Writing Assignment #3
Personal Research Narrative
Summary of assignment
• Task: You will complete the following
o Expand on the topic that you researched for writing assignment #2 by locating at
least five more sources on the topic.
o Take notes as you read through the sources.
o Write a personal research narrative in which you not only comment on what the
sources say but also comment on your research journey that led you to these
sources.
• Length: 1800-2400 words
• Format: APA
• Sources: 10 sources, six of which should be scholarly sources
More details that explain each of these sections are provided below.
Background to this Essay
In many classes in the past, you might have been instructed never to use the word “I” in your
writing. However, throughout this class, in both the response essay and the reflective
annotated bibliography, you have been instructed that the use of the word “I” was totally
acceptable, even encouraged. In this essay, this use of first-person point of view continues.
This essay is a research essay in which you use the word “I.”
Ken Macrorie, a professor at Western Michigan University, wrote a textbook in 1980 called The
I-Search Paper. In the book, Macrorie criticized traditional research papers that students were
often asked to produce in classes. He designed, instead, a type of research paper that asked
students to use the first-person point of view (“I”) in their papers, encouraged them to explore
topics that were of interest to them, and required that they comment on their research journey in
finding sources and information on their topics as much as on any arguments or conclusions
they were making on their topics.
This writing assignment is informed by Macrorie’s approach, although it does not
involve all elements of the research process he asked for.
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