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.