The Research Paper

The Research Paper

The assignment reads as follows:

Using the methods you studied in College Writing, write a research paper of 8-10 pages (2,000-2,500 words, plus Reference List). Use APA format. You should complete all twelve units of English 121 College Writing before uploading your research paper here. 

All college writing courses include the assignment of a research paper. This essay serves as a gauge of how well the student has learned to use good grammar, spelling, sentence construction, subject development, and so forth. In this essay the student is given the opportunity to dig into a subject in a scholarly manner. The student then carefully crafts an essay which will demonstrate a grasp of the subject material.

As the student is doing research, the student needs to keep good record of the sources of information on the subject matter. This will facilitate developing a bibliography of works consulted which will be placed at the end of the essay.  This bibliography must be presented in proper APA format. For a full introduction to APA formatting, see https://owl.purdue.edu/index.html.

As the student develops the content of the essay during the research phase, he/she will begin to narrow the focus of the content and begin the process of choosing what content needs to be included. As the student does so, the outline of the essay will develop.  From there the essay itself can be constructed.

When the essay is completed, the student will have between 2000 and 2500 words. Please do not turn in an essay with fewer words than the assigned minimum and do not go over the 2500 word upper limit. Each of these will result in a deduction from the grade.

There are six topics from which to choose. They are very broad, so the student will have the opportunity to narrow the subject down in order to focus on his or her interest in the topic.  Enjoy!!