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Touchstone 1.2: Write a Research Question, Thesis, and Outline ASSIGNMENT: Following the Topic Selection Guidelines below, choose an argumentative topic to research. This will be your topic throughout the entire course, so the activities required for this assignment will provide the foundation for your future Touchstones. The topic for an argumentative research paper must be a debatable topic, meaning that it involves conflicting viewpoints. Additionally, it cannot be a topic that is already decided or agreed upon by most of society. You will need to take a firm position on the topic and use evidence and logic to support the position. Touchstone 1.2 includes a research question, a working thesis, a detailed outline, and a reflection on this pre-writing process. A. Topic Selection Guidelines DIRECTIONS: You may choose any topic you wish as long as the topic has two clear sides and is not agreed upon by most of society. Your topic should be current, appropriate for an academic context and should have a focus suitable for a 6-8 page essay. In order to foster learning and growth, all essays you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any recycled work will be sent back with a 0, and you will be given one attempt to redo the Touchstone. B. Research Guidelines DIRECTIONS: Refer to the list below throughout the writing process. Do not submit your Touchstone until it meets these guidelines. 1. Research Question and Working Thesis Keep in mind: The research question and working thesis are the driving force behind your research and eventual argument. ❒ Your research question should be a single sentence, framed as a question. ❒ Your working thesis should be a single focused sentence, framed as a statement that takes a clear position on the research question. ❒ Include your research question followed by your working thesis. 2. Detailed Outline Keep in mind: Your detailed outline provides a map of the argumentative research essay that you will write, including your key claims and the sources that support them. You may not have all your sources yet, and that is fine. The outline is a way to organize your essay and determine which areas (e.g. your sub-points) will require researched evidence as support. ❒ Headings: one for each paragraph with a brief label of the paragraph’s controlling idea(s). ❒ An introduction, at least five body paragraphs, and a conclusion. ❒ Introduction includes your working thesis. ❒ Body paragraphs should each have their own unique title and key points. ❒ Conclusion includes notes on your final thoughts. ❒ Subheadings: two to five for each paragraph, below each heading, indicating key points that support the controlling idea ❒ Sources: one to three for each paragraph, as relevant, indicating the support for the key points ❒ For each source, include the author’s name and the idea or information relevant to your argument (e.g. “Lappé on mono-cropping corn/soy and production”). 3. Reflection ❒ Have you displayed a clear understanding of the research activities? ❒ Have you answered all reflection questions thoughtfully and included insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses? ❒ Are your answers included on a separate page below the main assignment? C. Reflection Questions DIRECTIONS: Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions. 1. Learning to conduct research is important because it is a skill you will use both in academia and in your professional life. It improves critical thinking and empowers you to find information for yourself. Consider the process of researching as a whole. What was the most challenging aspect of the process for you? (2-3 sentences) 2. The working thesis statement is a proposed answer to your research question. It should clearly identify a debatable topic and take a position on one side of that topic. Analyze the effectiveness of your working thesis statement. (3-4 sentences) 3. A detailed outline is an effective tool for laying out the progression of an argument. It allows you to consider the arrangement and organization of your ideas, as well as choose places to incorporate outside source materials. Review your detailed outline and summarize the argument you've presented. (3-4 sentences) 4. You will use the same topic on three of the remaining Touchstones in this course. What kind of feedback would be helpful for you? What are specific questions you might have as you go deeper into the research process? (2-3 sentences) D. Rubric   Advanced (90-100%) Proficient (80-89%) Acceptable (70-79%) Needs Improvement (50-69%) Non-Performance (0-49%) Research Question Pose a meaningful research question on a debatable topic. Constructs a precise and focused research question relative to a current and debatable topic. Constructs a focused research question relative to a debatable topic. Constructs a research question relative to a debatable topic; however it is somewhat too broad or too narrow for the assignment. Constructs a research question; however, the question is too broad or too narrow for the assignment and/or it is not debatable. Does not construct a research question, or constructs a research question that does not meet any of the rubric criteria. Working Thesis Propose a focused working thesis. Includes a working thesis that takes a well-articulated, clear, specific position on one side of an issue. Includes a working thesis that takes a clear, specific position on one side of an issue. Includes a working thesis that takes a clear position on one side of an issue; however it lacks specificity. Includes a working thesis; however, it lacks specificity and does not take a clear position. Does not include a working thesis, or includes a thesis that does not take a position. Detailed Outline Present a detailed outline that includes coherent headings, subheadings, and source placement notes. Outline is thoroughly developed and clearly labeled with effective notes, such