J12 Mass Media and Society

Research Paper Intro

The centerpiece project of this course is the research paper. It’s the thing that shows the the powers that be that you can do a number of key things they deem as benchmarks to moving on to upper division courses at the university. Those things are (among others): generating original ideas, thinking critically, researching an idea, organizing that research and writing a unified, coherent paper of a certain length.

So that’s why we do this paper.

I realize that for many of you, this will be the first time you’re writing a research paper, and that’s OK. You can do it! But you will have to work harder and put in more time to get up to speed is all.

To get you set up for success, I have done a number of things:

* Developed a single prompt for your paper. So you don’t have to come up with an idea to write about. It’s already done.

* Included three handouts that help you understand exactly what you need to do, set by step, paragraph by paragraph, line by line.

* Included a timeline to help you stay focused on what needs to be done when

* Made a series of videos in which we look at the handouts and the timeline.

If you chip away at this project, it will not be hard. If you do not, it will be much more difficult and the end result will be not great. And you know what? That’s OK.

I always struggle with this part of the class, because while I want to give you lots of help, I don’t want to lull you into a state of passivity, where you’re waiting for things to be delivered to you. This project takes your initiative. But know that I’m here to help you so reach out to me and we can overcome whatever issue you’re facing.

Now that we’ve reviewed the research paper, you need a working thesis statement. Once you have one, you can begin researching and outlining. This assignment is designed to give you a chance to make sure the focus and framework of the paper is on track.

1) A thesis statement

A thesis statement is a clear, focused, one- or two-sentence summary of what your paper is going to be about. It is a bold claim that represents the main point/idea of your paper, the idea that you will go on to argue, answer, prove, explain or investigate in the body of the paper.

A thesis statement clearly and directly tells the reader what the paper is about by making a bold claim or assertion. It is not a mere statement of fact. It is not the introduction of a broad topic. It is not a boring, flat statement. The thesis must express your position or take on the topic and it must be a bold claim. Try to be a little controversial or shocking or over the top.

That said, start with a working thesis that is simple and straightforward and as you research and develop your ideas, you can circle back and make it more compelling.

2) Your plan of development

A plan of development is the handful of development points that make up the body of your paper and will prove or illustrate your thesis. Although I am not requiring any set number of development points, I strongly urge you to have four to five of them. See the handout for more on the plan of development.

3) The other side

In addition to the handful of development points that will make up your paper, include the point (or points) you plan to include that represent the other side of the issue.

4) A brief explanation of why you chose to argue the side you have.

Why have you taken one approach to the question versus the other? Please feel free to be totally honest here.

You can structure your assignment any way you want, as an outline, as individual paragraphs, as bullet points or as a numbered list, or however else you think this information is best presented. Just make sure it’s neat and complete, that it communicates the elements clearly and that it follows the formatting guidelines and is the result of thought and effort.