Explore the discourse of your declared, or prospective academic major, so that you can be a better, more engaged participant of this discourse community as you continue with your field of study.

ASSIGNMENT: INVESTIGATIVE FIELD ESSAY AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INVESTIGATIVE ESSAY
(Minimum of 2,000 typed, polished words)

Explore the discourse of your declared, or prospective academic major, so that you can be a better, more engaged participant of this discourse community as you continue with your field of study.

There are several elements that make up an investigative essay, including the fashioning of a research question, conducting primary and secondary research, and the presentation of information in written format following academic conventions.

Identify a contemporary topic or issue WITHIN your field of study that you wish to learn more about.

Some options to consider include:

• Primary Research
o Observations
o Interviews
o Surveys
o Data/Text analysis
• Secondary Research
o Peer-Reviewed Articles
o Books (Published by an Academic or Scholarly Press)
o Academic Lectures/Presentations
o Websites
o Blog Posts
o Magazine Articles
o Newspaper Articles
o Documentaries
o Scholarly
o Popular

You must include a minimum of six (6) sources. Three (3) of those sources must be scholarly, peer-reviewed (that is, vetted by authorities in the field) sources of any type. The other three (3) are your choice of primary, popular, or additional scholarly sources. These research elements will serve as the basis for your investigative essay.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

(Minimum of 1,000 typed, polished words)

This project also includes a preparatory assignment called an Annotated Bibliography that helps you organize and evaluate the sources you encounter in the process of conducting research.

For this assignment, you will summarize and analyze your data by annotating 6 potential sources, 3 of which must be scholarly ones (namely, peer-reviewed articles). You should accurately cite each of the six sources in accordance with the MLA style guide.

Below each citation, you will include an annotation that should:

• briefly summarize the source and its main ideas
• explain how you would use the source in your essay
• offer an evaluation of the source’s credibility
• tell how the source relates/does not relate to the other sources

 

Documentation Style: MLA
Formatting: Times New Roman or Arial, 12 pt. font, double-spaced (which is common across major citation styles).

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