For this assignment, you’ll collect data through several different methods (recalling first-hand experience, conducting secondary source research, surveying, observing, interviewing) and write an essay that organizes and presents this research under a specific claim. You are to be guided by one of the following research questions:

“What is one thing a successful college-level writer must do and why is it important?”
“What is one thing a successful college-level writer must do and how can it be done?”

You will answer the question in stages. First, using the first three data-gathering assignments, you will identify the ONE THING (the what) that you will write about. Then you will attempt to answer the second part of the question (the why or how) in multiple ways through the second three data-gathering assignments and later in-class writings.

The essay will be 1,500-2,000 words long, but you may exceed this limit providing you stay on focus. You should enter into your research continually questioning what college-writing looks like (what factors are integral for a “good” college essay) and what the people you read, observe, survey, interview choose to value in a college essay.

The six graded data-gathering assignments are designed to help you not only discover a primary focus for the essay (i.e., an answer to one of the research questions) but also amass evidence for that focus. Over the course of the quarter, you will discuss (with both me and your classmates) your research in attempts to home in on a controlling idea.

Your final essay should be able to make some claim about ONE SPECIFIC THING that appears to be endemic to and important for college writing—as best it can, considering the brevity of your research. You should be able to explain the importance of that one thing thoroughly, noting in detail its function(s) in college writing. Your paper must follow proper MLA format and be supported with both primary sources (collected in the field) and correctly cited secondary sources (at least three).

TIP: Don’t rest on prior assumptions. This is a process of discovery. Well-conducted Data-gathering Assignments will help you identify patterns that can lead to a topic and provide evidence for that topic.

What I will be evaluating in your essays:

Have you contextualized your essay in the larger discussion about college-level writing?
Does your essay have an compelling introduction and a thoughtful conclusion?
Does your essay have a focused controlling idea about some aspect of college writing (a thesis)?
Does your essay provide sufficient “showing” detail for your examples, culled from the Data-gathering Assignments?
Does your essay have clear organization both into paragraphs with clear topic sentences (including methodology and definition paragraphs) and between paragraphs?
Do you successfully integrate the required number of secondary sources to support your claims and cite those sources in MLA style?
Are your sentences expressive and clear?
Is your paper written in MLA format?