Description

Purpose

Unlike earlier assignments, this final out-of-class assignment will not culminate in an essay. Instead, it will give you the opportunity to carry out strategic exploration on a Research Question you create prompted by the religion_in_public_schools.pdf

handout in the Paper 4 Module of Canvas. Below you will find the series of assignments, their deadlines, and requirements.

For this assignment, I would like you to choose an idea from the religion_in_public_schools.pdf

handout (found on Canvas) that you would like to explore through research. The research process will be built around a research question that you ask about your topic of interest. You will then identify a variety of different sources that address your research question and prepare an annotated bibliography.

An annotated bibliography is a list of research sources consulted in the preparation of a research project. Each source is listed and organized according to a standard, collegiate research format (in this case, MLA). Under each separate bibliographic entry, you will include a summary paragraph followed by a few sentences about how the source informs your research question.

As you identify and evaluate sources, you should pay attention to audience and purpose.

This assignment should keep in mind the following (though not necessarily in the exact order):

• What the author’s credentials are (what makes the author a reputable source on this topic)?
• What the source is about (its topic)? You may use an article’s abstract (if there is one) to help you.
• What the author’s argument is about this topic?
• How the source contributes to your project?
• What is the purpose of each text?
• Who is the audience for each text?
• How does each text address the research question?
• How well does the text respond to the research question?

After you have written the annotated bibliography, you will prepare a short reflection on the process.

The reflection should answer the following questions:

• Overall, how well did the research answer your question?
• What do you know about your topic that you did not know before?
• What new questions do you have about the topic?

Audience

The intended audience for your Annotated Bibliography and Reflection should be people who have read the assigned reading packet

that prompted your question but who have NOT read your outside sources. Consider the students in our class as members of your audience.

Essay Requirements:

• A minimum of six double-spaced pages:

• One paragraph with an introduction to the topic and your research question (half page to full page long)
• Six annotations of a little more than half a page each (should be near 4 pages long)
• Two-page reflection (2 pages long)

Annotated Bibliography requirements

• At least 4 full pages, Times New Roman 12, 1 inch margins, double-spaced, typed, with page numbers, proper indentations (hanging indents and block quote formats)
• 6 sources found using the strategies taught in the Information Literacy session at the library
• At least 4 of these sources must be articles (from a magazine, newspaper, or journal)
• 6 sources must cover a range of general and academic (or scholarly) sources
• Each source has a correct MLA Works Cited entry (for any source found on the library website, use the citation feature to give you the info that you can revise as needed)
• Sources should be listed alphabetically like a Works Cited page
• After each source, write a paragraph that addresses the follow questions:
  • What is the purpose of each text?
  • Who is the audience for each text?
  • How does each text address the research question?
  • How well does the text respond to the research question?
  • What the author’s credentials are (what makes the author a reputable source on this topic)?
  • What the source is about (its topic)? You may use an article’s abstract (if there is one) to help you.
  • What the author’s argument is about this topic?
  • How the source contributes to your project?

Reflection

Requirements for final draft:

• At least 2 full pages, Times New Roman 12, 1 inch margins, double-spaced, typed, with page numbers
• Your Reflection should respond to the following questions:
  • Now that you’ve considered how all 6 of your sources respond to your Research Question, which sources do you think responded most effectively and least effectively and why?
  • Which sources prompted you to consider new questions, and what were those questions?
  • What did this process reveal to you about the range of general and academic sources?
  • What did you learn about the research process during this assignment that you might apply in the future?
• Feel free to use “I” in your Reflection

Source Requirements: 

• Six outside sources:
  • Two sources must be written for a general population (magazine, newspaper)
  • Two sources must be written for an academic audience (journal)
  • Two other sources of your choice
• At least 2 of the 6 sources must provide opposing or challenging views to your main “argument” (focus of research).
• The reading packet
  Actions
  that prompted your research question does not count toward the 6 required sources you must find on your own.