ENGL 102Dr. R. Buckton-TuckerWriting and Information.docx

ENGL 102 Dr. R.
Buckton-Tucker
Writing and Information Literacy Fall
Semester 2015
RESEARCHED ARGUMENT - FINAL PAPER (35%)
Your paper should be formatted according to MLA style, as
follows:
· Use one-inch margins
· Use Times New Roman font type, 11-12 point size
· Do not include a cover sheet
· Title your paper Final Paper, centered. Add your own title on
the line below. Leave a space between the heading and the first
line of your first paragraph.
· Do not use sub-headings.
· Double-space within and between paragraphs; do not use extra
spaces between paragraphs
· The first line of each paragraph must be indented .5 inch (MS
Word default) from left margin
· Use the “insert page number” function of your word
processing program and type your family name (last name) and
page number in the upper right corner of all pages, excluding
the first page.
You should precede the paper with the following information:
Your name

Your ID number
Dr. Rosalind Buckton-Tucker
ENGL 102- (add your section)
Due date (as below)
Instructions
In the final draft of your research-based argument, the
culmination of your work this semester, you will be analyzing
your chosen topic and presenting your argument. You will be
supporting your argument with research based on at least five
sources, and will be expected to quote and to give examples
from the texts as necessary, demonstrating your skills in
summary, analysis and synthesis, and to provide correct
citations and a Works Cited list using MLA format. As
mentioned, you should include both print and online sources,
and at least three should be scholarly in nature. The others may
be newspaper or magazine articles, reports, etc. A personal
interview can be counted as one of the five sources.
Below, as specified earlier, are guidelines to the expected
organization of the paper:
Introduction
This should introduce your topic and the particular issue(s) on
which your research focuses, and provide a brief background.
Your thesis statement (one sentence, showing your own
argument) should be in a prominent position and should be
obvious to the reader. You may use an attention-getting opener
if you wish.
Body
This will be in at least three sections (a section may be more
than one paragraph). You may need to provide more background
information, but remember to keep the emphasis on the
argument. Each section should begin with a major supporting

argument, which you will develop with minor supporting points,
adding examples or details to illustrate these as necessary. Try
to keep your body sections approximately equal in length. You
should use your sources (all those in Works Cited should be
mentioned in the body of the paper) to reinforce your
arguments. Include a reasonable number of direct quotations.
Provide citations in MLA format for both quotations and
paraphrases. You should refer to the counter-argument(s) to
your thesis, with support from sources if applicable.
Any field work, e.g. a survey, should be described after the
theoretical discussion. You may present tables or charts to
illustrate your findings, but these should also be analyzed in
writing.
Interviews can be used as evidence just like any other source,
but if you feel an interview is particularly important you may
wish to discuss it in a separate paragraph. If you quote your
interviewee’s words, they must be exact; otherwise, use
reported speech.
Conclusion
The conclusion should summarize your findings and restate your
thesis in different words. If you have recommendations for
future action or further research, you should include them here.
Works Cited
Check that you have used the correct MLA format.
Appendix (if applicable)
Include the questionnaire, if you conducted a survey, and the
full table of results.
Your paper should be well-written in academic-style English.

Length: 1750-2500 words, excluding the heading, the Works
Cited list and Appendix. Enter the word count at the end of the
paper but before the Works Cited list.
Due date: Sunday 10th January, 4.30 p.m. (hard copy).
Submission to Turnitin by the same evening.
****
The paper will be graded according to the following criteria:
Layout & mechanics (5 marks). Correct heading, title, spacing,
etc. MLA format: correct use of citations and correct Works
Cited list. Quotations in quotation marks if within the text or
indented without quotation marks if longer, properly signalled.
Accurate information in Appendix, if there is one. Adherence to
specified length and inclusion of word count.
Content (10 marks). Good thesis and supporting arguments.
Adequate background and related information. Use of
supporting detail. Balance of logos, ethos and pathos as
appropriate for the topic. Evidence of original thinking. Interest
and relevance of topic to the reader.
Organisation (10 marks). Clear introduction, body and
conclusion. Field research, if used, after theory. Paragraph
division according to ideas; paragraphs of reasonable and
consistent length. Coherence and cohesion of content; logical
order. Overall smooth flow of ideas with adequate use of
transitional words/phrases.
Language (10 marks). Freedom from errors of syntax, word
choice, sentence structure, etc. Reasonably complex sentence
structure. Varied and academic vocabulary. Persuasive quality
of the language. Absence of slang, short forms, abbreviations,

