I-Search assignment

For this Researched Essay, you will examine a current, specific, and debatable topic to explore and present to a specific audience of your choice.

Research assignment: The I-Search project

We do research all the time… We consult reviews and blogs before buying a new computer, ask people about the best places to eat, visit forums, or watch videos for technical help. The purpose of all this research is, simply stated, to find out information.

Academic research has the same purpose as our day-to-day inquiry process: to increase our knowledge of a particular subject.

The main difference between general (day-to-day) and academic research may be the goal. We typically conduct general research for practical purposes. Academic research intends to draw data from sources and add information back into the existing pool of knowledge through our own unique analysis, interpretation, and reflection.

Another difference may be motivation. It’s kind of fun to do general research because the information we’re seeking can be put to use right away. Academic research can also be satisfying but, since it’s a much longer game, motivation can wane. The secret to staying interested during a research project? You need to be involved. If you really want to broaden your understanding of a particular subject, research can be deeply engaging rather than a chore.

In effort to keep this paper personal, I’m proposing a mixed genre “I-Search” project rather than a traditional research paper. Even though an I-Search project is less formal and more personal than a traditional research paper, its purpose is the same – to find out information by conducting research. The difference is that the topic of an I-Search Paper is one the writer has a personal connection with.

Although the purposes of I-Search projects and traditional research papers are aligned, I-Search projects differ from traditional research papers in the methods of topic selection, the research process and, sometimes, the sources used, and the look and feel of the final product. Genres included in this I-Search project are process writing, narrative, traditional academic writing, and reflection.

While I would suggest you connect the subject of your project to the themes of language politics that we’ve covered in class, the topic is ultimately your choice. 

The I-Search project is comprised of two separate parts: a research journal and a write-up

I-Search journal (comp section)

The I-Search journal is a chronicle of your research process. It should document the process from start to finish.

The journal should contain:

  • All class invention activities – prompted during class periods
  • Documentation of your research process (journal entries or Otter AI voice transcripts)
  • Comparative source report (including summary and annotated textual sources [can be primary sources])—photos/jpegs ok
  • An outline of the research paper

The writeup (comp/topic)

I-Search projects are generally broken into 4 parts:

  1. What I know/think/believe/have heard/have been taught about X and what I want to discover about X (200 word min/350 max): This section should be narrative and can include anecdotal evidence—first person recommended
  2. The Search (documenting the research process) (250 min/500 max): This section can be summarized or edited versions from journal voice to text transcripts, or copied directly from the journal if written out.
  3. What I learned (1250 min/1500 max): this section is traditional research paper. You will include a thesis statement, paraphrase, summary, synthesis, comparison etc.)—Traditional academic writing/traditionally formatted (MLA including works cited list).
  4. What I think about what I learned (or didn’t learn) (250 min/500 max): Reflection on the research—first person recommended. This will be similar to the cover letters you’ve produced for previous essays. This will be less structured, however, as there are no guiding questions to follow.

The paper should be submitted with headings that identify the four sections. Sources can be used/quoted in any section but are only required in section III.

Required Sources (8 total):

  • 2 primary (interview, survey, diaries, letters, eyewitness accounts, speeches, datasets)
  • 2 academic (from library database/journals)
  • 1 text from either class’s reading list
  • 3 other (narrative, newspaper articles, videos, screen grabs, Tweets, blog posts, movies, images, songs, poems advertisements, novels, essays, video games, cartoons, whatevs. You may choose another text from either section’s reading list, but 2 is max for class sources).

Due Dates:

  • A brainstorm/proposal of your RE is due by November 10.
  • A full draft of the journal and write up is due for peer review by December 6.
  • The final draft of the journal and write up is due by December 20.

Additional Questions:

What will your topic be?

You have two choices:

  1. Investigate a theme that has emerged from the subject of language politics. You could respond to one of the claims made in our texts or research your own question (personal connections welcome) to highlight a perspective not considered or dealt with adequately in the readings. Consider language and literacy’s relationship with one or more of the following issues: identity, culture, and background; social and linguistic hierarchies; government, educational, and (socio)economic structures; public and cultural perceptions and values; family, personal, and other interpersonal dynamics and conflicts; accent politics; the dominance of standardized English; language subordination; race and racism. These are just broad themes. Your goal is to get specific (e.g., you could investigate the obstacles facing new immigrants from the Dominican Republic when learning English in ESL classes in NYC public schools, or you could examine the ways in which language and race play a role in hiring practices). The more specific, the better.
  2. Investigate any topic of your liking. While I encourage folks to seriously consider option 1, what’s most important is that you choose a topic that genuinely interests you or that you are motivated to learn more about. This is why option 2 is available. Whatever it is, the topic must be controversial or debatable in some way, allowing you to explore multiple perspectives and determine your own stance. While it’s not necessary that you already have a strong stance on the issue, having some background knowledge or prior experience with the topic could help.

