Research Essay #1: Quarter 1
Persuasive Problem-Solution Essay
Task: For this essay you will build on your problem-solution speech. For the essay,
however, you will write in more details about the problem and its solutions. Again,
you are trying to persuade your class and community to change their actions and
beliefs about the problem you’ve identified. Here’s what you’ll have to do to get a
satisfactory mark on this final project of the first quarter:
1. Go the library to check out two books on your topic.
2. Go to the Internet to find two websites on your topic (Wikipedia not
allowed).
3. Write a 1500-2000 word MLA-style research paper. Write it by hand first,
and then type it. Submit via email and submit hardcopy to Mr. Sabath.
4. Include in-text citations and a works cited page.
5. Integrate persuasive techniques in your writing (the same ones you used for
your speech)
6. Use at least five SAT words in your essay (form the lists of words we’ve been
studying in class).
7. Use the models and templates I give you in this handout to help write your
own research paper.
Step 1: Make sure you know your topic. Review the work you did for your speech. If
you didn’t complete this, you’ll need to think of a problem in society.
Step 2: Research your topic. Get two books out form the library. Find two online
sources and print the info you will use. Read this material. Take notes. Write down
information from each source that you’ll need for your citations (authors, titles, date
of publication, place of publication, publisher, URL, etc.)
Step 3: Create an outline for your essay (see model below).
Step 4: Write your rough draft by hand.
Step 5: Type your rough draft. Complete spell check. Read and edit for grammar
and punctuation. Check it against the rubric for the project to make sure you have
everything. Send to Mr. Sabath (peter.sabath@pgcps.org) and include your name
and class period in subject line. Print out essay and turn in with hand-written rough
draft.
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Grading Rubric
Essay is a minimum of two pages typed, single spaced, 12-point Time New Roman,
with a topic paragraph, supporting paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph
_____/100
Essay includes four sources (two Internet, two books from library)
properly cited in a works cited page at the end of the paper and also in
the paper after each quote
_____/50
Essay includes at least one quote from each of the above four sources
for a total of four direct quotes from the sources
_____/50
Essay includes a title page with title of paper, date, and student’s name
_____/25
Outline and/or brainstorm showing organization of paper
_____/25
Hand-written rough draft attached to typed final version that has been edited
for spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors
_____/25
Essay includes 5-10 bolded SAT words from the first quarter lists
_____/25
Essay uses 3-5 persuasive techniques (same as methods from speech)
i.e. ethos, pathos, logos, personal experience, rhetorical questions,
figurative language, call to action, loaded words, counter arguments, rebuttals, etc.
_____/50
TOTAL
_____/350
Example Outline
Paragraph 1 – state problem and give statistics; give opinion about why this is a
problem
Paragraph 2 – discuss research; what I learned from the books/Internet sources
about the causes of homelessness
Paragraph 3 and 4 – discuss personal experience around the problem of
homelessness; discuss my own thoughts and ideas about this issue
Paragraph 5 – discuss research; what I from the books/Internet sources about how
to solve homelessness
Paragraph 6 – conclusion/wrap up thoughts as they relate to research
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Example Essay
Homelessness:
The Underbelly of Capitalism
Mr. Peter Sabath
Often we treat homeless men, women, and children on the streets as trash, or
even stray dogs that don’t deserve our sympathy, respect, or caring hearts. This is a
problem because we’re all part of the same human family, even those people who
don’t have roofs over their heads. The National Law Center on Homelessness and
Poverty estimates that there are between 2.5-3.5 million homeless people in
America (Homelessness and Poverty in America 1). Wherever you are in this vast
country, these unfortunate people abound. Washington, DC, in fact, is the city with
the highest rate of homelessness in America. Over the past few years during the
recession, the number of homeless people in DC has increased by almost 10%. It is
hard to believe that there are nearly 12,000 homeless men, women, and children in
The Nation’s Capital (Homelessness Increases 1). What’s worse is that many people
think that this problem has been around forever. This isn’t true. As the National
Alliance to End Homelessness states on its website, homeless was virtually
nonexistent before 1980 (Ten Year Plan 2). This means that this problem has only
been around for just over 30 years. Even though our government spends 2 billion
dollars a year trying to fight this problem, the number of homeless people in our
streets keeps on steadily increasing (Ten Year Plan 2). What has caused this grave
crisis, and what can be done at both the personal and political levels to combat this
national tragedy? These are the key questions this paper will address and seek to
answer.
