BIS 490D (LN 11197)

Senior Seminar:

The American West

David S. Goldstein, Ph.D.

Winter 2007

Research Paper Assignment

Assignment Calendar

• Tuesday, Jan. 16 : MEET IN LB1-220.  Research paper assignment introduced; library research session.
• Thursday, Jan. 18 : E-mail research question to me no later than 5:35 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 23 : NO CLASS MEETING; independent research time.
• Tuesday, Jan. 30 : Annotated bibliography due in midquarter portfolio no later than 5:35 p.m.
• Tuesday, Feb. 6 : NO CLASS MEETING; post at least one substantial paragraph in the Discussion Board of Blackboard at <http://bb.uwb.edu> no later than 7:50 p.m., describing your progress so far.
• Thursday, Feb. 15 : Research paper due in second portfolio no later than 5:35 p.m.
• Thursday, March 1 : Final research paper due in final portfolio no later than 5:35 p.m.

The purpose of this assignment is to use critical thinking skills mastered during your studies at UWB to produce a capstone work of writing. To make this assignment as meaningful and interesting to you as possible, you will have considerable flexibility in choosing a topic and approach for this paper, as long as it is somehow related to the American West.

On Tuesday, Jan. 16, Research Librarians Sarah Leadley and Amanda Hornby will conduct a research paper workshop in LB1-220 (second floor of the library) to help you identify a topic and potential sources for your project. Please think about a potential site (What do you want to study?) and a tentative analytical question (What do you want to find out about that site?) to work on at the workshop (although you do not have to have decided upon anything yet).  The tailor-made research guide prepared by Sarah and Amanda is online at <http://www.uwb.edu/library/guides/BIS490Goldstein.html >.

This assignment will enable you to investigate an area of the American West that most interests you by entering into an academic conversation or debate, building on the work of others and contributing your own.  Your topic can be historical (the West as it used to be) or contemporary (the West as it is now), and can focus on the "real" West or its representations in popular culture.

• First, identify a topic, related to the American West that interests you. Think about what you already know about the topic, and what you still want to learn about it.  Use the question, "What do I want to learn?" as a way to generate a good research question.
• No later than 5:35 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18, e-mail your tentative research question to me.   Your research question should include state, as a question, what you want to learn about your topic.  Most good research questions begin with "How" or "Why" and cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no."  Here are some examples:
  • How has Western music changed from the early 20th Century to the early 21st Century, and how do those changes reflect changes in the American West?
  • How have water rights influenced the history of Southern California?
  • How did the Yukon Gold Rush affect Seattle?
  • Why was Gunsmoke such a popular television show?
  • How did U.S. Government policies affect American Indians in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th Century?
  • In what ways can Seattle be considered a Pacific Rim city rather than a U.S. city?  What does it have in common with Vancouver, Tokyo, Shanghai, Manila, Taipei, Seoul, Sydney, and Santiago?
  • Why is Seattle's International District more diverse than most of the nation's Chinatowns and Japantowns?
• Then, use appropriate sources to learn what other scholars have said about your topic. In most cases, you will need to use academic books and articles, which you can locate most readily via the UW Library Catalogue <http://catalog.lib.washington.edu/> and the nearly two hundred academic databases <http://www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/>to which the UW Library subscribes.  You will have independent work time on Tuesday, Jan. 23, because we will not meet as a class that evening.  You probably will need to find other times to seek sources, as well.

