Essay 3: The Research Paper

What it’s all about: For this, our last full essay in
College Writing, you’re being asked to form an argument of your own, supported
not only by your own observations, but also by sources you’ve gone out and
found yourself, using the library and its online catalogue and research
databases. Your topic may be anything you choose (barring the forbidden ones we
discussed in class), around which there are many controversial issues. By this
point you should have picked a tentative topic, or at least a couple of
different ideas you’re interested in.

            In terms of
this course, there isn’t a “right” answer to the controversy, only your answer
(which must nevertheless be well-supported by reasonable, authoritative sources
and sound reasoning)—and you shouldn’t be approaching the issue as if there is
one; rather, enter your research with a question and then attempt to answer it.
Nothing kills the effectiveness of a paper faster than coming at the topic with
an already-defined answer.

What to include: Your essay should include the
following elements:

*An introduction which frames the relevance and importance
of the issue to your reader

*A strong, debatable thesis that explains your take on our
topic and the reasons (based on research) that you believe it.

*Support for that thesis in terms of reasoning, information,
and expert opinion (you will need to establish that expertise in your essay).

*Ethical use and engagement of opposition—in other words,
use reasonable opposing sources, not “wackos” (we will establish what this
means in class).

*Ethical refutation of said opposition.

*A conclusion that ties your argument together effectively
for your reader.

Note: depending on your probable audience, you may alter the
structure to match your rhetorical aims.

Format: 6-8 pages, typed and double-spaced, stapled,
in an acceptable font, with full and proper MLA documentation. Also, this time
there are a couple more requirements: your essays need to include between 6-8
sources (more if you really think you need them, but do check with me). You
will also be restricted to books and journal/magazine articles from the
research databases—I’ll allow you the use of three, and only three,
web-only sources, so they had better be good, authoritative ones. This merely
means things that can be found by Googling your topic—Google Scholar doesn’t
count and is perfectly acceptable. (And they may NOT be Wikipedia, nor any kind
of wiki or ‘pedia.)

References 

– Govan, Gilbert E. “Government Censorship.” The Sewanee
Review, vol. 53, no. 1, 1945, pp. 172–74. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27537569. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.

German historian author and librarian notable for his
contributions to the preservation and study of southern history. He was born in
1901 and died in 1987. He was the director of a library called Chattanooga And
later became the librarian at the University of Chattanooga

 This article talks
about the historical context and implications of media censorship. It
explicitly highlights how’s significant “freedom of the press week” is As it
was a week celebrated to remember John Milton, who was a prolific figure and
defenders of free speech. This could be valuable for providing historical
examples of censorship and provides some data that can illustrate the tension
going on between government control and reedom of the press.

Bersch, Madeline, and Matthew Wallin. Internet Censorship
and Circumvention. American Security Project, 2014. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep06012. Accessed 9 Apr.
2024.

Madeline was a research assistant and intern at the American
security project around the time of the articles publication in 2014. She
graduated from University of Maryland with a degree in government and politics
and minors in Arabic and global terrorism. Matthew, on the other hand

works of the American security project has a masters degree
in public diplomacy from the University of Southern California.

This article discusses the many aspects of Internet
censorship and tools used for circumvention. The authors tend to categorize
information online from services to content to users and search engines. They
also provide examples of how countries like Turkey and Iran implement these
forms of censorship. This could be relevant to my research paper as it shows
and gives a modern perspective on how governments should control what
information is accessible on the Internet. Moreover provides a lot of statistical
information furthermore it brings about policies 4 freedom of speech which can
be an example in my paper when I’m writing about efforts to combat saying
censorship.

Lorentzen, Peter. “China’s Strategic Censorship.” American
Journal of Political Science, vol. 58, no. 2, 2014, pp. 402–14. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24363493. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.

Peter is an Assistant Professor at Charles and Louise
Travers Department of Political Sciencem University of California. He focuses
on political economy of governance, especially within China.  In the source, he mentions how China
strategically uses censorship to uphold a certain authority or power. This
provides me with yet another example of how censorship takes place and the
possible government abuse that can occur when writing against the need for
censorship

SESHU, GEETA. “Does Censorship Ever Work?” Economic and
Political Weekly, vol. 47, no. 44, 2012, pp. 19–22. JSTOR,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41720324. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.

Geeta is a journalist who works for the economic and
political weekly. She does a lot of work that discuess freedom of expresson,
media ethics and how censorships impacts different nations.

In the article, she prvodies examples regarding India, and
analyses its effectiveness on people and society in India. Once again this is
useful for my paper as it gives another legal framework that is used, and how
the local government in India is responding. Her analysis gives me a basis to
which I can discuss a middle ground of having a balance between freedom of
speech and regulated censorship.

Rosenbaum, Robert A., et al. “Government Censorship and
Academic Freedom.” Academe, vol. 69, no. 6, 1983, pp. 15a–7a. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/40249082. Accessed 9 Apr. 2024.

Kreimer, Seth F. “Censorship by Proxy: The First Amendment,
Internet Intermediaries, and the Problem of the Weakest Link.” University of
Pennsylvania Law Review, vol. 155, no. 1, 2006, pp. 11–101. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/40041302. Accessed 10 Apr. 2024.

Kreimer is a Law Professor for University of Pennsylavnia.
He writes articles that discuss moral and ethical implications of certain
legislations and laws. One of which includes media censorship and how too much
can cause to be detrimental to broadening students minds on certain topics.

In the article, he mentions how schools in China are almost
producing “robots” with the amount of censorship that is taking place.
Mentioned how it limits younger minds and narrows their potential thought on
certain controversial big topics