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The Annotated Outline assignment asks you to do two things. Compose a 1-2 paragraph research essay proposal. The proposal should reflect (1) some already-completed background research on your topic of inquiry (see below) and (2) thoughts on how you plan to develop the essay (leading to your intended working thesis or guiding research question). The proposal should reflect hours of completed research and demonstrate a more-than-surface-level understanding of your topic. Some of this research should be reflected in your essay proposal. Create a 10-20 source list of potential research sources. These sources should be in MLA format. Place your sources into categories that reflect the different contexts (“chatter streams”) in which your research focus has been approached by other researchers. Focus on creating a list that relies mostly on “Tier 1” research sources. Some “Tier 2” sources, but you should edit out most/all of your “Tier 3” sources. (See Class Notes>>Research>>>“Research Overview” and “Research Tiers” for more on Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 research sources.) Your essay proposal (#1 above) must be approved by the instructor before you may post the first draft of your Research Essay. Un-approved papers will not be graded. All draft work should be posted in our Formal Student Writing folder. Please work ahead! Good research takes time. Begin _early in the semester_ to read around your topic so that you can settle on a college-level writing proposal. Feel free to send me examples of your research, or of writing ideas. Requirements Attach essay proposal and source-list as a Microsoft word document to this “Annotated Proposal Assignment.” Due Date: Friday, October 28 10% of final grade. ——————————————————————— College values & research priorities Overview College values large amounts of in-depth content (long and involved things). As a college student, your job (so-to-speak) is to sift through, understand, and pull out relevant parts of that in-depth content. In composing research essays, you want to sift through and pull out sources that convey college values: in depth content, long and involved things. We normally talk about sources in terms of whether they are “primary” or “secondary,” “academic” or “non-academic,” “library” or “non-library.” Those are helpful distinctions, and for more on them, check out the “Research Basics” post in the CLass Notes>>Research subfolder. But in this class, I’ll approach your research as system of research tiers: I want your work to maximize your use of Tier 1 and Tier 2 sources as possible, and to limit your use of Tier 3 sources. *** Tier 1 and Tier 2 sources Tier 1 sources have the most depth, content and focus. These are easily identified–they are long and take time to go through. You want your essay to _mostly_ use these. These can be found most easily on our college library’s website. Start here for all research. (Take a look at the “Navigating the BCTC Library” video posted in the Research folder.) Not all BCTC library sources are Tier 1, but most are. Likewise, many .gov and some .org sites _can_ give you Tier 1 info (usually in the form of longer .pdf documents). These places can also give you a lot of less-important information. It is on your to check the page length and content and focus. Shorter is generally less valuable. Here is an example of a Tier 1 source for a research paper on Senior Loken Syndrome. Loken Tier 1 BCTC library source.pdf *** Tier 2 sources are often found on the internet, and they are usually somewhat lengthy non-academic articles that focus on a specific topic relative to your research. While you can find Tier 2 sources through BCTC library searches, you will most likely encounter these through standard internet (Google-type) searches. These include regularly updated magazines or websites, some .org sites, longer you-tube videos, substack articles, and newspapers. These can be helpful and necessary to develop a main support idea for your essay (or as a quick detail to a smaller point), but _on their own_, Tier 2 sources are insufficient for a research essay. They should be paired w/ Tier 1 sources. Published in the monthly magazine Rolling Stone, Matt Taibbi’s article on the 3 Strikes Law is a good example of a Tier 2 source for a paper focusing on some aspect of the Three Strikes Law. *** The key thing to remember is that you have flexibility as a researcher. If the final draft of your essay heavily features two Tier 1 sources, you may be able to get by with three Tier 2 sources. (Better, though, would be three Tier 1 sources, particularly if your subject has a lot of research on it….) I look at Tier 1 and Tier 2 sort of like I do “A” and “B” work. Though I note the difference, I am less worried about those distinctions. I suggest preferring Tier 1 research because you may find that…. ….some Tier 2 research work may actually be Tier 3 research. And we don’t want much Tier 3 research. *** Tier 3 Sources Tier 3 sources are notable for containing very short and repetitive summaries of the type of Tier 1 and 2 research that you want. These sources should mostly be discarded. Tier 3 sources are nearly exclusively found online and include listicles, wikipedia entries, commercial advocacy group pages, and the like. These places are designed for quick and surface-level engagement–useful for other pursuits, perhaps, but not for college-pursuits. *** Here is an attachment whose content was copy-and-pasted from one of many sources for Retinitis (a component of Senior Loken Syndrom). Loken Tier 3 web source 747 words.docxIt’s only 740 words! Holey-moley! That’s shorter than the papers that you all write in this first-year writing class! There’s no way that conveys anything more than surface-level understanding of a topic so broad. The example demonstrates two problems with Tier 3 sources: Credibility/capability: in using that Tier 3 content, you are telling your reader that you do _not_ have a grasp of your subject. Repetitive: if you look at other online sources on the same topic, these are equally short–and they cover the same basic “what is it,” “what are its symptoms,” “let’s give you links” content. So not only is Tier 3 often _short_ on content and understanding, it also tends to be repetitive. *** There are some _good_ Tier 3 sources: song lyrics to help underscore a point about small-town religion, or a tweet or sub-redditt. You may keep one for a 5-source essay, or 2 or 3 for an 8-or-9-source essay, but they play a minor role, mostly useful for an introduction or a small detail. Tier 3 is the category that I find much opening student research. While it’s an OK place for you to _begin_ research, these should be discarded in favor of better sources (or a better research topic) well before a first draft or formal assignment like the Annotated Outline assignment.
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