Major Essay 2: Research Process and Case Studies

For your second major assignment, you’ll communicate your exploration, research, and reflection related to the ethics of political speech, specifically listening to, evaluating, and recording the usages of a particular word. Pick the word you want to write about here: link

The purpose of this assignment is to explore how the definition of a word can matter ethically—how the act of defining your term one way as opposed to another way can place people and their needs into new categories, can give or deny people access to ideas and services. For example, is it a college student’s right to be treated with respect? Well, what counts as a right—and as respect? As these examples show, precise and carefully supported and explained definitions of a fuzzy term can change minds and shape actions. Now is your opportunity to study the various ways your term may be defined and the ethical consequences of this definition.

This assignment won’t be a formal essay but a document that demonstrates your engagement with the research process. At its completion your assignment will consist of three (3) parts, each of them recording the steps you’ve taken in researching your term, understanding your sources, and evaluating the direction you’ll take for the final research-supported argumentative essay. This assignment will tell your research story from inquiry (exploration of a research question) to claim (tentative thesis).

For guidance in successfully completing this assignment, consult RRW, Ch. 1 (summary/paraphrase, embedding direct quotations in your prose), Ch. 12 (finding and evaluating sources, preparing an annotated bibliography), Ch. 13 (studying sources) and Ch. 14 (formal documentation for MLA or APA documentation style).

The most important thing to understand is that this is not an assignment you can write in one sitting from beginning to end. It’s a construction project that, in many ways, builds from the inside out.

Think of the finished product in terms of the following general outline:

Part I: Exploratory Narrative (500+ words)

The first section of the assignment will be a reflection on your initial impression of this word. Include some examples of usage that illustrate the definition you initially had for this word. You might describe the context in which you’ve heard the word and the connotations it carried in those situations. What are some synonyms, and how might you distinguish this word from those words?

What did you find when you began researching this word’s usage over time in the OED and Google Ngram? What usages or meanings surprised you or conflicted with one another? Does the change in usage of the word reflect a change in culture?

Important: Your sources here will reflect how your research develops. The goal is to discover something new, surprise yourself, and to find uses of the word that each reflect a different aspect or definition of the word. Resist the impulse to select only those sources that support any opinions or judgments you may already have about your topic. Keep an open mind and see where the research leads you. Two excellent places to begin looking at how usage of a word has changed over time is to look at the Oxford English Dictionary, available digitally through our library, and to look at Google Ngram viewer.

Part II: Case Studies (minimum of 6 entries – 150+ words each).

At least 2 case studies should be text sources accessed using the library’s databases. At least 1 (no more than 2) of the case studies should be an image. No case studies should be dictionaries or encyclopedias. However, dictionaries and encyclopedias may lead you to other sources that you may use as case studies for this essay.

Part II will be a collection of 6 examples that illustrate contrasting uses of the word. As you collect these sources, keep in mind that we are working toward an understanding of the social and ethical implications of how we define these words.

For each source, begin with an MLA citation. Then include a short summary and helpful contextual information about the source. Then include a quote from the text using the word, and an analysis of what the author seems to assume the definition of the word is. In your analysis, try to explore the conflicts between your sources–how differing understandings of your term may rest at the heart of an argument between two of your sources.

For each image source, include the image, and an analysis of how the details in the image work together to represent your term. You may choose images that represent either your own definition of the word or our culture’s definition, or perhaps you will provide two images that serve as conflicting definitions. Include a citation underneath each image.

You may also include 1 link to (or embedded) video or piece of music as a source as long as it is using your term. Format these the same as your text sources. Include a citation, provide some rhetorical context, and paraphrase what definition the author seems to assume for your word.

Part III: Reflection and Tentative Thesis (200+ words)

In Part III, discuss the similarities and differences between your examples. Return to your initial impression of the word and discuss any surprises and conflicts you found in your case studies. Do the definitions connect to any political or ethical question we face now? Based on these case studies, form a question or hypothesis about the ethical implications of contemporary uses of the word.

Category: Essays