Chabot College
Language Arts
Magallon
English 1A
Research Paper
Assignment
For this paper you should consider the successes and failures of social movements in
Latin America. What (if anything) can be learned or adapted by US social movements
when we compare them to the way Latin American movements resist social injustice?
Finally, you must identify a specific cause in this country and decide whether that
movement would be more effective/ineffective by adopting some of the tactics used by
Latin American social movements. You must clearly provide examples of both and
assert why you support or disapprove of certain approaches.
Guidelines

Most topics start out very broad. Ask yourself if there is anything in particular
you want to reveal or explore about your topic so you can narrow the scope to one
that is manageable in 7-10 pages. For example, “Grassroots movements in Latin
America” is too broad to be a focused paper topic but it can easily be narrowed
down with a specific focus. Ex. “Expropriation as a means of Resistance” Or
“Bolivarian Circles vs. Cyber activism”.

This essay should focus on the events in Belli’s text and the POF but you will
have to find outside research on the US movement of your choice.

Once you have a topic in mind, begin your research. Students find that starting
their research first helps them develop a more refined topic. The important thing
to remember is to research, research, and research!!! Do not wait until the last
minute or you will find it hard to pull all of your sources together in a formal
paper. You will also need a works cited page attached to this essay for full
credit.

This is an argumentative essay and like all the papers we have been doing thus far
be sure that you have a clear thesis and an intro that outlines all of your points.
Try and use keywords to help keep you focused. Make sure all of your body
paragraphs are unified around your thesis and that you clearly explain how your
sources support your argument.

You will also have to present your topic to the class, discuss the sources you have
found, what you have learned from the research up to that point and share any
interesting findings. The presentation is 1/3 of your final grade so it is important
that you have plenty of information for your topic on the day you present.

Have fun with this! This is your opportunity to research a topic of interest and
become an expert in it. Don’t just pick a topic because you are familiar with it or
because it seems like it will be easy. Students who do this quickly find that
without genuine interest it is difficult to get into your research and ultimately
write a convincing argument.

Lastly, get started early and get help early. This paper weighs heavily as it will be
my last impression of your writing before I submit your grades. Also, due to the
timeframe late work will not be accepted. Be sure you are not scrambling at the
last minute and give yourself plenty of time to edit, revise and rewrite all of your
ideas. Again, this is a graded class and a transferable one; manage your time
wisely.
Format
 7-10 pages, typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, 1-inch margins Times Roman
Font.
 A creative title!
 9-12 citations from at least four different sources. Two must be Belli and two
from the POF. You may pull articles from books, magazines, etc. from the
internet but you need to be certain it is a reliable source. If these sources prove to
be inaccurate it will reflect on your final grade. Plagiarizing any aspect of your
research paper will result in an F for the essay and possibly an F in the class.
 Presentations due_____. Rough drafts due ______.
 Final draft due _______with all of your drafts, outline and presentation info
attached.
Good Luck!