Posted: March 18th, 2022
Writing an Argumentative “Research Paper”: English 110
Writing an Argumentative “Research Paper”: English 110
I. Choosing a research topic
a. For most students, the idea of writing a research paper can be overwhelming and they freeze at the initial onset of writing the paper. However, if you take it a step at a time, progress will be steady and even enjoyable.
b. To begin this process—find an article that interests you (stay away from topics such as abortion, religion, legalization of marijuana, lowering the drinking age, or bullying as they are either too closely tied to opinion and personal ideologies, or they have been over-used).
c. Next, read the article a number of times and summarize what the argument is, what the rhetorical device is that the author uses, and how they develop or support said argument.
d. Finally, based on you findings, come up with a question that either agrees with the article, disagrees, or uses it as a jumping off point to discuss a related or larger issue.
i. For example: “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift is a satirical piece that, on the surface, proposes that poverty and famine can be eradicated in Ireland by eating the babies of the poor. But this is not the true message. You could make an argument for any of the following being his true intent—
1. He uses the rhetorical device of ethos in his satire to incite the aristocracy to action because they have crossed a basic line in fundamental morals for creating the situation (an ethical or moral person wouldn’t turn people out of their homes and expect them to support their landlords…)
2. He uses the rhetorical device of pathos in his satire to incite the aristocracy to action because he attacks children and proposes that they be treated inhumanly to benefit the very people who create the situation. I.E. he is using guilt to get them to take action regarding the situation.
3. He uses the rhetorical device of logos in his satire to incite the aristocracy to action because he uses logic, statistics, and such to point out how they are all just looking at the bottom line of profit rather than how they are treating the Irish poor.
ii. Or you could argue that the essay is an example of how the educated persons in 18th century Ireland used their knowledge to try and incite social change to benefit the poor who could not do it themselves.
iii. Or you could argue that Swift was merely trying to get the attention of the aristocracy or other persons of means in order to further his own career.
II. Writing the research question
a. Using your summary of the article reword your findings to show an intent to learn more about the “topic.”
b. For example: your research question is—“In Jonathan Swift’s ‘A Modest Proposal,’ is the use of pathos effectively used to prove his argument that the aristocracy’s treatment of the Irish poor has condemned them to death? After you research the topic, you find that there are a number of scholarly articles that agree that he is effective.
i. Then you would find sources that say either it is or it isn’t. Using those articles to support your own position, you restate your question as a statement: In the satirical piece, “A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift effectively uses pathos to gain the sympathy of the aristocracy and, hopefully, incite them to action.
c. Another example: your research question is: “Does Jonathan Swift’s use of logos create a strong argument for the treatment of poor Irish children like livestock?
i. Again, find sources agreeing with your position. Then restate the question as a statement: “In ‘A Modest Proposal,’ by Jonathan Swift, he uses to logic to point out how the aristocracy’s treatment of the Irish poor in his metaphor of children being used as commodity/livestock. Then you would continue by citing the different instances he does this and reinforcing these ideas with quotes from your other articles.
III. Writing the body of the paper
a. You should have specific quotes to use within the text of your paper and/or paraphrasing or summary of direct pieces of the text . Remember that you will have to use Research essay writing service – MLA formatting and documentation for the entire paper.
b. Make sure to contextualize your outside source materials. Reference “who said what where” to let the reader know you are acknowledging expert or original source ideas and cite the source of in parentheses following any of the above if the author of the entire piece from which you are pulling your information differs from what you led in with.
c. Follow a logical progression—the guidelines of the paper itself, or should you decide to focus on language (pathos)—tracking of specific words throughout the piece.
IV. Other Information:
a. If you are focusing on logic, the use of statistics, charts, or graphs also need Research essay writing service – MLA documentation, since this kind of support comes from long studies, etc.
b. Pictures do not count as full pages.
V. Conclusion:
a. You conclusion should be:
i. A restatement of your initial thesis and support
ii. A brief exploration of how your research findings support or contradict the point you initially argued. If the findings contradict your thesis—what is the new conclusion this has led you to.
iii. Finally, the “so what.” So what does this all mean on a larger scale—does it mean that Swift was a visionary in the realm of social reform, or that he was a self-aggrandizing elitist who just wanted attention and was using inflammatory language and ideas to get people talking about him.
VI. The Works Cited
a. All sources should be listed according to Research essay writing service – MLA guidelines (at the back of your book in the chapter about research or go to [email protected]. ) ***and have a line or two following the citation summarizing what each article is about and a line about how you used it in your paper if you are using it as a working source list. If you choose to use APA please specify this in your paper’s information in the upper left hand corner along with your name and other per
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