Who will be your intended audience?

Will they be your classmates and instructors? Friends or family? The general public? An academic crowd? Is your audience informed or uninformed about the topic? What are their interests and values? Do their perspectives on the issue agree or conflict with yours?

What will your purpose be?

Your purpose will depend on your goals, how much you know about your topic, and what your audience needs. If you’re not all that familiar with your topic, perhaps your purpose will be to explore the issue and to inform your reader what you find. If you’re ready to take a strong stance on the topic, your purpose might be to argue your case, and you’ll have to decide whether to argue “gently” or “fiercely” depending on your goals and what your audience might find persuasive.

What will you “do” in your essay?

You will aim to practice several writing strategies:

  1. Determine what rhetorical “moves” you’ll use. As you write this essay, consider your own goals alongside your audience’s needs and expectations: What will capture their interest? What sorts of evidence will they find credible and/or persuasive? What tone will appeal to them? What sorts of claims will be welcome? What sorts of claims will cause alarm? What sort of conclusion will compel them? How much do you want to adhere to or defy audience expectations? You are encouraged to personalize the delivery of your essay as you see fit—you decide the order, tone, style, and language you’ll craft in order to best achieve your goals. You’re welcome to draw on your “native,” “home,” or “other” languages, literacies, and ways of being as you so choose.
  2. Summarize, paraphrase, and quote. You will introduce each source in your paper by providing a brief (1-3 sentence) summary of the rhetorical situation (the audience, genre, publication, purpose, and context) and its overall argument. Then, in order to highlight more specific ideas/connections, you will strike a balance between paraphrasing and quoting key ideas/passages from sources.
  3. Take a Stance. You might find yourself more aligned with one text’s ideas and feeling like your perspectives differ (a lot or even just slightly) from another; you might appreciate one writer’s ideas but want to complicate those ideas (yes, such-and-such is true, but…); you might find yourself generating an entirely new perspective as a result of seriously considering what others have argued; or maybe your stance is that you refuse to take a strong stance until more information is gathered. Whatever your stance, it is important to make it clear throughout your essay. Any claims you make should be relevant, explicit, specific, qualified, and complicated.
  4. Signpost. You will provide “signposts” (or metacommentary) throughout your essay—topic sentences, transitions, and other guiding language aimed at helping your reader follow along and make sense of what connections exist between sources, ideas, examples, you, and your claims. Sometimes this means using language like “According to X” to attribute an idea to its author. Other times this means making clear the relationship between one source and another: Do the sources support, extend, challenge, or complicate each other? And sometimes it means emphasizing difference: “While X believes Y, I argue that…” Consider this from our synthesis and charting exercises.

General requirements. Your Researched Essay should be 6-7 pages (1,800–2,000 words) (12-point font, 1-inch margins, double spaced) plus any images you choose to include. Please use APA, Chicago, OR MLA citation consistently within the body of your essay and on a Works Cited page, and please compose a relative and inviting title for your essay.

Assessment Rubric for the Researched Essay

1. Audience Awareness. How effectively are ideas, arguments, and sources introduced given the specific audience, their perspectives, and expectations?

2. Source Use. How effectively are ideas and sources delivered and developed in the essay? How effective, specific, and appropriate are the examples and passages used? How effectively and accurately does the essay introduce and summarize the rhetorical situations and main ideas from each source used? How effectively are more specific ideas/passages paraphrased and/or quoted?

3. Stance. How relevant, explicit, specific, qualified, and complicated are the claims throughout the essay?  How effective is the relationship between stance and evidence? Are the claims made “warranted” by the evidence? That is, are appropriate/relevant ideas pulled out from the source use to establish the writer’s thesis/stance?

4. Signposting. How effectively are readers “guided” throughout the essay so that ideas, sources, and different claims are clearly attributed and distinguished from one another? Are the perspectives and relationship across texts named explicitly? That is, are ideas from across texts shown as supporting, extending, complicating, and/or challenging one another?

5. Revision, Editing, and Formatting. Does the essay show evidence of thoughtful revision and editing? Has the essay been effectively formatted, including the title, in-text citations, and Works Cited page?

6. General Requirements. Were all general requirements for length, source use, and due date met?