Samford University
UCCA101 Fall 2012
Dr. Ken Kirby
Assignment for unit #2, Exploratory essay

Unit #2 is a structured research assignment and report on sources that you might use in Unit #3, the Argumentative paper and speech.  You are not obligated to use all or any of these sources, but you must be looking for sources on the same topic you will pursue in Unit #3.  You will be working in a group of students doing topics that are related to the subject area you chose, such as nuclear power or public funding for arts, recreation etc.; as a class we will try to find good topics that are under discussion in the presidential campaign.  After doing our in-class exercises and discussions, you will begin researching possible specific topics for the paper and speech and will write an exploratory essay of about four pages (1200-1400 words) about the process of that research.  Your essay must discuss and cite a minimum of five sources, but you may write about more if it will improve your discussion of the process of your research and understanding of the topic.  The exploratory essay is narrative and analysis, not argumentation; discuss the process of discovering and understanding all aspects of your topic, but do not make your argument for or against a specific position or course of action.  Follow the guidelines for this genre as they are given in Chapter 8 of Guide to Writing.  Use a standard format such as MLA, APA or Chicago.

Your sources should be books from the SU library's in-house or on-line holdings; scholarly articles; appropriate material from .gov, .org, and .edu web sites; in-depth news coverage (these are the only .com sites that are permitted); and possibly primary sources such as interviews.  No more than one source should be from a web site, and one or more should be from a scholarly book or article; in other words, you bibliography should have sources from several of the legitimate categories of information for college papers. Print out a few pages from each source, just enough so that I can check to see if your use of it is accurate.

Research log - You will probably have several sessions where you do your research.  Each time, keep a log of where you are, what resource you are searching (library catalog, specific database, web), the search terms you use, and a brief record of your results (i.e., number of hits and the title of any articles you might read).  From there you may keep records and notes according to your preference, which may or may not be like the "double entry" model on 182-3 of our text.

When papers are due on Oct. 10, e-mail them to me as a Word attachment named with your SU e-mail address and EXPL.  In class, turn in a folder with your research log, your peer editing draft with my initials, peer critique sheets that you wrote about your group members' papers, and a few pages from most of your sources, especially pages you have quoted and paraphrased from.

Critera for evaluation - The essay
1. is unified around a specific aspect of elections, with all sources related to your topic and to each other,
2. examines several perspectives on this topic,
3. shows your thinking chronologically as you encounter new ideas and then pursue them further,
4. has appropriate organization, with intro and conclusion, unified paragraphs, and clear transitions,
4. makes appropriate use of stylistic choices: short sentences for emphasis and longer ones to connect related ideas, appropriate diction to establish tone and show your knowledge of the subject, etc., and
5. conforms to the conventions of Standard Written English, including documentation format.

Schedule of assignments
Sep 24   Read Ch. 7 in Guide to Writing (GW) and bring Little, Brown Handbook to class.
Sep 26   Bring laptops to class for further research in library catalog and databases; individual and group work on your topic
Sep 28   Bring pages (including title page with all bibliographic info) from two or three sources to class; documentation, quotation and paraphrase

Oct   1   Review Ch. 16, scan Ch. 19 in GW; discussion of research progress, research logs, writing process, other.
Oct   3   Drafts due of essay, REQUIRED; peer editing, informal conferences
Oct   5   Begin unit 3, argumentative paper and speech (bring GW and LBH); in-class writing

Oct  8   FALL BREAK - no class
Oct 10  Exploratory essays due; read Ch. 13 in GW; quiz on principles of argumentation.