English 1130 Research Essay Instructions
The research essay (1200 words, plus or minus 10%) is a persuasive essay that crafts a critical,
researched intervention into one of the final three debates explored in class (Tar Sands/Oil Sands,
Gender, or Sports and Politics), and grounds this intervention in an existing scholarly debate.
This assignment brings together all of the critical reading, writing, and research skills you have
been developing all semester. Identify a debate, and then ‘put in your oar’: offer your argument
in response. The strongest paper will interrogate assumptions, and may use academic pieces to
critically analyze the popular ones. Strong papers will explore the complexity of the ideas involved,
rather than remaining within superficial ‘common sense’ thinking. As you seek your ‘spark’ (your
‘exigence,’ or reason for writing), consider how you can use the scholarly analysis to engage in a
critique of the popular texts. Your argument should be evidence-based and supported with
research, and should, at some point in the paper, respond to a naysayer.
To help you craft this kind of critical intervention into the ‘case,’ use at least 3 of the 5 peer-
reviewed academic articles from your annotated bibliography (more is better). As the library
skills session explained, these are scholarly sources that you find independently, such as journal
articles or peer- reviewed books/book chapters. You can locate these peer-reviewed sources
through the library catalogue and the library’s online databases such as Academic Search
Complete, JSTOR, or subject- specific databases. The research librarians can help you find the
right databases for your subject.
More research is better, as long as your own argument is clear. Therefore, you are not limited to
only the articles from your annotated bibliography; you can also use other peer-reviewed
sources (articles, books, and book chapters) that you find while you are writing the paper.
Additional (print or web) sources from reputable non-peer-reviewed publications, such as
quality newspaper or magazine articles, or well- researched journalistic books by reputable
authors, are ok in addition to scholarly articles. Evaluate your sources: avoid non-reputable
content or articles of questionable value.
The readings you choose should ground rather than replace your own argument, so use
quotations judiciously, explicate fully, and cite all sources used (direct or indirect). It is a good
idea to review exercises for avoiding plagiarism and using MLA format.
You are allowed to use ‘I’ in your paper sparingly, but consider how much ‘work’ it does for you.
Sometimes there is a good reason to use ‘I’. For instance, it may lend your paper more strength
to use ‘I’ if you are a student writing about the cost of education; to situate yourself as First Nations
or non First Nations when exploring ideas about colonization and decolonization in the classroom;
to discuss critically observations about your own experience of gender in a paper about
performativity; to discuss critically your relationship to sports and politics if you are an athlete or
a fan. In some other persuasive situations, the ‘I’ doesn’t do much ‘work’ for you, so you may gain
more traction for your argument by leaving it out and getting right to the point.
At this level, we have begun to surpass the degree of precision available in regular dictionaries.
For looking up ordinary vocabulary, your dictionary will be useful, but for defining technicallanguage, consult a technical dictionary for your chosen subject. See examples for cultural theory
and science.
As you write and research, your ideas will grow and change. Check your thesis statement against
the Four Criteria: Strength, Interest/Arguability, Specificity, Manageability. As your thinking
develops, revise your working thesis statement and outline to match.