Guidelines, and Prompt for Research Paper
As usual, every paragraph in your essay must be well developed and must be at least seven (7)
sentences long. This includes the introduction and the conclusion. Your paper must be typed and
follow MLA format guidelines. Please use a desktop or laptop computer (not a tablet) and a word
processor such as Microsoft Word to write your essay. Do not use Google Docs because it will
mess up your format. Follow the steps of the writing process. Remember to revise, proofread,
and edit your work.
Finals week is especially busy for faculty and students. Please DO NOT PROCRASTINATE.
Give yourself enough time so you can mitigate any computer and/or software related issues that
might impede you from meeting the deadline. Keep in mind that I do not accept late work.
Manage your time efficiently so you can meet the deadline. Do not email me your essay (early
or otherwise) or upload files in Canvas’s comments section because I cannot and will not
grade it. Remember that Canvas locks assignments on the dot.
Instructions:
Develop the following prompt into a two to three (2-3) page research paper. If you write 2
pages, the second page has to be typed all the way through for it to count. Please do not go over
3 pages of content. The Works Cited list does not count as content since it’s only a list of
citations. Therefore, it does not count towards the minimum requirement of 2 pages.
Prompt:
Write an argumentative research paper where you state your position on the use of trigger
warnings in American academia. Do you think trigger warnings are a reasonable response to
provocative texts and images or do you think they stifle free speech and unnecessarily coddle
students? State your position clearly and explicitly. Being on the fence or undecided is not an
option. Support your claims with evidence in the shape of quotes, summary, and paraphrases of
information from scholarly articles. This is where research comes in!
Research:
For this paper you will need a minimum of two (2) peer-reviewed articles from the databases
offered by Valencia’s library. Do not consult any other kinds of sources such as books, e-
books, websites, blogs, etc. Please DO NOT use Google, Google Scholar, or any similar popular
search engine to conduct research for this essay. Rely only on the databases provided by the
library. When using a database, remember to click on the box that says “peer reviewed” before
doing your search.
Guidelines:
• Length: Your essay must be two to three (2-3) pages long. If you choose to write two
pages, the second page must be typed in its entirety for it to count. Please do not exceed
three pages of content. The Works Cited list does not count as content.
• Format: Follow MLA format. See guidelines on Canvas.
• Indent: Indent every paragraph. Use hanging indent in the citations.
• Font: Use font Times New Roman size 12 throughout your essay. This includes title,
running header, heading, and citations.
• Ink: Use black ink throughout your essay. This includes the citations.
• Spacing: Double space the whole essay. This includes citations.
• Title: Make sure that your essay has a title and that the title is centered. Your title should
be attention grabbing, interesting, informative, and give your reader an idea of the main
argument. This means that your title cannot be “Essay #3,” “Research Paper,” “position
Paper,” “Argumentative Essay” or any title of this nature since they are too ambiguous
and none of them are particularly intriguing or engaging. Please do not settle for a
simplistic title such as “Free College,” either, because this kind of title is not informative
or attention grabbing. Remember to capitalize major parts of speech in the title of your
essay.
*By the way, the title of your essay does not need quotation marks. I’m using them
here to distinguish title examples from the rest of the text.
• Paragraphs: Every paragraph must be at least seven (7) sentences long. This includes
the introduction and conclusion. Make sure that every paragraph is:
▪ Unified- every paragraph must have a topic sentence and every sentence
in the paragraph must relate to it.
▪ Well developed- A well-developed paragraph provides the necessary
support that readers need to understand its main idea. This is where
details, examples, etc. come in handy.
▪ Coherent- Don’t forget transitions! Use the transitions to connect the
events in your narrative smoothly.
• Structure: Make sure that your essay has an introduction, body, and conclusion, each
developed into at least one paragraph. The introduction and conclusion paragraphs must
be well developed (7 sentences minimum).
o Introduction: Must include your thesis statement. You need to choose a side
clearly and with conviction. Being in between or on the fence is not an option.
Develop your thesis statement thoroughly. It must explain or justify your position.
In other words, it must provide a rationale. Signal the rationale with the word
“because”. Study the following examples:
Incorrect: Trigger warnings have no place in college classrooms.
Explanation: The writer clearly chose a side, but their thesis
statement is underdeveloped and weak because it does not
provide an explanation or rationale.
Correct: Trigger warnings have no place in college classrooms
because they…
Explanation: The writer clearly chose a side and the use of
the word “because” signals the beginning of an explanation
or rationale. This thesis statement has good potential.
o Body: The body of an essay is where you develop the thesis statement and
provide examples, details, and evidence that support your claims.
▪ Synthesis: I will be using various criteria when grading your essay. One
of these will be your ability to synthesize material through the use of
summary, paraphrase, and quotes.
• Quote: Always follow the quote sandwich method for every quote:
lead-in, quotation marks, and parenthetical documentation.
Parenthetical documentation must include the last name of the
author and page number. If your source is in the shape of a PDF
file, provide the page number of the actual scanned page of the
document. It’s important to document quoted sources by providing
parenthetical documentation and a citation in the works cited list.
• Paraphrase- Paraphrasing involves using your own words to
restate a source’s ideas in some detail. Paraphrase when you want
to present information from a source without using its exact words.
Always document paraphrased sources by providing parenthetical
documentation and a citation in the works cited list.
• Summary – A summary is a brief restatement, in your own words,
of a passage’s main idea. Always document summarized sources
by providing parenthetical documentation and a citation in the
works cited list.
▪ Remember to use transitions throughout your essay to move your reader
smoothly from one idea to the next
o Conclusion: The conclusion should accentuate the main takeaways or points
made in the essay. It can restate the thesis statement in a way that is different from
that provided in the introduction so that it is rendered in a new way for the benefit
of the reader.
• Works Cited:
▪ The Works Cited list always goes on its own separate individual page.
Therefore, if you write 2 ½ pages, the Works Cited list cannot go on the
space left on page 3. It needs to go on page 4.
▪ The Works Cited page does not count as part of the required 2-3 pages of
content because it’s only a list of citations.
▪ Make sure to cite each and every source that you engage with (summarize,
paraphrase, quote) in your essay.
▪ Make sure that every source on the Works Cited list is engaged with
(summarized, paraphrased, quoted, etc) in your essay.
▪ Alphabetize the citations.
▪ Do not bullet point or number citations
▪ Make sure to use hanging indent in the citations.
▪ Make sure to double space the Works Cited list.
▪ You will only be using articles found in a database for this assignment.
Therefore, the only citation template you need to use is the one for an
article published in a scholarly journal found through a database. It looks
like so:
• Proofread, revise, and edit your essay before turning it in. Pay attention to grammar in
general but particularly to the elements we have covered in class:
o use of capital letters
o use of punctuation
o use of semicolons
o sentence structure
▪ fragments
▪ comma splices
▪ run-on (or fused) sentences
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