We live in a country with extreme wealth and extreme poverty, and there are
many systemic problems that we can’t fix on the streets. Capitalism breeds great
wealth and great poverty. While our country is home to some of the wealthiest
people in the world dwelling in monstrous homes large enough to house numerous
families, hundreds of thousands of people are living under the stars every night
anxious about what the next day might bring. How is it that this has happened in
America? How has our country become so adulterated? How is it that such a vast
number of people have fallen short of realizing the American Dream? In Citizen
Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America, author Todd Depastino
describes the process of how real wages fell in the 1970s as the economy shifted
away from high-wage manufacturing jobs, leading to a two-tiered labor system:
“The top tier featured a core of full-time, permanent employees and highly educated
managers and professionals. At the bottom of the low-wage tier lay a growing pool
of part-time, contingent, and temporary workers…From this reserve army of casual
and chronically unemployed workers emerged the new class of homeless persons”
(Depastino 255). What this means is that more and more people were becoming
lower class, and thus more likely not able to afford their homes. This lead to the
increasing rate of homelessness, which for the next thirty nears would increase to
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the current rates we have today in 2011. As more and more people experience
poverty, homelessness increases. At the beginning of the 21st Century between 1015 percent of Americans were living under the poverty line and thus in danger of
becoming homeless (Wagner 37). Today this number is around 30 million, a
substantial agglomeration of citizens teetering on the edge (Homelessness and
Poverty in America 1). That’s 10-15 people out of 100. These numbers are daunting
when one stops to think. Today, a growing number of low-income families are
spending more than 50% of their income on rent, but estimates state this figure
should be no more than 30% for a family to survive (Homelessness and Poverty in
America 1). When one considers these cold, hard fact, no wonder homelessness is
on the rise.
What can be done to solve the problem of homelessness? Before we turn our
attention to fixing the problems politically, first we can change our attitudes
towards these men, women, and children that we might encounter on the streets. At
a personal level, we can learn how to empathize with the homeless we encounter on
these streets. All homeless people have interesting stories to tell if only we’re
willing to listen. During my years of relating to homeless people, I’ve met scholars
who’ve lost their jobs and drug addicts nearly their lives, and they’ve all had
interesting stories to tell. I’ve learned from all of them. As a child, my parents
helped run a homeless shelter, so I grew up hearing the stories of the homeless.
Now, as a father I often bring my own children to different locations around
Washington, DC, so they can get a first hand experience of what it means to be
homeless. For example, last year we met a homeless man on K Street who became
homeless after surviving Vietnam where he was a POW. He became mentally ill
from post dramatic stress disorder. This was a powerful experience for my children
to take in because they got to see how a man who served this country in a war
returned home to find that there wasn’t any support from the government that sent
him to war. He became mentally ill from the war after serving his Country, his life
fell apart because of a system that failed to support his fragile mind, and then he
became homeless. He’s been living in a tent for ten years.
If you’re worried about giving money that might be misused, you can give
food instead as you get to know your new street friends. At 7/11, for example, when
you encounter that ubiquitous 7/11 or red light homeless man, you could get a
coffee or doughnut for that gentleman outside. Next, instead of just giving the item
to him and walking away, you could slow down to ask the man how he’s doing. So
often we’re moving so fast that we forget about the homeless people that we pass by
every day. You’d be surprised what you could learn from this person if you only
took a moment to listen. Once you start serving this underserved community, you
may find that you want to explore taking your service to the next level. In all major
cities there are many soup kitchens and shelters that you could visit to get to
empathize even more with this population. This would also help you with your
community services hours at high school. Don’t forget that you need 36 hours to
graduate. Why not organize a blanket dive during the winter with fellow high
school students? If these experiences move you even more, you could take your
action to the next level by writing congress about the problem of homelessness.
Why is it that one of the wealthiest cities in one of the wealthiest countries in the
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world has the highest rate of homelessness for a developed nation? Once you start
engaging the leaders of this nation, maybe they will start passing laws to help
decrease these daunting, disturbing, even embarrassing numbers.
With this said, homelessness, however, is not a problem that can be
ameliorated by individual citizens merely showing caring hearts to the homeless
people they meet on the streets. This personal connection and empathy are
important, but it won’t get them off the streets or put food in their bellies every day.
As housing prices and the cost of living rise, wages continue to remain steady, if not
decline. This creates the conditions for homeless to brew. As the Thriving
Neighborhoods NGO states, “The most proximate cause of homelessness in America
is poverty” (Preventing Homelessness in America 1). What can be done to fight
poverty and homelessness, which go hand in hand? The National Alliance to End
Homelessness, which is a reputable organization trying to fight this disease, gives
“ten essentials” for working to end homelessness at the political level, arguing that
“a community needs a clear, deliberate, and comprehensive strategy” (Solutions 2).
