The Assignment that Breonna James is not paying for
CRTW 201
Paper 4: The (Big) Research Paper with Abstract
Due: Unless there is an emergency, there can be no extensions.
Minimum length 2200 words exclusive of Works Cited page and exclusive of 150-300 word abstract
This paper is 20% of your grade (95 points for the paper and Works Cited; 5 points for the abstract)
It is your responsibility to upload the paper and the abstract into the folder; put the Abstract after the
Works Cited page.
The big researched argument in CRTW 201 is your chance to demonstrate that you have mastered the
skills and content of this course, so it weighs very heavily in the calculation of your final grade (20%). In it
you should demonstrate the quality of your critical thinking, the depth and appropriateness of your
critical reading, and the sophistication of your critical writing skills, as well as your demonstrated ability
to use sources correctly. All of these factors will be weighed together in determining your grade on the
project; I will in effect be performing a standards check on your final product as I assess its effectiveness.
In paper 2, you served as the outside judge of how well one writer persuaded his audience; in paper 3,
you judged how well an outside author persuaded you. Now, in your final paper for the class, you must
demonstrate that you can persuade an outside audience—that you can perform the job that you’ve
been judging other writers on. Now, you’re at the center of the process.
The Task: Go “Green”
You must make an argument about some policy, action, or practice that you want changed for ecological
or environmental reasons. It could be something local (for instance, encouraging your church to start a
recycling program); something disciplinary (for instance, arguing that the College of Business needs to
add an Environmental Marketing course to the Sustainability minor); something on a more regional scale
(for instance, arguing that the SC Department of Education needs to add more environmental awareness
into the 10th grade science standards); something personal (arguing that Charlotte brides should use
environmentally focused wedding planners); something professional (persuading your company to start
a grey water recycling program for your plant); or things on this scale. It must be an argument for a
specific, definable audience and it must show that you have mastered the elements and standards that
we have studied in Nosich.
Based on utter failures in previous semesters, you may NOT use any of the following vague groups as
your audience: “Winthrop students,” “college students,” “parents,” “citizens,” “young people,”
“politicians,” “interested people,” etc. You MAY use definable subsets of these groups (e.g. “The
Winthrop Panhellenic Council,” “Parents in Richmond County DHEC parenting classes,” “Members of
the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club”) if such an audience is appropriate for your
topic. But I’m tired of vague audiences leading to weak papers that earn low grades!
Don’t fall back on enculturated WRIT 101 paper strategies like “I want to inform college students why
they should be more aware of the environment.” Obviously, that’s an information paper, not an
argument, so it’s not a good Q at I—yet. By now you should be able to realize how abstract and
nonspecific an enculturated paper like that is, and how undefined the audience is (how many million
college students are there worldwide, for starters? Can you address all their F&P concerns in 2200
words?) Use the circle of elements and the CAIR standards to help you work out a specific argument that
you can address to specific, identifiable readers.2
NOTE: YOU MAY NOT ARGUE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE ISN’T A PROBLEM, OR THAT GLOBAL WARMING
IS NOT REAL, OR ANYTHING ALONG CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL LINES. THERE IS NOT RELIABLE PEERREVIEWED EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THESE POSITIONS. DON’T EVEN TRY. THE PAPERS WILL NOT
SUCCEED.
I am deliberately leaving the topic open to allow you to create a space in which you feel free to argue;
however, I will be asking you to clear the topic with me in Thinking Notebook #5, so that we can be sure
you have chosen a question of appropriate specificity and scale. You cannot demonstrate good critical
thinking, reading and writing if you leave this paper for the last minute or try to change topics late; this
paper has to evolve and that takes time and investment on your part. See the specifications for Thinking
Notebook #5 to see what MUST be included in this proposal.
Quite obviously the textbook Writing Analytically will be your best friend in helping you put this major
paper together; use it liberally! (THIS IS A HINT. The book is in the Essential Stuff folder for a reason.
Smart students will use it extensively.) You will also be expected to follow the guidance in Nosich to
help you to:
o Define the Purpose and Question at Issue;
o Identify Barriers;
o Establish Context;
o Recognize Point of View;
o Gather Information (facts, claims, stances);
o Weigh Solutions (Test Implications, Consequences, Outcomes);
o Consider Concepts;
o Review Alternatives;
o Draw Conclusions;
o Make Interpretations, Decisions, and Recommendations.
You will NOT have separate sections of the paper with each of the above as titles; rather, that is the
prewriting circle work that must be reflected in putting a good paper together. If you go back and look at
the texts you read for papers 2 or 3, you should be able to identify where each of these processes have
taken place. Your challenge is to do as sophisticated and thorough a job with your topic, audience, and
scope as these writers did within their parameters.
A paper of 2200 or more words will need to be sustained at greater length than the kinds of arguments
you may have written in WRIT 101 and HMXP 102. We will spend some time in the next few weeks
brainstorming how you would produce such a paper, what kinds of evidence and analysis is needed to
support it, and where you might find the research. As always, I encourage you to use the Writing Center
and to bring drafts by my office to discuss them with me. NOTE: The people who have gotten the best
grades on this paper in the past have finished ALL of Wilson before they come up with their tapics. Get
reading!
Key Points
I encourage you to pick a question that you can engage with and that you feel you can write
clearly and effectively about. If you care about your topic, you’ll write a better paper.
You will be expected to figure out how this question is perceived by people in various disciplines
and to bring to bear information from mostly peer-reviewed sources found in databases and3
other professional data collections, not just Google and other Internet search engines, as you
craft your solution. One of the criteria for your grade is the quality of your critical reading as
evidenced in the research you present—so you will want to figure out where the best
appropriate information is on your question and use it wisely. Return to the Evaluating Sources
webpage at Dacus Library to assist you in this task.
