1 Research Essay Assignment Your research paper is the “capstone” project for this course and, as such, counts as 25% of your course grade for ENG 101. This project will be based upon one of the readings from Unit 3 and supplemented by useful, relevant information located through research. Continue to build on the skills and strengths you’ve been developing in your first two essays and, as always, draw upon your work in our discussions of these texts. Essay Format Requirements:  The essay must be at least 1,000 words in length. (NOTE: The Works Cited page does not count in this total.)  The essay must follow MLA format for citing research sources, both in the essay paragraphs and on a Works Cited page.  Number the pages.  No need for a separate cover sheet.  Make sure that you do not use first person (I, me, my, myself, etc.) or second person (you, your, yourself, etc.) references in the essay. Research Requirements:  You must quote or paraphrase from at least three (3) research sources but researching more sources is preferable to having only three sources that you have researched.  Important: The readings selections in the course text (World Views) and video resources in the course Content cannot count as research sources for the essay. You can certainly use these resources in the essay, but you will need to find at least three (3) research sources outside of these resources.  The library’s online databases are very good resources for finding research articles. You are responsible for ensuring that your sources are authoritative enough to be credible. Keep in mind that general web sites often are not nearly as credible as published articles that you can find in the college’s research databases. Web sites like “Ask.com” or other such general information sites are not effective research sources for a formal essay. When in doubt, move on to another source or – if you really need the information – ask me for guidance. 2  Do not use or cite the following sources: Wikipedia, student work posted on websites, “homework”-type websites, or social media sites.  Plagiarism has been a problem with this assignment. If you do not understand what plagiarism is, please ask, because intentional plagiarism will result in a failing grade. Possible Topics: Choose one of the following topics for your Research Essay subject. "Footbinding":  TOPIC: Think of contemporary examples of ways in which some people permanently modify their bodies (surgically or otherwise) in order to appear more attractive to others. Investigate one or two such examples, then compare those practices or surgeries to footbinding. How are they similar to it? Different from it? Are we as different from the old Chinese footbinding culture as we might like to believe? What do all of these practices reveal about the impacts of social standards of beauty on people’s perceptions and be ...

1. 1
Research Essay Assignment
Your research paper is the “capstone” project for this course
and, as such, counts as
25% of your course grade for ENG 101. This project will be
based upon one of the
readings from Unit 3 and supplemented by useful, relevant
information located
through research. Continue to build on the skills and strengths
you’ve been
developing in your first two essays and, as always, draw upon
your work in our
discussions of these texts.
Essay Format Requirements:
The Works Cited page
does not count in this total.)

2. sources, both in the essay
paragraphs and on a Works Cited page.
etc.) or second
person (you, your, yourself, etc.) references in the essay.
Research Requirements:
sources but
researching more sources is preferable to having only three
sources that you
have researched.
Views) and video
resources in the course Content cannot count as research
sources for the essay.
You can certainly use these resources in the essay, but you will
need to find at
least three (3) research sources outside of these resources.
bases are very good resources for
finding research
articles. You are responsible for ensuring that your sources are
authoritative

3. enough to be credible. Keep in mind that general web sites often
are not nearly
as credible as published articles that you can find in the
college’s research
databases. Web sites like “Ask.com” or other such general
information sites are
not effective research sources for a formal essay. When in
doubt, move on to
another source or – if you really need the information – ask me
for guidance.
2
work posted on
websites, “homework”-type websites, or social media sites.
do not understand
what plagiarism is, please ask, because intentional plagiarism
will result in a
failing grade.

4. Possible Topics:
Choose one of the following topics for your Research Essay
subject.
"Footbinding":
n which
some people
permanently modify their bodies (surgically or otherwise) in
order to appear
more attractive to others. Investigate one or two such
examples, then compare
those practices or surgeries to footbinding. How are they similar
to it? Different
from it? Are we as different from the old Chinese footbinding
culture as we might
like to believe? What do all of these practices reveal about the
impacts of social
standards of beauty on people’s perceptions and behavior?
Explain your answer.
“The Making, and Unmaking, of a Child Soldier”:
underdeveloped
countries and international responses to this practice. You could

5. analyze why and
how child soldiers are used, the ramifications of this practice on
individuals and
societies, and/or the effectiveness of international efforts to
either end the
practice or save children from this life.
America have “child
soldiers” due to youth gang life and violence. Research this idea
and compare
gang life in America with Ishmael Beah’s or other child
soldiers’ renderings of
their experiences. You also could compare the methods of
“unmaking” gang
members and child soldiers and explore the struggles and/or
successes of these
methods.
3

6. “Salvation on Sand Mountain”:
dangerous religious
practices that are considered extreme or “deviant” in their
cultures. Analyze the
benefits (whether spiritual, emotional, and/or psychological)
that people receive
from such practices. You also might explore why adherents to
these beliefs
and/or practices have been shunned or persecuted by others in
their cultures.
(IMPORTANT: The research essay on this topic should not try
to argue whether or
not these beliefs and/or practices are accurate interpretations of
biblical
scripture or genuinely Christian practices. The intent of the
essay is not really to
debate the validity of the religious belief/practice; the intent is
to analyze the
benefits of the practice for its adherents and/or the reasons the
adherents have
been persecuted for their beliefs).
“Small Change”:

7. s on the impact of social media
on creating and/or
sustaining a genuine sense of social activism that compels
people to risk their
own safety in order to effect important social change. This
research can focus on
social media in countries that have experienced significant and
even violent
political changes (such as in Iran, Egypt, or Syria, among other
countries) or on
events in America (such as the events in Ferguson, MO). From
your research,
either support or refute Malcolm Gladwell’s point that social
media does not
create the impetus to large-scale involvement in potentially
dangerous social
protests. (IMPORTANT: The essay should not focus on the
general uses of social
media in people’s daily lives and/or interactions or the impacts
of social media on
people’s personal relationships with others. The essay should
instead focus on
the impacts of social media on social activism and/or protest
movements.)