etc.
Text tableTable 6-12Nonseasonally-adjusted Quarterly Dataon
Retail Sales of Hobby, Toy, and Game Storesfrom 1992:I to
2008:II19921620.333333333319922701.6666666667199236611
99241796.66666666671993162419932718.66666666671993370
4.666666666719934186619941697.33333333331994276619943
800.666666666719944205119951728.333333333319952859.666
666666719953854.3333333333199542160.33333333331996178
2.66666666671996279919963879.6666666667199642403.66666
6666719971855.666666666719972932.333333333319973969.66
6666666719974227919981914.3333333333199821014.3333333
333199831030.6666666667199842350.33333333331999110181
99921086199931105199942374.3333333333200011005.666666
6667200021108200031150.6666666667200042416.3333333333
200111014200121074.3333333333200131075.66666666672001
42474200211021.6666666667200221059200231085.666666666
7200242503.333333333320031996200321108200331104.33333
33333200342381.3333333333200411061.333333333320042104
3.6666666667200431068.3333333333200442354.666666666720
0511049.3333333333200521084.6666666667200531057.333333
3333200542309.6666666667200611096.3333333333200621090.
6666666667200631097.333333333320064220620071109520072
1131.6666666667200731163.3333333333200742369.666666666
7200811237200821236.6666666667US Retail Sales: Hobby,
toy, and game stores: NAICS 45112: NSA: Millions of
dollarshttp://www.economagic.com/
ENGL 102 Research Proposal
ENGL 102 Dr. R.
Buckton-Tucker
Writing and Information Literacy Fall

Semester 2015
RESEARCH PROPOSAL (15%)
The purpose of a research proposal is to help you narrow your
topic, choose a research question or questions and formulate a
working thesis. It shows what you know and have learnt about
the topic so far and the reasoning behind your choice of topic
and your thesis. It also explains how the topic is important and
relevant to your audience. Finally, it shows how you intend to
pursue your research and what you hope to find. You will also
construct a calendar to indicate the timeline for completion of
your paper, with due dates for each individual task.
Your paper should be formatted according to MLA style, as
follows:
· Use one-inch margins
· Use Times New Roman font type
· Use 11-12 point font size
· Do not include a cover sheet
· Title your paper Research Proposal, centered, with a space
between the heading and the first line of your first paragraph
· Double-space within and between paragraphs; do not use extra
spaces between paragraphs
· The first line of each paragraph must be indented .5 inch (MS
Word default) from left margin
· Use the “insert page number” function of your word
processing program and type your family name (last name) and
page number in the upper right corner of all pages, excluding
the first page.

Please give the following information in the upper left-hand
corner of the first page:
Your name
Your ID number
ENGL 102- (add your section)
Due date: Thursday 5th November
Organise your paper using the following headings in the order
below. Include the numbered headings at the top of each
answer.
1. Working title
A title should be a phrase, not a sentence, of about 5-10 words,
and should provide a brief indication of the direction the paper
will take, for example, “The importance of reducing electricity
consumption in the home”.
2. Research question(s)
Your research questions are those you use to explore your topic
and help formulate a working thesis; for example, “How
significant is the amount of electricity consumed in the home?”
“How does it compare to the country’s total usage?” “What are
the major ways in which wastage occurs?” They are not just
Yes/No questions, but require researched answers.
3. Working thesis
The working thesis is a single-sentence statement of what you
expect to prove through your paper, and may provide
suggestions for future action. For example, “Reducing wastage
of electricity in the home should be a Government priority.” As
a working thesis, it may change with your later research
findings, especially as you will be considering sources that both
support and contradict your thesis.

