Write a paper discussing a contemporary social issue (e.g., opioid abuse, student loan debt, lack of
affordable housing, cyberbullying, income inequality, police brutality, etc.).
• Is focused on a narrow topic that interests you.
• Has a strong, well-developed thesis statement that conveys the purpose of your essay.
• Is well organized with strong topic sentences and appropriate transitions.
• Is written in third person. This is a formal, academic essay and should not include first or second
person voices (I, me, we, you, us, etc.) unless you are sharing a personal experience.
• Consistently utilizes evidence to support your claims. Every body paragraph should incorporate
multiple pieces of evidence from your sources.
• Uses signal phrases to introduce evidence and cites the source using an in-text citation. Failure to do so
is considered plagiarism.
• Makes strong connections between the evidence and your thesis/topic sentence. The easiest way to do
this is to present the evidence and then follow up with your own thoughts about what the evidence
means and how it relates to the point you are making in that paragraph.
• Avoids long quotations. Summarize or paraphrase long passages from your sources.
• Balances quotes with paraphrases/summaries. Only quote when paraphrasing will make the statement
unclear or the idea is so perfectly stated that paraphrasing it will ruin its impact.
Step-by-Step 1. Brainstorm and select a topic. Draft a research question. Determine what you want to know about the topic you selected. Ensure that
you can answer the question within the constraints for this assignment. In other words, the question
should not be able to be easily answered by doing a quick Internet search. At the same time, the question
should not be so broad that entire books have focused on it.
3. Conduct research on your topic. Gather potential sources and determine whether your research question
needs to be revised. Once you have finalized your research question, submit your research plan to Dr.
Rines for approval.
4. Evaluate your sources and select a minimum of five to use in your essay. Ensure you have at least two
scholarly sources, no blog/crowd-sourced sources, and no more than one news article/report.
5. Read and annotate your sources. Practice paraphrasing/summarizing the ideas in the sources and identify
any quotes you would like to use.
6. Based off of the information from your sources, create an outline and accurate MLA Works Cited page for
your essay.
7. Draft your essay.
8. Receive feedback on your essay, revise it, and submit the final draft.
Formatting
All papers submitted for a grade must be in MLA-9 format (typed, double-spaced, 1” margins, 12 pt. font).
Assignments must have an accurate MLA heading (student’s name, instructor’s name, course, and date in the
upper left-hand corner of the first page) and MLA page numbers. Outside sources must be documented using
MLA-9 guidelines (e.g., in-text citations and Works Cited page). Once graded, essays may not be rewritten and
resubmitted for a higher grade
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