Scholarly paper:
Assignment Objectives:
 Developing skill in expressing oneself orally or in writing
 Learning to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view
 Learning how to find and use resources for answering questions or solving problems
Student Learning Outcomes:
Upon completing this assignment, students will be able to
 use reading and writing for inquiry, learning, critical thinking, and communicating;
 use the libraries resources, including RAMCAT, RAMNET, and other electronic
databases;
 work through the research process to write a research paper;
 understand attribution and documentation and use the an appropriate style;
Your research paper will be an 8-10 page argumentative essay that utilizes external research. The
topic is entirely up to the individual student, but each student’s final research paper will match
his or her research proposal. Students who change research projects without instructor
approval will not receive credit for the assignment. Your research will include hard copy
sources from the library and, perhaps, electronic sources from scholarly databases. As we have
discussed in class, you will make very little use of internet sources, especially those sources that
do not have some sense of clear expertise. You should judge each source using the information
from your class notes and the annotated bibliography checklist.
There is no set number of sources that you must use, but you must have adequate documentation
to support your assertions and claims. Your paper should quote accurately.
Other important notes
 You must document all sources accurately.
 Plagiarism will result in an F in the course. I will follow ASU’s Academic Integrity
Policy.
 Your paper will follow the appropriate format.
 Utilize the appropriate sources.
 Avoid long, indented quotes.
 As with the other essays, you must submit both a hard copy and an electronic copy.
 Keep copies of all your sources. The instructor reserves the right to ask students to
provide hard copies of all documented materials.
Research Paper Rubric—English 1302
Elements of Mastery
Content—must exhibit the following:
Excellent to Very Good: argumentative; engaging
introduction appropriate to audience/purpose; substantive;
thorough development of thesis; discussion effectively
supported by quotations/data; relevant to topic; originality of
thought; definitive conclusion
Good to average: satisfactory perception of subject and
argument; satisfactory intro; somewhat limited development of
thesis; mostly relevant discussions; includes source material;
lacks detail; summary conclusion.
Fair to Poor: limited perception of subject and argument;
inadequate intro; little substance; inadequate development of
thesis; highly generalized and irrelevant; faulty reasoning; no
definitive conclusion.
Very Poor: does not demonstrate an understanding of subject
or argument; non-substantive; not pertinent; lacks conclusion;
OR not enough to evaluate.
Organization: must exhibit the following
Excellent to Very Good: fluid expression; ideas clearly
stated/supported; succinct; well organized; logical sequencing;
cohesive.
Good to average: somewhat choppy; few transitions; loosely
organized but main ideas stand out; logical buy incomplete.
Fair to Poor: non-fluent; no transitions; ideas confused or
disconnected; lacks logical sequencing and development.
Very Poor: does not communicate; no org.; illogical; OR not
enough to evaluate
Style: must exhibit the following
Excellent to Very Good: authentic voice; sentence variety;
mastery of compound/complex structure, parallelism, effective
word choice and usage.
Good to average: evidence of authentic voice; limited
sentence variety; effective but simple constructions; minor
problems in complex constructions; faulty parallelism, word
choice and usage.
Fair to Poor: authorial voice rather than authentic voice;
limited sentence variety; major problems in sentences, word
choice and usage; meaning confused.
Very Poor: authorial voice dominates; little mastery of
sentence construction; does not communicate; OR not enough
to evaluate.
Use of Source Material—must exhibit the following
Excellent to Very Good: cited material is introduced with
some variety through in-text or parenthetical citation; Works
Cited/Reference complete with negligible errors.
Good to average: Generally consistent with attribution; cited
material introduced with some variety; Works Cited/Reference
mostly complete with limited errors.
Fair to Poor: cited material not consistently introduced; lacks
variety in introducing cited material; Works Cited/Reference
attempted but incomplete with frequent errors.
Very Poor: limited or no citations or attributions; limited or no
Works Cited/Reference; OR not enough to evaluate.
Point Values
Comments
 You must earn Excellent to
Very Good in every
category to earn an A.
 Very Poor in any one
category can result in not
earning a passing grade for
the research paper.
 Grammar is graded
according to the point
values listed on the syllabus.
 You must earn a Good to
average or higher on the Use
of Source Material to earn a
C or higher.

Fluid expression means the
paragraphs are organized
around a central idea and
you move between
paragraphs with appropriate
transitions

Authentic voice is your
voice. Authorial voice
equals your source material.
An essay lacking authentic
voice is one that is “quote
heavy” and demonstrates an
inability to summarize or
paraphrase.

All ideas, statistics, quotes
or information taken from
someone else must be
documented.
All data and quotes must be
introduced. Do not include
free standing quotes in your
essay.

Grammar—See Syllabus for errors and points


Grammar and mechanics is
a sign of rhetorical control.
Students must master the
conventional features of
syntax, grammar,
punctuation, and spelling.
Failure to minimize these
errors will severely impact
the essay’s grade.