• No later than 5:35 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30, submit your midquarter portfolio containing (among other things) an annotated bibliography.
  • Your annotated bibliography should include at least six sources, at least four of which must be peer-reviewed research articles from scholarly journals.
  • For guidance in determining whether a source is scholarly or not, read this document prepared by our professional academic librarians: <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/library/guides/sources.html>.  Be sure to check Ulrich's Directory at <http:www.lib.washington.edu/types/databases/u.html> (use the off-campus access link at the top of the page if you are using an off-campus computer) to make sure a journal is peer-reviewed.
  • To create your annotated bibliography, first type your research question at the top of a Microsoft Word document (after your header).  Then, below the research question, put all of your potential sources into an MLA Works Cited format.  Consult the latest edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or Diana Hacker's online guide at <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s2.html>.
  • After each entry, write a sentence or two that explain(s) why you think the source might be helpful in response to your research question.  You need not summarize the source.  I just want to know why you think it might be useful.
  • Submit this document in your midquarter portfolio.  I will provide separate instructions for submitting the portfolio.
  • I will return midquarter portfolios within seven days, and will include comments and suggestions regarding your annotated bibliography.
  • I will grade your annotated bibliography like this:
    • You will earn a minus (-), check ( ), or plus (+) for appropriateness of sources.
    • You will earn a minus (-), check ( ), or plus (+) for clarity and logic of explanation of sources.
    • You will earn a minus (-), check ( ), or plus (+) for degree of compliance with MLA format.
    • For each plus (+) you earn, I will add one percentage point as a bonus to your final paper's grade.  You therefore can earn up to three extra percentage points.

• Then, start writing a research paper in which you argue your own point of view on the topic in response to your research question.
  • This is a research paper, and I expect that you will be entering a scholarly discussion on your topic. You therefore need to take into account previous work and opinions on your topic, and you should cite those sources in your paper using proper MLA formatting as described in the latest edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers or Diana Hacker's online guide at <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s1.html> (in-text citations) and <http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s2.html> (Works Cited).
  • You should cite at least four scholarly sources (as described above for your Annotated Bibliography).  They need not be the same sources that you listed in the Annotated Bibliography if you have found others that work better for you.  At least three of your sources must be peer-reviewed articles from academic journals .
  • Assume that your audience is a smart, educated person who is not an expert on your topic but is very interested in academic discussions of your topic. As you write, it might help to think of a smart friend of yours as your audience.
  • All papers must be written in Microsoft Word (available in all UWB computer labs) and must run between 2500 and 3000 words (not counting the mandatory Works Cited page), according to the word count tool in Microsoft Word. Do not use Microsoft Works. It must be Word.
  • Please do not use a cover page or footnotes. If you wish to quote, do so sparingly, and only after reading Becky Reed Rosenberg's document, "Using Direct Quotation" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Quotation.html>. If you paraphrase or quote one of the authors about whom you are writing, you can provide just a page number if it is obvious whom you are citing (such as when you refer to an author in the text of your sentence). Be sure you cite correctly according to MLA format according to the latest edition of the MLA Handbook.
  • Before you submit your paper, but after getting close to a final version, do some careful editing and proofreading. (I recommend that you wait until you get your ideas organized and on paper before worrying about the less-important mechanics of prose.)
    • Because all teachers have their own idiosyncratic preferences for writing, you should review what mine are by re-reading "Tips for Better Prose" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Prose.html >. Reading this document is a required part of the assignment.  I recommend printing that document, and, after you finish writing your paper, check the items off one by one to make sure your paper is as mechanically sound as you can make it. Although the mechanics of writing are less important to me than the ideas expressed, the mechanics inevitably improve the effectiveness of your communication of ideas, which, after all, is your ultimate goal with each piece of writing that you do.
    • As a formal piece of university writing, your paper should be typed and double-spaced throughout, using a standard font (like Times New Roman) in 12-point size, and with margins of one inch all the way around each page. In the top, left-hand corner of the first page, place a heading that includes (using one line per item) your name, the course number (BIS 490D), the date, and my name (Prof. David S. Goldstein). (See item #20 in "Tips for Better Prose"; a link appears below.) Provide a meaningful but brief title for your paper (not "Research Paper" but rather a short hint of your paper's main argument) that is centered just one double space beneath the heading on the first page and in plain type (no underlining, bold, italics, or quotation marks). (See item #22 in "Tips for Better Prose.")
    • If I think your paper is at least a middle draft, then when I return your paper to you, I will indicate patterns of problems that I noticed in your paper, using a list of codes such as "T1," "T2," and so forth, which refer to the numbered items of the "Tips for Better Prose" document.  (If your paper is still in the early-draft stage, you will have more important things to focus on, and can take care of editing and proofreading after you do the major rewriting.  There obviously is no point in worrying about small matters of prose mechanics if you will be doing major rewriting.)
    • Do a final word count (in the Tools pull-down menu of Microsoft Word) to make sure you are within the stated word count requirements. To count all of the words except the Works Cited page, highlight all of the text except the Works Cited page before using the word count tool. If you are not within the required parameters, then please edit appropriately.
    • Needless to say, your work must be entirely original. Using another person's ideas or words without proper attribution, whether intentional or accidental, constitutes plagiarism, and will result in a zero on this assignment. Please review "Policy on Academic and Behavioral Conduct," which was the first reading assignment for this course.
    • No later than 7:50 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6 , post one substantial paragraph in the Discussion Board area of Blackboard at <http://bb.uwb.edu/> describing your progress so far (how far along you are, what is working well, what is continuing to present challenges, etc.).
  • To provide time for a revision prior to the final version that you will submit in your final learning portfolio, you must submit your research paper in your second portfolio no later than 5:35 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15 .  I will return second portfolios within seven days of receiving it, so the earlier you submit it, the more time you will have for revising.
  • I will provide separate instructions for submitting your second portfolio, containing your research paper.

