Essay 3

Even though these activities will be graded separately, students should consider Essay 3 and the subsequent research project as a research unit.  Material gathered in Essay 3 may be used in the research project either for an individual effort or combined with another student’s research in a collaborative project.  Because of this potential overlap, it is important to keep good notes, especially citation information, so that you can retrieve this information as needed. 

Essay 3

Your assignment: 

Choose either an ethical issue discussed in class this semester or one that affects your classroom, team, or job.  Please submit your topic focus to me for initial approval. (No war, gun control, gay marriage, politics (national or international), or abortion.)  Find at least four sources reflecting an array of different opinions or approaches to your selected ethical dilemma. Your sources can and should reflect a wide range of writing from news stories to peer reviewed journal articles similar to the range demonstrated in your text.  However, you must have at least two articles from academic or professional journals among your sources.  All sources must be published material with clear authorship; you may not use web sites for your required source material although there are circumstances when citing a website might be appropriate.  Please check with me about this.  Sources from the assigned online essays may be used, but they will be in addition to the four required. 

Your first task:

After attending the library research class, find four good sources.  Remember that the first four you locate may not represent enough variety for this essay.  You are looking for some diverse (not necessarily opposite) opinions on the same topic as well as diverse writing for diverse audiences.  Write down the steps you go through to locate a suitable source, including the key words and the search engine that you use. You will need this information for the annotated bibliography part of your research project, and you won’t want to backtrack to find it.  Record it the first time.

Then make copies of your sources—all of the pages—and start reading.  Bring your copies to class on March 19 (the first Friday after Spring Break) along with 5 different colors of highlighters.  We’ll be searching your copies for the authors’ response to 5 basic research questions.

Then:

Your job is to read the various approaches to your ethical concern and present their opinions in a cohesive, organized paper.  In class, you will have identified the authors’ approach to 5 basic research questions.  Next, find areas of agreement and disagreement among your sources as well as common themes and concerns. Block out a plan for your paper before you start to write.  You must weave the various arguments, not merely present four ideas as four separate sections in your paper.  Your writing goal should be a seamless paper that presents various voices discussing the same subject.  It will be important to integrate your quotes and reflect on their significance, not just cut and paste together the ideas of others.  Although you are taking a position in this paper, it should not be presented as your personal opinion.  You are studying the voices of others and reflecting on what they have to say from the perspective of your position.  The position paper which begins on page 565 in Axelrod is a good model to follow.

Essay 3 Requirements:

MLA format

12-point font, standard 1” margins, double-spaced

Third person perspective (no “I” or “you”)

Present tense for research discussion:  “Johnson states,.....” (consult Axelrod page 590 for phrasing ideas, but only use the third person and present tense examples)

Four full pages of text (that means some on page 5)—seven maximum—not including the works cited page

Copies of all source material with evidence of active reading (see color coding exercise) and good research techniques

Works cited page and in-text citations

Turnitin submission receipt

At least 2 significant drafts.  These need to show evidence of aggressive editing, not just additions in length to the document.