the conversation about global pandemics?
3. Read articles and books, and watch some media clips that interest you on that topic. Make sure to get sources you agree and disagree with
4. Put your sources on your source list. You must use the sources in Annotated Bibliography.
5. After doing a little research, develop your topic on your issue develop a hypothesis. Basically, take a stand on how your topic impacts the local community. Hint: This will turn into your thesis.
6. These project will culminate in Essay #3

Write a 6-8 page argumentative research paper, written in response to a research question of your choice about monsters.

OPTION 1: Essay Requirements:

1. An introduction that provides context on the topic, eases the reader into your essay, and has a “hook” that grabs people’s attention.
2. A thesis statement or controlling idea that takes a strong stand and is narrow enough to cover within the page limit e.g. if your umbrella topic is “The nudism movement promotes a healthy body image” you would have to narrow that down into a more focused topic that fits into that larger topic.
3. Research is secondary and personal voice is first.
4. Transitional topic sentences that are clear, provocative, develop your thesis, and provide unity in your essay.
5. Body paragraphs that have a transition, a topic sentence, multiple examples, and a concluding sentence.
6. You must!!!!!!!!!! use research that you used on Annotated Bibliography. You need to use every thing in my Annotated Bibliography (I will attach mine)
7. The Quote Sandwich model (lead-in, quote, and analysis of quote) must be used with each quote.
8. Some analysis of all your supporting examples.
9. A conclusion that offers some ideas about what can be done about the situation.
10. Strong sentences that are both grammatically correct and sophisticated.
11. MLA in-text citations and a Works Cited page are required for this paper.

PAPER FORMAT:

o 1800+ words (about 6-8 pages).THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE THE WORKS CITED PAGE!

o All drafts must be typed and double-spaced.

o Size 12 Times New Roman Font

o Have: Name, Class, Date, Assignment, and Topic in upper left hand corner.

o A title that is not GENERIC

o Paper MUST follow MLA format and MLA citation guidelines.

What A Successful Essay Will Have

Introduction:

• A title specific to the topic
• An attention getter
• Background on the topic (please make it clear which prompt you are answering)
• End with your thesis
• Include a clearly stated thesis (your opinion – your 1-2 sentence response to the essay prompt) which speaks to the “so what” of the issue and is not merely a list plan of development.

Body:

• Topic sentence that is related to the thesis
• Supporting evidence
• Quotes from the text (Remember to cite the quotes)
• Consideration of and rebuttal against the other side of the topic

Conclusion:

• DO NOT bring up a new topic
• A suggestion of the consequences of your position for society, individuals, what you want to happen in the future, etc.

Works Cited:

• Please include a Works Cited page at the end of your paper.
• Please make sure the Works Cited page follows MLA formatting rules.

Evaluation Criteria for Your Essay:

I will use the following criteria to evaluate your position paper:

1. Have you engaged the readers’ interest at the beginning and throughout the paper?
2. Have you chosen an arguable position and defined it carefully (e.g. placing the issue in its historical or cultural context, citing specific instances to make the issue seem less abstract, or establishing or redefining the terms of the debate)?
3. Have you organized your paper into an introduction, body (containing several paragraphs), and conclusion?
4. Have you included at the end of the introduction a thesis statement that asserts a clear, unequivocal position on the issue you have chosen and, possibly, forecasts the stages of the argument, identifying the main reason or reasons that you will develop and support in the essay?
5. Have you given reasons why readers should take your position seriously?
6. Have you organized your reasons into a logical order (e.g. placing the strongest reason last and the second-strongest reason first, with the other reasons in the middle)?
7. Have you supported each reason with examples, facts, analogies, statistics, anecdotes, or quotes from authorities?
8. Have you anticipated readers’ questions and their positions on an issue, counterarguing as needed?
9. Have you signaled explicitly the move from one topic to the next using forecasting statements, transitions, topic sentences, rhetorical questions, and/or summaries?
10. Have you cited at least 8 sources in your essay, using MLA in-text (parenthetical) citation strategies correctly?
11. Have you integrated the sources into your essay, using signal phrases to introduce long quotations or incorporating shorter quotations into the sentences smoothly?
12. Have you included an MLA Works Cited at the end of your essay?
13. Are the sentences clear and correct?

I attached the sample essay just to help you write mine, not copy from it!!

Don’t hesitate to ask me anything regard to my most important essay of the year.