The long essay would be a traditional essay that typically five paragraphs long. The first paragraph should introduce the topic and state the student’s position / answer to the question. It should contain between three-five (3-5) complete sentences, including the thesis statement for the essay. The second, third, and fourth paragraphs are the body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should contain between three-five (3-5) sentences, including the topic sentence (first sentence of the body paragraph, states a main point that supports the thesis) and at least two-three (2-3) specific examples per main point. The fifth and final paragraph should begin with a restatement of the thesis. It should be three-five (3-5) complete sentences, and include a brief summary/conclusion of the student’s answer to the essay question. It is essential, particularly in the survey courses, for students to provide cites and footnotes for their work in untimed exams. Citations must adhere to the Chicago Style format but perfection is not expected. An example of common citations is included on pages four and five of this edition.

Now that you have conceptualized your papers, developed a clear argument outline for your paper, conducted research on your topic and provided your annotated bibliographies, now it is time to create your final papers. 

Overall Comments:

You must do the “thinking through” of the paper before you simply start writing your final paper: 

• It was clear that many of you still struggle with the difference between presenting information and creating an argument that uses literature to substantiate the argument that YOU are making.
• Just because you are doing a literature review does not mean that presenting literature is sufficient. Many of students’ literature reviews read like expanded annotated bibliographies and there was no clear direction or argument embedded in the review.
• Please make sure that your final papers are properly edited for clarity, syntax, flow and transitions.
• Speaking of transitions, many of students fail to provide the reader with sufficient transitional statements between paragraphs and sections of the paper. In many of students’ papers, it was unclear the rationale for the order of the paper and how and why it was organized in a particular way. Remember the structure and form of the paper helps with building the argument for your paper and helping the reader “follow” your logic and intention throughout the paper.
• It was also clear that many of students felt like just “giving literature” is sufficient to substantiating a claim or making an argument. It is not. You must have a reason and rationale for EVERYTHING that you put in your work and this reason must be clear to you and the reader.

This assignment must be YOUR OWN WORK!  This is an individual assignment. Plagiarism detected in your work will result in a grade of zero for the entire paper. 

Here are a few details about the overall research paper.

• Please look at the attached rubric for details on how the paper will be graded.
• You must reference at least two (2) peer-reviewed articles or papers that support your thesis statement and overall you need to include at least 7 resources for the whole paper.
• The final paper must be at least 500 words in length (but NOT longer than 1000 words, DO NOT exceed 500 words by a material amount. Excessive words or too many references will NOT impress me.) 
• Most of your references may be from your annotated bibliography assignment. Please check the attached file for Synthesizing Multiple Sources to write a literature review.

If you are not sure how to identify peer reviewed papers or articles, please visit the following resources:

• http://diy.library.oregonstate.edu/using-google-scholar-find-peer-reviewed-articles
• http://libguides.gwu.edu/education/peer-reviewed-articles