4. Background
You should describe the origin of the topic to provide a
background to the present-day situation, and show how the
question(s) you wish to discuss in your paper have arisen. For
example, when did the topic first become important, and why?
In what way(s) is the topic of current significance globally
and/or locally? Are measures already being taken to resolve any
problematic issues? You should define any key terms in order to
clarify your statements.
5. Justification of topic
You should explain your interest in your topic and your
previous experience of it. For example, have you studied it in
class or done independent reading or research on it? Does
anyone in your family have experience of the topic? Which
particular issues prompted your research? What do you think
you can add to the debate on the topic? Can you provide an
original perspective and offer constructive suggestions for the
future?
6. Methodology
Explain how you plan to conduct your research. What kinds of
sources have you consulted so far (for example, books,
scholarly articles, newspaper and magazine articles, official
documents, online articles) and what information are you still
searching for? What keywords will you use? Will you do any
field research (personal interviews, visits to sites, surveys,
etc.)? You should organize your answer under the headings
below:
a) Keywords
b) Library research
c) Internet research
d) Field research
7. Tentative research calendar

Construct a calendar showing the dates by which you plan to
accomplish certain tasks. Include the remaining deadlines listed
in the course syllabus (annotated bibliography, first, second and
final draft). Add the dates for completion of the search for
sources, analysing material, compiling a bibliography,
commencing your draft, proofreading, etc. You should plan your
calendar to suit your individual research pattern (with the
exception of the fixed dates on the syllabus) allowing adequate
time for each task. See the sample calendar on p.358 (8th ed.) or
p. 331 (7th ed.) of Hacker, A Writer’s Reference, for guidance.
Your paper should be well-written in academic-style English.
Length: minimum 500 words (not including the calendar). Give
the total word count for answers 1-6 at the end of no. 6.
DUE DATE: Thursday 5th November, 3.00 p.m. Please provide
a hard copy and an entry on Turnitin.
Shaymaa
xxxxxx
ENGL: 102-xxxx
Due date:
Final Paper
Social Media: A Problem or A Phenomenon?
“I have more than one thousand friends, but I know none of
them” one of my friends in the university said. I got astonished
how something like this may happen, but things became clear
when I knew she was talking about her Facebook friends. The
sentence shocked me as all her friends are online friends or
friends in the virtual world. This is true to a great extent as, due
the fast-paced life and the great technological development,
people get more involved in work so they do not have enough

time to meet each other. The invention of the internet and its
applications and, moreover, smart phones, makes it easy for all
people to connect and meet each other online anytime,
anywhere. Therefore, because of the lack of time and the easy
access to modern technology, talking to people face-to-face
becomes something difficult. That is why my friend, like a large
number of people, have thousands of internet friends, but in
reality, their friends are very few.
Searching about the issue that the internet and its
applications make people more isolated opens the doors for
broader facts and thousands of stories. People are connected all
day long as their mobiles have applications that enable them to
use the internet anytime in the day. In other words, it takes a
long time to go to friends and meet them while people can meet
online while at home, at work or at the gym. This creates a kind
of new thinking and new habits in life and most importantly
new ways of doing things and, by and by, the original and
traditional ways of doing things become old-fashioned. Social
media comes at the top of the table of the most used
applications of the internet but at the same time, they contribute
to making people more and more isolated. Therefore, although
social media helps in making distances closer and allowing
people to connect with each other without even meeting, they
contribute to making people lonelier and make their health
worse.
Using social media is very good if it is considered a way to
connect with people whom are never seen for a long time.
Neighbors, friends and family members miss each other while
getting older because of marriage, work or even study, so they
resort to the social media in order to meet again. They become
friends again by the use of the several social media like
Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and many others. This is a very
good use of the social media but the real problem is when
people who are very close to each other use social media to
connect when it takes them only a few minutes to meet. One
hurting joke is that “if you want the family members to meet at

