ENEX 101
Summer 2009
Writing the Personal Research Essay: Life on the Clark Fork River
sketch workshop: Tuesday, June 16
complete workshop draft: Wednesday, June 17
revised draft due : Thursday, June 18
length: 6-8 pages; not including cover page or works cited page
Background
In the personal essay assignment you addressed your own relationship to Missoula as a place in
order to develop a sense of place here. In this research assignment, you will deepen your
knowledge and understanding of this place by exploring your own research questions. Your
research should explore Missoula's relationship with the Clark Fork River. You may choose to
study the Clark Fork's 1) social, 2) economic, or 3) ecological relationship to the city.
As a group we have already established a base-line of primary and secondary research that will
contribute to your work for this paper. However, you also need to pursue answers to your own
research question as well.
Assignment
Write a 6-8 page research-based essay in response to a specific research question of your choice.
Your essay should:
 breathe – it should not have the stuffy Encyclopedia Britannica voice; if you have chosen
a topic of interest to you, this should come naturally
 address a specific research question of personal interest
 be gracefully written with sentences that are free of grammar or punctuation errors
 use MLA form for all quotations, citations, and works cited
 converse with five different sources including research in each of the following forms:
1. quoted/paraphrase/summarized material from class-based or independent
research, etc.
2. images (graphs, charts, photos, drawings, signs, etc.)
3. at least one primary source (interviews, river journal, personal experience,
observations, etc.)
Required Elements
The following should be stapled together neatly when you turn in your paper to me on Thursday,
June 18. You must include the following to receive full credit:
 invention work/drafting materials
 sketch with class comments
 workshop draft
 workshop worksheet
 clean revised draft
 cover page with title