• After you get comments back from me, you can revise and then submit your final paper for inclusion in your learning portfolio, which is due no later than 5:35 p.m. on Thursday, March 1.  Your evaluative (i.e., "final") research paper grade will be determined at that time. Instructions for submitting your portfolio version of your paper will be included in the learning portfolio assignment sheet.

Criteria for evaluating research papers: Please carefully read "Criteria for Assessing Writing" at < http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/WritingAssess.html> for an explanation of my assessment criteria. In addition to substantive comments on each version, I also will designate each draft as "early draft" (E), "middle draft" (M), or "late draft" (L).

Content	50 percent
Organization	10 percent
Reasoning	20 percent
Rhetoric	10 percent
Conventions	10 percent
TOTAL	40 percent of final course grade

Resources:

• UWB Library Research Guides: <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/library/guides/index.html>
• Reference/Research Librarians:
  • American Studies: Sarah Leadley (American studies ; 425-352-5387; e-mail: SLeadley@uwb.edu)
  • Culture, Literature, and the Arts: Amanda Hornby (media studies ; 425-352-3167; e-mail ahornby@uwb.edu, and available at the Library Circulation Desk from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Thursdays
  • Culture, Literature, and the Arts: Leslie Bussert  (humanities ; 425-352-3168; e-mail: LHurst@uwb.edu)
• Writing Center: <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/writingcenter/> (Note: The Writing Center usually offers a one-day workshop focusing on research papers.)
• Prof. Goldstein: <https://catalysttools.washington.edu/tools/umail/form/?i=124&o=davidgs >

Some additional advice:

• Get in the habit of saving your work often (maybe every ten minutes) so you do not lose everything when your computer freezes. It also is a good idea to keep multiple copies in different places, such as on a different computer, on diskettes, CDs, flash drives, or Zip disks, or in your electronic "shell" on the UWB student computer server. I usually e-mail important files to myself at the end of the work day, so if my computer blows up, I still can retrieve my work.
• I do not have time to read rough drafts, but I am very glad to discuss your paper as you work on it. You would be wise to visit me during office hours (see syllabus) to make sure you are on the right track, to see whether your thesis makes sense to me, and to get advice about any particular difficulties you might be encountering.
• Re-read this assignment sheet just before each submission of your paper to make sure it meets all of the requirements.
• Visit the Writing Center (see <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/WritingCenter/>) as many times as you can to help you build confidence in your writing process.

This page last updated Feb. 5, 2007.

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