the same house, just switch off the internet router” which is
really hurting as family members in the same house do not meet
as long as they are connected to the internet.
One heart-breaking story about the isolation the use of social
media causes is the story of an old lady who died in her house
for many months without anybody knowing about her although
she has thousands of friends but on Facebook. Stephen Marche
in his article “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?” discusses the
role that social media, mainly Facebook, plays in making people
lonely and isolated, as his title itself suggests. Marche takes an
example of the eighty three year old Yvette Vickers, a Playboy
porn star, who died in her room for months without anybody to
notice. Once the police got into her house, they found that she
was mummified beside her computer on which there were a lot
of Facebook posts and tweets on Twitter and too many friends
but on the web only. The story of Vickers is very touching as
she died in isolation although the number of her social media
friends is astonishing. “Vickers had made calls not to friends or
family but to distant fans who had found her through fan
conventions and Internet sites” which means that although she
has thousands of friends, she died in loneliness as all her
friends are in the virtual world. Moreover, “Facebook denies us
a pleasure whose profundity we had underestimated: the chance
to forget about ourselves for a while, the chance to disconnect”
which means that the problem is in the users not in the
technology. Once again, social media contributes to making
people more and more isolated.
Besides the negative social effect of social media of being
lonely and isolated, extra usage of the social media causes
health problems. First of all, the screens of computers and smart
phones cause dangers sight problems. Moreover, sitting before
computers also causes problems to bones and spine. Users can
simply post or tweet their status to express what they feel and
other people can also simply react by liking the post and share
the feelings so that this causes self-satisfaction. The psychology
of users, therefore, change to be better. At the same time, when

users post something and get negative comments, their
psychology turns to the worst and so on. That is to say that
besides social effects there are effects on both the physical and
mental health of users.
Fleck and Migalski in their article The Impact of Social
Media on Personal and Professional Lives: An Adlerian
Perspective”, discuss the effects of social media on the health of
users in accordance with the Adlerian theory which connects the
word ‘social’ with relationships and interaction between people
either positively or negatively. This article presents a good
definition of social media, then relate social media to the
Adlerian theory. Basically, the word social means society and
relations between people so that, as social media is mainly built
on social networks and interest in social relations of people in
the virtual world, they can be analyzed in social and
psychological terms. Users of social media can be diagnosed
according to the way they behave whether they are interact with
others for individual interests or for social interests. For Fleck
and Migalski, excessive usage of social media is a
psychological disease that can be diagnosed and treated, as
“social media can add stress to boundary creation and
maintenance” (138), which means that stress is one of the
diseases that can be diagnosed and treated.
On the other hand, usage of social media is linked with
urbanism and civilization so that it is a must as the world is
changing which means that it is the user who is to blame for the
problem, not the technology. In other words, people used to
connect by signs then language was invented so that they use
language to communicate. After that, the post and other
developments were introduced, till the telephone was invented.
During these changes and improvements, the way people used to
do things changed. For example, people used river water and
simple wooden materials to wash and clean clothes, whereas at
the present, they are using washing machine. That is to say, by
the technological improvements, people change how they do
things so that technology has nothing to do with the effects of

technology but the cause is the user. The same thing applies to
social media as they are found to make people connect, but if
people misuse them, it is the responsibility of the people, not
the social media. in other words, using social media is a sign of
development and urbanism and the problem is in the users not
the technology. In other words, the usage of social media
affects the empathetic social skills of users and so makes them
unable to recognize the negative effects of using social media
because the effect can be discovered on the long run. The
effects of social media takes a long time to be defined, so
people do not give social media great interest in terms of being
a problem. According to Terri H. Chan, in his article entitled
“Facebook and its Effects on Users’ Empathic Social Skills and
Life Satisfaction: A Double-Edged Sword Effect”, it is clear
that social media, mainly Facebook lessens users’ empathetic
skills. Chan finds that “some people incline to replace genuine
real world interactions with less engaging digital ones, causing
the suppression” (277), which means that as long as people
resort to social media as a kind of replacing the reality with the
virtual world, it will be difficult to them to see there is any bad
effect.
Urbanism and social media are connected to each other as
using technology is linked with education and civilization. Zip,
Parker and Wyly in their article entitled “Facebook as a Way of
Life: Louis Wirth in the Social Network” discuss the
implication of the change people have from real life to the
virtual life. As the number of users of the internet is increasing
rapidly and the facilities internet providers present, the debate
about the effects of the usage of social media increases to take
different perspectives. The authors discuss the usage of social
media in comparison with urbanism. People in large areas are
urbanized so that the usage of social media become inevitable
as authors connected social media to urbanism. Social media is
a phenomenon and each phenomenon has its own merits and
demerits.
Although digital media is a revolution in the world of