The essentials include having a plan, data, emergency prevention, outreach,
shortened homelessness, rapid-rehousing, services, permanent housing, and income
for all homeless people (Solutions 2-3). If local, state, and national governments
embraced these ten essentials, as a country we’d be moving in the right direction to
eradicating homelessness in one of the most prosperous countries in history.
Homeless is a problems that will not go away over night. But there is one
thing that can change overnight: your attitude toward homeless people. Not all
homeless people are dangerous or violent. In fact, most of them aren’t. Now is the
time to realize this truth. Once you realize this truth, you might find yourself
wanting to take your fight to the next level by lobbying your local, state, and national
leaders on the political stage to embrace the ten essentials for eliminating
homelessness. Next time your path crosses the path of a man, woman, or child,
consider showing some humanity and caring instead of inhumanity, fear, or
indifference. And next time you get the chance to write a politician, don’t abdicate
the power you have as a concerned citizen. Instead, put pen to paper and consider
writing on behalf of that man, woman, or child who you bumped into in front of
7/11 or at the red light the other day.
At the end of the day, we’re all citizens under the same flag, no matter how
rich or poor, dark or light, roof or no roof.
Works Cited
Depastino, Todd. Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Homelessness and Poverty in America. National Law Center on Homelessness and
Poverty. 11 October 2011. < http://www.nlchp.org/hapia.cfm>
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Homelessness Increases in DC Area. The Washington Post. 11 October 2011.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/homelessness-increases-in-dcarea/2011/04/13/AFtuETYD_story.html>
Preventing Homelessness in America. Thriving Neighborhoods. 10 October 2011.
<http://www.solutionsforamerica.org/thrivingneigh/homelessness.html>
Ten Essentials. National Alliance to End Homelessness. 10 October 2011.
<http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/solutions/ten_essentials>
Ten Year Plan. National Alliance to End Homelessness. 10 October 2011.
<http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/solutions/ten_year_plan>
Wagner, Viqi. Poverty: Opposing Viewpoints. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008
Template for Essay
Here’s an essay you can use if you’re having trouble getting starting using your own
ideas and the model essay above. You can plug in your own ideas to the template to
get started below. Copy and paste this template into a new Word document and
you’ll be on your way. Keep in mind that it is just a guide. You’ll probably have to
change things around and reword many sections for your essay to make sense.
Paragraph 1
_____________________________________ (insert issue here) is a problem in our world
for many reason. This is an issue that we need to think about because
____________________________ (explain why you think this is a problem). In this essay I will
explain this problem, discuss my personal views, and also weave in some research
as I explore different solutions to this matter. ___________________________ (add a
sentence or two here to round out your introductory paragraph). I am writing this
persuasive research essay to convince the reader to think about this issue and to
change his or her behavior and actions toward __________________________________
(describe your intent to persuade the reader to change).
Paragraph 2
_________________________________________ (insert issue here) is a problem for many
reasons. First, ______________________________________ (discuss what you found in your
research). Second, ________________________________________(discuss other reasons this is a
problem in our society). This research shows that _________________________________ (here
discuss you thoughts on the research you found and what you learned about the
background to/causes of this problem). ____________________________________ (add any
thoughts you have about the root causes of this problem).
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Paragraph 3
This topic is also close to my heart because ______________________________________
(describe personal experience/things you’ve experienced that connect your life to the
topic). Once I experienced ____________________________________________ (again, tell a story
from your own personal experiences as it relates to your topic). ________________________
(here, spend some time writing from your heart about this topic).
Paragraph 4
Solving this problem of __________________________ is no easy task, but there are
many ways of trying take some steps in the right direction. First, we could
_________________________________________________ (describe a solution). Second, as
_______________ (author) says in his book titled _________________________ (give title), we
can “……” (give quote from research). We could also
_________________________________________________, as _______ (author) suggests in the book
titled ___________________________________ (give book title): “…..” (give quote connected to
your topic/problem/solution). _________________________ (describe your thoughts on
these solutions and use them to persuade the reader to make changes to his/her
actions and beliefs about the issue). _________________________ (write anything else that
fits here).
Paragraph 5
____________________________________ (discuss more research you’ve found and how
this relates to the solutions to your problems). ________________________________ (discuss
any other ideas you might have for solving this problem, synthesizing your own ideas
with the ideas that your read about in your books and online).
