Sexual Literacy Research Essay Instructions Essay Topic/Content Expectations for the seven-page paper. A. Carefully follow these steps: 1. Read Dr. LeVays book Gay, Straight and the Reasons Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation. You will need to be familiar with the major concepts and the empirical research reviewed in LeVay. 2. You will be using Google Scholar for this assignment. Read the entry in Wikipedia about Google Scholar. This entry will help you understand how Google Scholar works: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Scholar. Read this entry before conducting a search in Google Scholar. 3. Use Google Scholar and locate a single research article on the topic published in the last 10 years. The article you locate must be based on social research, not an opinion or propaganda. To help you determine if the article is social research, read through the criteria listed at the following website: Evaluating Sources of Information https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/553/03/. 4. Choose a research article that addresses some aspect of sexual orientation. Topic & Personal Reflection Based on the recent review of the scientific literature by Dr. LeVay, as well as on the primary research article you locate using Google Scholar, develop a plausible scientific explanation accounting for the development of diverse sexual orientations in humans. The essay should provide a plausible scientific explanation for the development of varying sexual orientation(s) in humans in light of the scientific evidence. The essay should consider the following kinds of questions: v What factors seem most important in the development of sexual orientation(s)? v Based on the evidence, are there differences in the development of sexual orientation for males and females? v How would an evolutionary psychologist, an evolutionary biologist or a sociobiologist account for the development of varying sexual orientation(s) among humans? v What can we learn about sexual orientation based on research on other animals including other higher primates? v What various kinds of scientific evidence exist that help us to understand the development of diverse sexual orientation(s)? v What factors might explain the persistence of different sexual orientations throughout evolutionary history? 1. Overview Write the essay as if you were writing to someone who is literate, but who has never heard the essay prompt or read the book or the article, and you want to explain how the concepts/evidence would help them understand sexual orientation: Make sure to use a clear, focused, and well-developed thesis statement to organize the essay. One can read up on thesis statements here: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/thesis.htm 2. Application of Course Concepts a). Compare and contrast the perspective of the articles with one another and with perspectives covered in other course readings. b). Apply theoretical perspectives covered in course lectures/readings that would help illuminate the issues addressed by the question. III. Essay Format Guidelines: A. Length: 7 pages give or take page (no longer, no shorter) not including the references/bibliography page. Use 12 point Times New Roman font. Use standard 1.25 margins (In Microsoft Word, Go to File, Page Set Up to set margins). B. Thesis and Introduction: A Clear, Focused and Well Developed Thesis Statement Must Appear in the First Paragraph. Please underline the thesis statement. All work must be typewritten (Size 12 point font: Times New Roman), double-spaced with 1.25-inch margins. Use standard indentation of three or five spaces. Please write in essay form. Begin the essay in an inviting, enticing, perhaps provocative, way: provide an interesting quotation, begin with a startling statistic, ask a provocative question, recount a story, or tell a joke pertinent to your topic. Then move toward a thesis or a controlling statement. The thesis should provide a framework for the entire essay. In addition, the introductory paragraph should briefly state what the essay will cover and suggest a tone for the paper. You can read about thesis statements on-line at The Guide to Grammar and Writing website: http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/index.htm. C. Paragraph and Sentence Style Each paragraph within the essay should possess a topic sentence. The topic sentence links the paragraph to your paper thesis and reinforces the thesis of the essay. One should accompany the topic sentence of each paragraph with at least five sentences illustrating and elaborating upon your topic sentence. Effective paragraphs usually consist of at least five solid sentences. Please make smooth transitions between paragraphs. One can locate information about transitional sentences and phrases at the The Guide to Grammar and Writing website: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/ Please write in gender inclusive language (for example: use human instead of man). IV. Citation Expectations Use accurate and extensive citation (5 per page/35 overall are required). We do not mean five quotations, but rather five citations (on average) per page. Please seek assistance if you find the distinction between citation and quotation confusing. Please use the Chicago Manual of Style or the APA citation format common to sociology, psychology and human sexuality studies. You can choose either style, but not others. I recommend the Chicago style given its simplicity, ease of use, and widespread use in sexuality research. One can locate the rules for and examples of each style at the following website: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html If one follows the Chicago style, one simply includes the following information at end of the sentence: (authors last name, year of publication, colon, two spaces, and the page number). For example: Laws intended to strip women of autonomy and control over their own bodies proliferated with the rise of the patriarchal states (Carson 1991: 136). Notice, this is not a direct quotation, but rather a paraphrase of Carsons point. This citation prevents plagiarism as well as gives credit to Carson for the ideas and evidence. Please do not use extensive quotation. Paraphrase quotations. If you must use a quotation, because you cannot accurately rephrase the quote without plagiarizing, follow the quote with the authors name, a comma, the year of publication, a colon, two spaces, and the page number, all in parenthesis, same as above. However, one also provides quotation marks around the quoted materials. The essay must provide a references page. This references page will constitute page 8 of the essay. Please include both LeVay and the research article on the reference page. Do not include any other sources.
