RWA12:  Draft Research Essay

You have written a draft Overview of Sources essay in which you have reviewed, discussed, compared, and contrasted your sources.  It is now time to begin ANALYZING and SYNTHESIZING what you have learned from these sources as you draft a Research Essay that presents your perspectives and insights into the topic you are researching.  In drafting this essay, you will obviously want to work from your draft Overview of Sources essay. There are some similarities between the two essays.  However, it is important that you restructure that essay.  In this essay, your thesis will not be a question, but a proposition that says something about your topic.  The body of the essay itself will then be a discussion of the key issues that you and other researchers have identified as being important to this topic.  You will want to structure your presentation of these issues in a way that shows your reader how and why they connect to your thesis statement.   In the process of writing this essay, you are, as you were in the Overview of Sources essay, facilitating and structuring a conversation between the source texts.  However, whereas in the Overview of Sources essay you were primarily concerned with what the texts were “saying,” in this essay, you are primarily concerned with what you have learned from those texts and how what you have learned informs your analysis of your topic.

In this essay, your goal is to present your researched findings and perspectives on your research question.

Here is one possible structure for this essay:

Introduction to the topic, its importance, the sources you have consulted, and your researched opinion on the topic as represented in your thesis statement (1-3 paragraphs)

A structured discussion of the key issues and evidence used in the formulation of your thesis statement (5-15 paragraphs)

A conclusion that reflects on your analysis and considers its possible implications and questions/issues raised by it. (1-3 paragraphs)

You will want to begin preparing to draft this essay by re-reading your Overview of Sources essay and taking notes on it.  What have you learned from each paragraph in that essay?  What have you learned from each of your sources?  You will also want to consult any notes you have taken on your sources.  You will also want to assemble a list of textual evidence that you may want to use from each source.  Finally, you may want to re-read part or all of your sources.

This essay will be assessed on your ability to:

Clearly and coherently explain the key issues discussed in the three sources

Follow guidelines for writing about texts, particularly regarding the use of textual evidence (both quoting and paraphrasing) in your writing

Structure introductory, body and concluding paragraphs according to the assigned goals and purposes for each paragraph

Edit and proofread sentences to attend to the needs of your audience to clearly and completely understand the contents of your essay