English

ESSAY #1: RESEARCH-BASED POSITION PAPER ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES

ENGL 1133

First Draft Due: 11:59pm on Tuesday, 10/1 through Turnitin. Final Draft Due: 11:59pm on Thursday, 10/10 through Turnitin. Length and Format: The paper must be at least 1,500 words and should not exceed 2,000 words. (One double-spaced page of 12-point Times New Roman font is about 300 words.) The paper must be formatted according to APA guidelines and include a references page (but no abstract). Assignment Description: Your task is to write a well-developed research paper on an issue concerning a particular local community. The paper should be a work of critical analysis, meaning that it should formulate an original and compelling argument about the subject matter and should support that argument with relevant evidence and sound reasoning. In order to do this, the paper must focus on a good, specific issue. Notice, for instance, that the sample paper (on pp. 219-26 of your textbook) addresses not just racial equality within police departments but, more specifically, how the Houston Police Department can help minority officers climb the chain of command. Source Requirements: The paper must reference at least four sources, and at least two of them must be academic sources. Rhetorical Situation: You are an expert within a particular academic field of study (one of your choice) and have been asked to provide an expert’s perspective on an issue affecting a particular community. Your essay will appear within a local publication (you choose the city or town) that is available both in print and on the web. With this in mind, your argument must be accessible for intelligent and informed local readers who are not experts within your field of study, but it must also be compelling (and useful) for scholars within your field who might come across it on the web. Paper Structure: The paper should follow a simple-to-complex pattern of development (see “Paper Structure in Academic Writing” on pp. 122-28). Use the...