technology, it is not only the responsibility of users to extra use
but also the programmers and owners of the social media
companies. The policy of the social media owners depends on
the largest number of people they can have. Facebook and
twitter are the most known social media to which a large
number of users have accounts. During the hidden war between
the two companies to gain more and more users, each company
presents facilities and new applications to tempt users.
Therefore, users have nothing to do with the nature of the
technology as all people are opt to temptations everywhere.
Advertisements, offers and promotions are done to make
customers buy the product. In this regard, social media changes
into a product so that the responsibility is not that of users. In
most of the cases, users cannot recognize the attempts done by
social media owners in their advertisements. Although not all
people are driven in this concern and people have the free
choice, using social media for them is a result of the trend.
More importantly, the policy of the owners of the social
media is built on their own benefit in the first place. In article
by Lövheim, Jansson, Paasonen and Sumiala entitled “Social
Media Implications for Everyday Life, Politics And Human
Agency”, it appears clear that the policy of the social media
owners contribute to the nature of users. “Detached from
networks of potentiality, exchange, and investment, the act of
internet usage is reframed as an isolated activity driven by the
desire for online access” (Lövheim et al, 36) means that the
usage of the internet is a sort of addiction. In this regard, social
media is similar to drugs, smoking or alcohol in terms of
addiction. In other words, the use of social media is exactly like
anything else in the world as it is used by humans so that it is
not true to say that it is the responsibility of the users because
social media is like any other product and inventions that is
used by people. To make it clearer, in case there were no social
media, mobile phones will be used for only making calls and
receiving them.
In Kuwait the problem of extra usage of the internet, mainly

social media, is crystal clear. Only one walk by car makes it
easy for anyone to see how everybody uses social media inside
cars, at the traffic lights, on the street and everywhere else.
Using social media is not specified to certain age-group, as
children use social media exactly like adults. Moreover, the
usage of social media interferes in everyday life as people
advertise using Instagram, and politicians use Twitter to monger
their politics or reply to a public opinion. The reasons behind
the extra usage of social media is the cheap and available
telephone and mobile services, as well as the availability of
modern equipment like smart phones and tablets which are easy
to get. The hurting scene is when the young people gather in
one place, like Diwanya, and everyone is holding their smart
phones not noticing or even talking to others. That is why the
overuse of social media makes people more isolated.
In conclusion, social media usage is inevitable because of the
easy accessibility to the internet by all people. The extra usage
of social media makes people lonelier as they have a lot of
friends but in the virtual world. The usage of social media
makes the contact between people lesser and so makes the
distances farther. Moreover, the excessive usage of social media
makes people prone to health problems. Although some people
say that it is the responsibility of users not the technology,
social media are like any other invention that are used by
humans. In a nutshell, rationality in using social media can
reduce the effects and solve the problem.
Word count: 2206