Paragraph 6
In conclusion, ______________________________ (summarize all that you learned
about the problem and its solutions in your research essay).
Guidelines for MLA Style Citation
Create a Works Cited Page Using the MLA Style
MLA style is commonly used in the humanities, especially in writing literary
criticism and writing about language and literature. The MLA style is also more
commonly used in academics, while many literary journals, newsletters and
magazines use this style as well. Here's a simple guide to writing citations in MLA
style. In addition to referring to the model I wrote for you, here are some
instructions for completing your citations:
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1. For citations in the text, list the last name of the author and the page
number in parentheses. For example: Second-language learners develop
more quickly when learning the L2 before puberty (Connor 113). If you
reference two different books by the same author in your text, then you'll
need to distinguish between the two books by including a condensed
version of the title. For example: (Connor, Language 182).
2. Create a bibliography or works cited page by listing all of your sources and
referenced material in one section at the end of the paper or book. This list
should include all the books and material you cited as sources in the paper, as
well as those you didn't cite but used in your research.
3. Citing a book. Author. Title of Book (underlined). Place of Publication:
Publisher, Year. For example: Brown, Dan. The Da Vinci Code. New York:
Random House, 2003.
4. Citing an Encyclopedia. Author (if there is one). "Title of Entry". Name of
Encyclopedia (underlined). Edition. Year of Publication. For example:
"Decorative Arts and Furnishings". Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th ed. 2002.
5. For citing an essay or article in a book: Author. "Title of Essay or Article." Title of
book (underlined). Ed. Editor's name. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year.
Pages. For example: Kiikerri, Lotta. "Shakespeare's Great Works." Poets and
Their Marks. Ed. Michael Geist. Cambridge: University Press, 260-280.
6. Citing a journal article: Author. "Title of the Article." Name of the Periodical
Volume (underlined). Issue (Year): Pages. For example: Garcia, Mary-Ellen.
"Influences of Gypsy Calo on Contemporary Spanish Slang." Hispania 88.4
(2005): 800-812.
7. For citing a newspaper article without an author and from a daily newspaper:
"Title of the Article." Name of the Newspaper (underlined). Date: Pages. For
example: "California Becomes the Second State to Legalize Same-Sex Marriages."
The New York Times 15 May 2008: 1.
8. For citing an individual work on the Internet: Author. Title. Date on page
(if given). Name of Associated Institution (if given; underlined). Date of
access < web address>. For example: Downer, Jillian. In Her Shoes. 18 May
2008. The Shoe Dish. 24 May 2008 <http://theshoedish.com>.
9. For citing and article in an e-journal collection: Author. "Title of the article".
Name of the Periodical Volume (underlined). Issue (Year): Pages. Name of
Collection. Date of Access <URL of journal article>. For example: Wetta, Frank
and Martin Novelli. "Now a Major Motion Picture: War Films and Hollywood's
New Patriotism." The Journal of Military History 67.3 (2003): 861-882. Project
Muse. 7 Aug. 2003 <muse.jhu.edu/journals
journal_of_military_history/v067/67.3wetta.pdf>
10. For citing an article in a full text article index: Author. "Title of the article". Name
of the Periodical Volume (underlined). Issue (Year): Pages. Name of the
Database. Name of the Service. Name of the Library. Date of access
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<subscriptions service's homepage if known>. For example: Smith, Robert P.
"Risk Management in Undergraduate Engineering Economics Education."
Engineering Economist 44.2 (1999): p202-7. Business Source Complete
EbSCOhost. Memorial U of Newfoundland, Queen Elizabeth II Lib.6 Nov. 2007.
<http://www.ebscohost.com>
11. For citing a Dissertation or Thesis: Author. "Title of the Dissertation or Thesis".
Diss. Name of University, Year. For example: Downer, Jillian C. "The Relationship
Between Suicide and Friendship in The Hamlet by William Faulkner." Diss. New
York University, 2007.
Read more: How to Write Citations in MLA Style | eHow.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_2311050_write-citations-mlastyle.html#ixzz1FHTgNsfh
You can also use The Crossland Media Center Website for help on doing your
citations (highly recommended!):
http://www1.pgcps.org/crossland/pagelayout.aspx?pageid=138262 (scroll down
to Citations)
http://library.hunter.cuny.edu/tutorials/mla/mla_tutorial.html
http://www1.pgcps.org/crossland/pagelayout.aspx?pageid=149410
http://www1.pgcps.org/crossland/pagelayout.aspx?pageid=149361
Bibme is also another good site for getting help on doing your citations:
http://www.bibme.org/
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