that the reader can easily see how the essay will build its argument; all necessary elements of the outline are present. Outline is well-developed and labeled with sufficient notes, such that the reader can get a sense of how the essay will build its argument; all necessary elements of the outline are present. Outline is primarily well-developed and labeled with sufficient notes, such that the reader can get an overall sense of how the essay will build its argument; however, a few necessary elements may be unclear or missing. Outline is not fully developed and/or labeling and notes are often unclear, such that the reader cannot easily get a sense of how the essay will build its argument; several necessary elements of the outline are unclear or missing. Outline is not developed and/or labeling and notes are unclear or absent, such that the reader is unable to see how the essay will build its argument; most necessary elements of the outline are unclear or missing. Style Establish a consistent, informative tone and make thoughtful stylistic choices. Demonstrates thoughtful and effective word choices, avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a wide variety of sentence structures. Demonstrates effective word choices, primarily avoids redundancy and imprecise language, and uses a variety of sentence structures. Demonstrates generally effective style choices, but may include occasional redundancies, imprecise language, poor word choice, and/or repetitive sentence structures. Frequently includes poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures. Consistently demonstrates poor word choices, redundancies, imprecise language, and/or repetitive sentence structures. Conventions Follow conventions for standard written English. There are only a few, if any, negligible errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage. There are occasional minor errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage. There are some significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage. There are frequent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage. There are consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage. Reflection Answer reflection questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; consistently includes insights, observations, and/or examples in all responses, following or exceeding response length guidelines. Demonstrates thoughtful reflection; includes multiple insights, observations, and/or examples, following response length guidelines. Primarily demonstrates thoughtful reflection, but some responses are lacking in detail or insight; primarily follows response length guidelines. Shows limited reflection; the majority of responses are lacking in detail or insight, with some questions left unanswered or falling short of response length guidelines. No reflection responses are present. E. Requirements The following requirements must be met for your submission to be graded: · Double-space the outline and use one-inch margins. · Use a readable 12-point font. · All writing must be appropriate for an academic context. · Composition must be original and written for this assignment. · Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited. · Submission must include your name, the name of the course, the date, and the title of your composition. · Submission must include your research question, working thesis, outline, and reflection questions. · Include all of the assignment components in a single file. · Acceptable file formats include .doc and .docx. Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING Logan Stevens English Composition II December 1, 2019 Research question: How should ethical concerns direct the choices that people make about eating meat? Working thesis statement: For ethical and environmental reasons, people should limit their beef consumption, and the beef that they do eat should be humanely raised, locally sourced, and grass-fed. Detailed Outline I. Working Thesis in Introduction: For ethical and environmental reasons, people should limit their beef consumption, and the beef that they do eat should be humanely raised, locally sourced, and grass-fed. A. Hook with description statistics on beef consumption. B. Introduce two concerns: humane treatment, environment Source: Davis and Lin on statistics on beef consumption in the U.S. II. Ethical Issues Comment [SL1]: Hi Logan! This is a very good research question. It is relevant, debatable, and is adequately focused for a paper of this length. Comment [SL2]: This is a very well-constructed thesis statement. You take a very clear stance on the issue, indicating how you plan to argue one aspect of the research question. Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING A. Animals feel pain B. CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) C. Inhumane treatment of domesticated cattle Source 1: Grandin and Smith, paragraph 2 Source 2: Pollan on ethical conflicts, paragraphs 32 and 40 III. Environmental Issues A. Mono-cropping: feed for cattle and transport B. Manure: contamination, transport, ground water C. Antibiotics: rise in antibiotic resistant bacteria Source 1: Lappe on mono-cropping com/soy and production, page 22 Source 2: Sager on manure issues, paragraph 7 Source 3: Palmer on antibiotics, paragraph 12 IV. Health Benefits of Grass-Fed A. Higher in vitamins A and E and contains half the saturated fat and more omega-3 fatty acids, all of which fight cancer and heart disease B. Cows are healthier, so their meat is healthier to consume. C. Note that organic is a separate category. Source 1: Ruechel on health benefits, page 235 Source 2: Sager on organic note, paragraphs 10-15 V. Environmental Benefits of Grass-Fed Beef A. Local production is better for the climate B. Forage is better for the climate than corn/soy C. Some meat consumption is good for the planet. Comment [SL3]: Good. You are indicating which sources you plan to use in support of your discussion and highlighting the specific part of the source which will be used here. This helps you to find exactly what you need when you are writing your final paper. Well done. Comment [SL4]: Your argument is progressing in a very logical manner so far. Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING Source 1: Lappe on climate change, page 11 Source 2: Pollan on local and diverse, end of article VI. Counterargument A. Rainforest razing in South America – increases carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and depletes the ozone layer B. Travel distance from S. America & Australia is environmentally negative – depends on fossil fuels Source 1: Brown and Funk, and Sage, on issues w/grass-fed cattle in the developing world. Source 2: Pollan (and possibly Lappe) on “season” for beef VII. Conclusion A. Grass-fed is better on both ethical and environmental grounds, but the real answer is to eat less beef overall. B. Emphasizing respect for animals solves ethical dilemmas Source 1: Pollan on eating less and the ethics of being choosy, paragraph 82 Reflection Questions 1) Learning to conduct research is important because it is a skill you will use both in academia and in your professional life. It improves critical thinking and empowers you to find information for yourself. Consider the process of researching as a whole. What was the most challenging aspect of the process for you? (2-3 sentences) Comment [SL5]: Good. It is important to present the counter-arguments in order to establish a balanced perspective on the issue. Comment [SL6]: Excellent. This summarizes the main points you have made throughout your essay and ties the discussion back to your thesis statement. Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING One of the most challenging aspects of researching for me was how much time it took to find all of the different types of sources for this paper. It was also very difficult to assess each source and determine whether the information it provided was credible and useful for my essay. I really thought this would only take an hour or two, but it ended up being a much more involved process. Now I know that if you want to really learn about an issue, it takes more than a quick web search for information! 2) The working thesis statement is a proposed answer to your research question. It should clearly identify a debatable topic and take a position on one side of that topic. Analyze the effectiveness of your working thesis statement. My working thesis statement is one sentence that presents one side of a relevant and debatable argument. In addition, I tried to be as specific as I could. Instead of simply saying “People should not eat beef” I stated that it was for ethical and environmental reasons. I offered an alternative for what should be done if people would not avoid beef completely. I really tried to explain why this issue was important and discuss what could be done to improve the situation. 3) A detailed outline is an effective tool for laying out the progression of an argument. It allows you to consider the arrangement and organization of your ideas, as well as choose places to incorporate outside source materials. Review your detailed outline and summarize the argument you've presented. I start by laying out the ethical issues and inhumane treatment of mass-produced cattle and discuss the environmental concerns of feeding and transporting cattle. I then switch Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING to discussing the health and environmental benefits of grass-fed, humanely raised beef. The counterargument outlines a few issues that still exist with grass-fed beef and the conclusion reiterates that eating grass-fed beef is better but eating less beef is the more environmentally friendly option. I think that the argument progresses logically in this way and I think that the information I provided in my introduction and conclusion will be very helpful in introducing and summarizing the topic. 4) You will use the same topic on three of the remaining Touchstones in this course. What kind of feedback would be helpful for you? What are specific questions you might have as you go deeper into the research process? I’m pretty confident in the information I provided, but I would like additional insight into the structure of my essay. I think that my outline is clear, but I am not sure if it will make as much sense to someone who is not as familiar with the topic. I would also like some guidance on my use of formatting. I tried my best to use APA guidelines, but I’m not as familiar with these Comment [SL7]: You’ve done a really great job with these things. It can be difficult to strike the right balance in providing enough information in the bibliography and outline, but you have summarized the sources well and your outline clearly shows how you plan to develop your topic. Your formatting is also very precise and adheres to all the conventional guidelines. Very well done! Sophia Pathways for College Credit – English Composition II SAMPLE TOUCHSTONE AND SCORING Touchstone 1 Rubric and Feedback Rubric Category Feedback Score (acceptable, needs improvement etc.) Research Question Your research question is very precise and represents a relevant and debatable topic. 8/10 Working Thesis Your working thesis is also very clear and you clearly state which side of the issue you plan to take. 9/10 Detailed Outline Your outline is clearly labeled and demonstrates the logical progression of your argument. You have provided sufficient notes so that the reader can easily see how you plan to use each source to support the discussion in each section. You also include all of the required components. 14/15 Style Your tone is consistent and informative. 5/5 Conventions Your use of English conventions is consistent. 5/5 Reflection You thoroughly answer all questions and provide insights, observations, and examples in your responses. 5/5 Overall Score and Feedback: 46/50