Sophomore Global Issues Research Project
Directions: For the next few weeks, you will work toward creating your own research paper prompt. We will spend one
day each week in the computer lab, but some of this will be independent research and writing out of class.
All documents will be due in Turnitin by midnight on the due dates listed below. While formatting will not be assessed
on draft work, the Final Revised Synthesis Essay must be typed using MLA format. Hardcopies and emailed copies will
not be accepted.
Check-Point Products:
 Topic Choices – due Friday, 1/8/16
 Narrowing Your Focus & Developing a Research Question – due Friday, 1/15/16
 Critical Research Questions– due Friday, 1/22/16
 Essay Question Background & Prompt – due Friday, 1/29/16
 Final Research Prompt Packet – due Friday, 2/5/16
 Timed Write Research Essay – in class Monday, 2/8/16
 Peer Review & Self-Reflection – in class Monday, 2/15/16
 Final Revised Research Essay – due to Turnitin.com on Friday, 2/19/16
Topic Choices
Directions:
1. Review the following list of approved topics and choose three possible categories you’d like to research this
quarter.
2. Your list of three topics is due on Friday, 1/8/16. We will be in the computer lab so you can begin looking up
information on your three topics.
3. At the end of that initial research session, you should have an idea of which of the three topics you want to
investigate further.
4. Spend some time over the week after you choose your three topics to research further and to eliminate two
choices.
Approved Topics:
 Value of technology in education
 Function of humor and humorists in society
 Daylight saving time
 Genetic engineering
 Plastic surgery
 Anxiety & depression
 Free speech
 Police brutality
 Effect of adversity on one’s character
 Value of penny coin
 Scientific research method
 Corporate advertising/sponsorship in schools
 National school curriculum
 Electoral college system
 Effect of advertising on society
 Ethics of rewarding charitable acts in schools
 How fads reflect American values
 Effect of money in society
 Compulsory voting
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Effect of reading on independent thought
Consumerism and advertising
Protecting the environment
Effect of entertainment on society
Plagiarism in schools
Abuse of power
Animal cruelty
War on terror
Global warming
Food and agriculture
Foreign aid
Syria unrest
Nuclear weapons
Natural disasters
Human rights
Poverty
Child labor
Current presidential candidates
Human population
Narrowing Your Focus & Developing a Research Question
Directions: By now, you should have one topic you’ve chosen to research for this project. The next step is to draft a
research question for your research paper that will guide the rest of your writing. A research question, which is more
specific and focused than a general topic, is the question that your research paper will be answering. Following are some
examples of how a topic from the list might be narrowed down into a research question.
Topic from List
Technology in education
Free speech
National curriculum
Childhood memories
Narrowed Focus
iPads in classrooms
Book banning
Common Core
Nature vs. Nurture
Research Question
How does using iPads in classrooms affect test scores?
Why is banning books in public schools unconstitutional?
Is Common Core is a viable solution to illiteracy in the US?
Is natural predisposition more influential than upbringing?
As you develop a research question, keep in mind that you will need to research sources online and to use reputable
newspaper, magazine, and journal articles to support your topic. Do not pick a one-sided question that will limit your
research. Instead, develop a research question that lends itself to further exploration and debate—a question for which
you genuinely want to know the answer. Also, try to pick a research question that is neither too broad, which covers too
much, or too narrow, which covers too little. It should be broad enough to be discussed in a 5- to 10-paragraph paper.
Answer the following questions about your topic in order to narrow your topic down to a research question.
1. What is your general topic or area of interest from the approved list?
2. What is it about your general topic of interest that interests you?
3. What do you already know (from experience, high school classes, or initial research) about this topic?
4. List three specific areas of focus that fall under the category of your chosen topic and that you would like to
explore further.
5. List three questions that you have about the topic and that you would like to investigate.
6. Would any of the questions you listed about the topic make a good subject for a research paper? Pick or adapt
one question and make it into a research question.
7. Why do you think this research question will be appropriate for a research paper?
8. How is your research question significant or relevant to a wider community?
9. List the following:
Topic from List
Narrowed Focus
Research Question
Critical Research Questions
Directions: Once you’ve narrowed your focus, you’ll want to find some background on your topic, including definitions,
key figures, and terminology. As you do this, feel free to adjust your focus and/or research question accordingly.
Visit four or more of the following websites and enter a search term (topic from Approved Research Topics list). Then
choose one article from each of four different sources to review.
 BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
 USA Today
 NPR (National Public Radio)
 The New York Times
 PBS (Public Broadcasting Service)
 Washington Post
 The Wall Street Journal
 MSNBC
 ABC News
 The Guardian
 CBS News
 Bloomberg
 NBC News
 The New Yorker
 CNN
 Fox News
Answer the following questions below for four different articles, one from each of four different websites.
1. Name of the Website
Title of the Article
Author of the Article
Publication Date
2. What is the main topic in the article you read?
3. What problem(s) is discussed?
4. Who is affected by this problem?
5. Why is this a problem? How did it become a problem?
6. Is the problem(s) being addressed? Have solutions been implemented or attempted? If so, how and by whom? If
not, why not?
7. What other issues are discussed?
8. Is the information fact or opinion?
9. What is the purpose (to inform, persuade, entertain)? How does the author make his or her intentions clear?
10. Does the point of view appear objective and impartial or are there political, ideological, cultural, religious,
institutional or personal biases?
11. How does the author seem to feel about the topic? What is his or her attitude about it?
12. Who is the intended audience? Are they people who are already aware of the topic or not, people who might
agree with the author or disagree, people who fall on one side of the issue or the other, etc.?
13. Does the information relate to your topic or answer your research question?
14. To what degree might article be useful for paper on this topic?
Essay Question Background and Prompt
Now that you have done some initial research on your topic, you should be able to write a brief background of a
problem, as well as a prompt for an argument essay.
Use the following examples as models for your prompt and include each of the following in your background and
prompt paper:
 Title – copy directly from the example below
 Directions – you may copy directly from the example below
 Introduction – 1- or 2-paragraphs of background information from your research
 Assignment – can copy some wording from the examples, but make sure the actual prompt is for your topic
 List of four sources with author names in parentheses
SOPHOMORE RESEARCH PAPER PROMPT
Final Research Prompt Packet
As you work on finalizing your prompt packet, feel free to make any necessary changes and adjustments to your
background and prompt so that it is “test ready.”
Finalizing your prompt packet is simply a matter of finding and attaching four sources to your essay question so your test
taker has some valid information to use in composing his or her discussion.
Each source should only be one or two pages long and must be labeled Source A, B, C, D, E, or F (handwritten in the
upper right-hand corner).