The Texas Tribune

Select what I call a "beginning" article about a topic you want to research and write about. Your
article must come from one of the following sources: One of the selections listed in the
Reading 1 or 2 directions (since you are going to write a shorter research paper for
Reading 1 or 2, you might want to turn that into the big research paper--some students
like to have this option, and others want to start with a fresh topic they have not written
about yet for the big research paper) NPR.org: https://www.npr.org/ (Links to an external
site.) NBC news: https://www.nbcnews.com/ (Links to an external site.) The New York
Times: https://www.nytimes.com/ (Links to an external site.) The Texas Tribune:
https://www.texastribune.org/ (Links to an external site.) The article you select will form
the basis of your research paper, and it will be cited in your final-version research paper
due at the end of the term. Please note: The following topics are NOT allowed: Abortion,
immigration, gun violence/gun control, legalization of pot or other drugs, distracted or
drunk driving, the death penalty, vaccination, capital punishment, euthanasia, animal
cruelty, animal testing, or bullying. Here is a list of topic suggestions, if you are interested:
the boogaloo (as used to refer to an uprising against the government), #driving while
Black, disposable fashion, government-supported drug injection sites, for-profit prisons,
drones and people's rights to silence and privacy, keeping state and national parks
closed during the pandemic, boys being left behind in school (growing concerns that
attention it too focused students identifying as female). You should locate an article about
a controversial and complex topic where you know the "standard" or "common" way most
reasonable, fair-minded people (not biased, bullying, uninformed trolls) would respond,
then you are going to REJECT that "standard" or "common" response and argue to
defend your own, different response instead. Your academic readers are very interested
in seeing how you reject the common view, and what evidence you can present to
demonstrate that the common view may not be correct in all, or even some, situations.
This is a fairly advanced exercise in critical thinking! The research paper will be
developed in stages, and ALL stages must be satisfactorily completed for the finalversion paper to receive credit: A proposal: You must have my approval on your topic
before proceeding. (5% of semester grade) An annotated bibliography: A beginning list of
at least 10 research sources from the Del Mar College library databases that may help
you develop your argument, each source cited in MLA format and accompanied by a
paragraph summarizing the source and telling me how it helps develop your argument
(10% of semester grade). I say "beginning" list because as you draft your paper and
revise it, you may decide to use different sources that work better. A draft for instructor
review: I will provide feedback about how to revise. (5% of semester grade) A draft for
peer review: You peer review successfully for three classmates, and they peer review for
you. (5% of semester grade) A visual remix of your draft for peer review. A "remix" means
you take the argument you wrote in the draft essay and make the same argument, but in
a different medium. You can choose: A PowerPoint at least 12 slides long, an infographic
with appropriate development, a podcast, or a video--whatever you make, the file size
must be under 50 MB). Note: For this remix, you can get sources and images from the
open Internet. Three classmates will review your remix argument and provide comments
to help you revise the content of your argument (they are not talking about how to make
your visuals look better; they are focused on your argument itself), and you will do the
same for them. (15% of semester grade) The final version of the big research paper for
me to grade. (35% of semester grade) The research paper must follow the classical
system pattern for organizing argument found on p. 59-60 (Ch. 8f): A clear title, an
introduction/background section, a thesis at the end of the intro section, your main lines
of argument to support your thesis, an "alternative lines of argument" section where you
demonstrate fairness by considering and responding to other views, and a conclusion
emphasizing the larger significance/importance of your thesis. This means you should
plan/outline your paper before beginning to draft. ALL sources cited in the research
paper must come from the Del Mar Library databases and/or the open Internet. The
library databases have credible, mainstream magazines and newspapers that will work
well for your research. If you research on the open Internet, ensure that your sources are
credible enough for use in college-level research--Ch. 11 will tell you how to determine
quality. If you present a source that is not credible, I will require you to remove it and
revise that part of the paper at the draft stage or final-version stage. For the final-version
big research paper, you should cite your "beginning" article as a source and at least nine
other academically credible research sources, for a total of at least 10 sources listed on
the Works Cited page for the paper to receive credit.
To begin the big research paper we will write during this six weeks course, select what I call a "beginning"
article about a topic you want to research and write about. Your article must come from one of the following
sources:
One of the selections listed in the Reading 1 or 2 directions (since you are going to write a shorter research
paper for Reading 1 or 2, you might want to turn that into the big research paper--some students like to have
this option, and others want to start with a fresh topic they have not written about yet for the big research
paper)
NPR.org: https://www.npr.org/
(Links to an external site.)
NBC news: https://www.nbcnews.com/
(Links to an external site.)
The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/
(Links to an external site.)
The Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/
(Links to an external site.)