ENGL 1A ESSAY #3:
Research Paper
ESSAY #3 TOPIC:
From Into Thin Air, select a topic and supporting details from below or one of your choosing that
can be covered within the parameters of the assignment. In a 5-7-page paper, you will
research a topic and do the following: 1) demonstrate the ability to develop a position. 2)
demonstrate your ability to apply critical thinking skills. 3) demonstrate how correctly and
honestly you can incorporate outside sources into your original, well-thought-out, and
thoroughly analyzed topic that interests you. If you choose your own topic and I approve it,
bear in mind that since you will be writing between only 1500 – 1700 words, so you shouldn’t
try to cover more territory than you can handle in this paper. If you try to write on too large a
subject, your essay will be too general. Remember that it is better to write more about less.
Essays should focus on the selected topic and contain a clear beginning (an introduction, with a
thesis statement), a middle (the body paragraphs), and end (conclusion), and use appropriate
topic sentences and transitions to guide the reader. Be sure to include evidence, examples, or
other support for your assertions; the more support you include, the stronger and more
convincing your essay will be. You may include your own ideas or examples, but you must
include evidence from the text you are discussing, correctly documented according to MLA
format. Remember that you are not summarizing the essay, but responding to it in a critical
manner, and do not copy directly from the textbook unless quoting.
Annotated Bibliography Due: 3/8
Rough draft due: 3/10
Approximate length: 5-7 typewritten pages
Final draft due: 3/17
Possible Topics:
1. Why do people climb Mt. Everest?
Krakauer informs us early in his book that, “The slopes of Everest are littered with
corpses.” Most people would argue that the idea of spending $65,000 for a precarious
attempt at climbing Mt. Everest that may result in failure or even death seems not just
foolish, but downright crazy. Yet, as Krakauer writes, “Once Everest was determined to
be the highest summit on earth, it was only a matter of time before people decided that
Everest needed to be climbed” and the number of climbers who seek the trophy of
Everest continues to increase every year, resulting in a steady stream of traffic. What is
behind the great lure of Everest? What kind of person feels compelled to take this risk
and why? What role does the risk and need for adventure play in human psychology?
How does this desire vary across different cultures?
2. Gender and Into Thin Air
How does being a man or a woman affect the experience of the climbers in this book?
Mountaineering is a sport with a predominantly masculine history. The excessive muscle
training of Scott Fischer and the machismo of the Sherpa culture directly play a role in
the deaths of Fischer and Ngawang. Researching masculinity and mountain climbing
might help lead to a deeper psychological understanding of why these men acted the way
they did. On the other hand, you may wish to study the “tomboyish” qualities of Sandy
Pittman and “diminutive” defiance of Yasuko Namba that set them apart from the docile
domesticity associated with stereotypes of women.
3. Ethics on Everest
There are many moral/ethical dilemmas that arise in climbing Mount Everest. Who gets
to climb Everest and how it should be climbed remains an issue of great debate. This
topic might include researching and taking a position on whether or not bottled oxygen
should be required for climbers/guides on Everest, whether or not climbers should be
required to have a certain amount of prior climbing/high altitude experience before being
allowed to climb Everest, whether or not expeditions should or should not be required to
halt their climbs to aid endangered climbers, etc.
4. Travel Literature and Travels With Charley or Into Thin Air
If you select this topic, you would research the history and conventions of travel literature
and use key plot points/context to make a case for why Into Thin Air or Travels With
Charley fits into this literary genre.
5. Sherpa culture and how it has been changed by mountaineering
In the last 90 years, since the British embarked on their first expedition to Everest, the
Sherpa culture has transformed dramatically. Once, a rugged, unindustrialized devout
group of Buddhists who believed climbing Everest was blasphemy, today’s sherpas are
modernized, climbing professionals whose help is indispensable to climbing expeditions.
How has mountaineering changed this culture and what are the implications of these
changes? Does this culture stand to gain more or lose more by profiting from Everest?
FORMAT FOR RESEARCH PAPER
1. Double-spaced. Don’t skip extra spaces between paragraphs. Rather, identify each paragraph
by indenting five spaces. Don’t justify right margin.
2. Essays must be 5-7 pages excluding the title, headings, title pages, or Works Cited page, free
of errors in mechanics, grammar, usage, and spelling, and follow the appropriate format: typed,
12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, and stapled when submitted with Peer Reviews
and Rubric.
3. Include a title page that includes title of paper, your name, name of class, my name and date.
4. Each page after the first should have your name and page number in upper right corner. Ex:
Jones 2
5. Essays must integrate at least three sources, correctly cited according to MLA format (sources
must be reliable: scholarly criticism or analysis, not summaries, reviews, or “analysis” from sites
such as Wikipedia, 123HelpMe, or Gradesaver.com; instead, use the Foothill library or the
available databases such as EBSCOHost or ProQuest to locate appropriate sources).
Document your sources according to MLA style using in-text (parenthetical) citations. Refer to
your course notes, and learn more about the MLA style from the campus library, Internet sources
or by searching www.mla.org
6. Do not use footnotes instead of a Works Cited page.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION:
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Correct length (5-7 pages)
Use specific, accurate, reliable information gathered from at least three academic sources
including books, journals, periodicals or essays.
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Exhibit a clear, easy-to-follow organization
Clearly address an intelligent, well informed audience
Does the paper stay on topic?
Serious grammar and mechanical errors?
1A: Goldstone
Rubric For Essay #3
1. Does the paper fully address the prompt/criteria, meet the minimum length requirements
and stay on topic?
________ of 25
2. Is paper organized logically with a clear pattern of development?
________ of 25
3. Does the research support the argument of the paper?
________ of 15
4. Is the analysis specific and focused (rather than broad)?
________ of 15
5. Is the expression clear?
________ of 25
6. Does the paper address the correct audience and are the style and tone appropriate?
________ of 15
7. Does the paper use at least THREE ACADEMIC sources for scientific support and are
these sources cited properly parenthetically and in a Works Cited page?
________ of 20
8. Are the mechanics of the paper correct?
________ of 10
Total: ___________ of 150