In your first paper (the Bibliographic Trace), you were required to follow the conversation between academic articles. In this paper, you will use these strategies as a foundation for your paper, but you will have more freedom to explore your chosen topic. This freedom does not make this paper easier, however. Instead, you must choose a topic and make an argument about that topic. More specifically, you will choose one (or more) of the books assigned for this class, find a topic within the text about which people disagree, find outside academic sources that address this topic, and create your own argument about what you believe to be true. This paper is more open-ended, but you will find it to be significantly more challenging. You will see a link to an example paper in Canvas that was published in Quest, Collin College’s Undergraduate Research Journal. Who knows? If you work hard, your paper could end up there as well!
This paper will include an introduction with a strong quotation and an even stronger argumentative thesis. Directly after the introduction, please include a literature review that outlines the academic conversation that you will enter. In other words, describe the academic sources you found and quote from them. The point of this paragraph is to show where your argument fits into the conversation, so be sure to remind the reader of your argument at the end of the paragraph. The rest of your paper will argue your thesis from your chosen text(s); please use supporting quotations to help explain and support your points in each paragraph. A Works Cited page is necessary; please include both your selected text(s) and secondary sources (at least three required but more preferred). Your paper should be double-spaced using MLA format for headings and in-text citations and will use a 12-point font (Times or Arial only). Your paper will be at least 6 pages long (1800 words).