English 1202 Composition II
North Hennepin Community College
Research Assignment – The Paper Requirements
Purpose:
The research paper is what we have been working towards all semester! It is your chance to put together all that you have read, learned, and wrote into one final paper. The rhetorical purpose is to inform, share research, and persuade a reader on the truth of your thesis.
Requirements and Process:
The Paper
Your paper must be the answer to your inquiry question. While opinion is ok to include, you should concentrate on proving your thesis and answering your inquiry question with evidence and reasoning. Your paper must be informative, from your own point of view, and it must demonstrate the research that you have done.
Remember that you will be making an argument in the classic sense, not controversial sense. A classic argument aims to persuade through information and evidence, not by “winning.”
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As you are writing, remember that you are writing for an audience that does not have the information that you do. That means that your paper is your expertise. Some questions to consider and to make sure you answer are:
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What is the importance of my topic?
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What do expert says? What do I say?
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What do most people already know? What do they not know?
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What are the most vital factors to understand in order to support my thesis and answer my inquiry question?
Absolute Requirements:
This is the absolute minimum requirements for your paper. They must be met for the paper to be graded.
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9-12 pages (not including works cited) – Ideal length is 10 pages
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6-10 outside sources
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2 must be scholarly journals
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If you have 6 sources, one or more must be a book or article exceeding 10,000 words.
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Paper and Works Cited page must meet MLA Standards
make sure the other sources you use are criditable