Works Cited:
Fleck Jesse and Migalski Leigh Johnson. “The Impact of Social
Media on Personal and Professional Lives: An Adlerian
Perspective”. The Journal of Individual Psychology. 71.2
(2015), 135-142. Print
Marche Stephen. “Is Facebook Making Us Lonely?”. The
Atlantic. May 2012. Web.
Lövheim Mia, Jansson André, Paasonen Susanna & Sumiala
Johanna. “Social Media Implications for Everyday Life, Politics
And Human Agency”. Approaching Religion. 3.2 (2013), 26-37.
Print
Zip Larissa, Parker Rebekah and Wyly Elvin. “Facebook as a
Way of Life: Louis Wirth in the Social Network”. Geographical
Bulletin. 54 (2013), 77-98. Print
Chan Terri H. “Facebook and its Effects on Users’ Empathic
Social Skills and Life Satisfaction: A Double-Edged Sword
Effect”. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
17.5 (2014), 276-280
Shaymaa
xxxxxx
ENGL: 102-xxxx
Due date:
Research Proposal
1. Working title:
Online Resources Versus Printed books

2. Research questions
What is social media? How can the virtual world of the internet
substitute the real world? How does the invention of smart
phone contribute to the extra usage of social media? Why is
social media making people more isolated? How does the
internet change the way people live? If social media are used to
connect people regardless of the distance, why are they
considered a factor of making people farther than they really
are? Why is the opinion of psychoanalysis about the problem?
How can the usage of social media be considered a sign of
modernity and urbanism? Who is to blame for the extra usage of
social media, the users or the producers of the technology? How
does the issue of the extra usage of social media appear in
Kuwait?
3. Working thesis
Although printed books are the cornerstone for students and
scholars, the use of online resources become reliable alternative
and take the place of prints in academic researches so that it is
better than printed resources.
4. Background
Social media become a part of people’s life nowadays.
Whenever you go, you will find people using their mobile
phones to check their social media accounts and see what other
friends wrote or even read about news or finance. Social media
are taking the role of other media like newspapers or magazines
as the internet makes almost everything available on mobile
phones, tablets and laptops. What makes the usage of social
media in Kuwait so easy is the cheap internet charge service and
also the good wealth of people who are able to buy tools like
smartphones and such inventions and also because of the
instalments system which makes it easy for everybody to buy
and use the technology. However, at the same time, people are
using social media in a very bad way that they neglect others in
the same place. One more point is that the usage of social media
is changing the way we live and think.
5. Justification of topic

Too many researches and studies enriched with practical and
statistical charts and tables have been done to study the effect
of using social media on people. The matter is not merely about
studying the usage of social media from a personal perspective.
It rather exceeds this to study the overall effect on society and
on relations between individuals as well. That is why writing
about the effects of social media and researching about it makes
it crucial as the entire world is transforming into a more electric
automated world.
6. Methodology
The main resources to resort to will be taken from AUK online
library JSTOR and EBESCO. Other resources will be taken from
The Atlantic to make the research more reliable. The keywords
of the essay are: social media, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin,
Instagram. The information taken from the above-mentioned
resources are going to be analyzed and studied, then, they will
be contributed to the issue in Kuwait. After doing the research I
hope I will be able to understand two things: the effect of social
media on both individuals and societies, and the psychoanalysis
of the personality of the users. One more thing I hope to write
about in the future is the basics that the producers of social
media follow to be able to gain such popularity. Moreover, I
hope to do another relative research about the possibility of
creating a new social media that can compete with the existing
ones like Facebook and Twitter.
Word count: 580
7. Tentative research calendar
6 Nov.
7 Nov.
8 Nov.
9 Nov.
10 Nov.
11 Nov.
Searching for the resources and reading them carefully
Annotating the resources and reviewing them
Putting the plan

Printing the already prepared papers and doing the bibliography
15 Nov.
17 Nov.
18 Nov.
19 Nov.
21 Nov.
22 Nov.
Annotated bibliography due
Presentation
Final review
1st draft due
24 Nov.
25 Nov.
26 Nov.
27 Nov.
29 Nov.
6 Dec.
Hand out of the first draft and printing the annotation for
review.
Peer review of the first draft
8 Dec.
11 Dec.
13 Dec.
15 Dec.
27 Dec.
10 Jan.
Correction and modification
2nd draft due
Modifying the second draft and doing the final draft
Final research paper due

ENGL 102Dr. R. Buckton-TuckerWriting and Information.docx

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