Use the “Book a Librarian” service at Dacus to save yourself time and focus your energies
efficiently. It’s a researched paper—go to the pros to help you do the research!
You should envision this argument being made to a real audience, with faces, lives, group
objectives, etc.—one that I can identify from the strategies you use in your paper. You may not
use "The general public," "all interested people," "College students," “young mothers,” or
anything that vague as an audience. Those strategies lead to failing papers. You need something
like “The Public Works Department of Myrtle Beach” or “the science curriculum coordinator for
RHSD #3”—a real target whose FBIs and elements you can target effectively. You will be
completing both Thinking Notebook and Weekly Work assignments leading up to the final paper
that will help you refine your strategies for audience approach and I should see those critical
thinking decisions reflected in your final paper.
I will expect that a significant majority of your information comes from peer-reviewed and/or
disciplinary-acceptable sources. You may want to use sites like the Wikipedia for your own
information, but do not use or rely on these for the paper. Go back and review the materials
from earlier in the semester about finding credible material to support your argument; make
sure you apply them here, especially to advocacy web pages, blogs, and similar sources.
Of course you may not use any generative AI programs to help you compose this paper.
However, you may use AI programs such as EZ-Bib to help you format your sources correctly in
MLA 9th edition. As always, you must receive specific permission before using AI polishing
programs such as Grammarly or Quillbot.
You may want to begin by typing your topic into the “search” box on the Dacus Library website,
but don’t limit yourself just to that first page of results. Show me that you can probe for more
depth, breadth, and sufficiency of information. Demonstrate intellectual curiosity and
intellectual persistence! Remember that you can usually click a link that says “only scholarly
peer-reviewed sources” in most databases; this will do a lot of the sorting for you. It will also rule
out most but not all of the fake scholarly sources that are out there; sadly, fake news has seeped
into the scholarly publishing world. (This is a big reason why I do not allow you to write in
support of climate change denial topics; there are a couple of so-called “scholarly” climate
change denial journals that do not meet the standards of academic peer review but that show
up in some databases. Using unreliable or unsubstantiated information to support an
argument is a bad way to proceed; too many students have gotten themselves in trouble with
these topics in the past so I am just prohibiting them to prevent you from falling into the same
traps.)
Narrowing your topic will be key. "We need to develop renewable sources of energy" is going to
be too vague and broad for your paper; "We need to put windmills on the Winthrop campus to
power the blue security lights" is probably too narrow. But you’ll need to be closer to the
windmills thesis than to the vague thesis to make your paper successful.
Abstract
Academic writers learn early in their careers to summarize the main points of their written arguments in
abstracts running between 100-350 words (try summarizing a 271 page dissertation in 400 words; I had
to do that!). So for practice, you will be required to submit an abstract of 150-300 words for your paper.4
The Assignments folder in Blackboard contains instructions, helpful videos, and a student sample to help
you write an abstract for this paper.
Schedule
Week 10 Paper Proposal (Thinking Notebook #5) due
Week 14 Optional rough draft due (must be 75% complete & include Works Cited page)
Week 15 Final paper & 150-300 word abstract due by Study Day 11:59 PM. No extensions.
Grading
I will be using the Rubric for CRTW and applying the CAIR standards to your papers; I will be looking at
how you have tailored your persuasive strategies for a specific audience, how you have selected and
used outside research to support your argument, how well you have documented your use of that
research, and of course, how well you have written the paper (including your execution). This is your
chance to shine—let me see the best you can do! In rare instances (and I do mean rare) I may offer the
opportunity to revise this paper, but that is at my discretion.
A list of sample topics from past semesters is posted in the paper resources Assignments folder on
Blackboard. You may choose topics similar to these, or use them as the jumping-off point for
something totally different. That’s what the topic proposal is for—so that I can make sure you’re on
track. I will also post materials to help you create an effective abstract for your final paper.
Paper 4: The (Big) Research Paper with Abstract
Due: Unless there is an emergency, there can be no extensions.
Minimum length 2200 words exclusive of Works Cited page and exclusive of 150-300 word abstract
This paper is 20% of your grade (95 points for the paper and Works Cited; 5 points for the abstract)
It is your responsibility to upload the paper and the abstract into the folder; put the Abstract after the
Works Cited page.
The big researched argument in CRTW 201 is your chance to demonstrate that you have mastered the
skills and content of this course, so it weighs very heavily in the calculation of your final grade (20%). In it
you should demonstrate the quality of your critical thinking, the depth and appropriateness of your
critical reading, and the sophistication of your critical writing skills, as well as your demonstrated ability
to use sources correctly. All of these factors will be weighed together in determining your grade on the
project; I will in effect be performing a standards check on your final product as I assess its effectiveness.
In paper 2, you served as the outside judge of how well one writer persuaded his audience; in paper 3,
you judged how well an outside author persuaded you. Now, in your final paper for the class, you must
demonstrate that you can persuade an outside audience—that you can perform the job that you’ve
been judging other writers on. Now, you’re at the center of the process.
The Task: Go “Green”
You must make an argument about some policy, action, or practice that you want changed for ecological
or environmental reasons. It could be something local (for instance, encouraging your church to start a
recycling program); something disciplinary (for instance, arguing that the College of Business needs to
add an Environmental Marketing course to the Sustainability minor); something on a more regional scale
(for instance, arguing that the SC Department of Education needs to add more environmental awareness
into the 10th grade science standards); something personal (arguing that Charlotte brides should use
environmentally focused wedding planners); something professional (persuading your company to start
a grey water recycling program for your plant); or things on this scale. It must be an argument for a
specific, definable audience and it must show that you have mastered the elements and standards that
we have studied in Nosich.
Based on utter failures in previous semesters, you may NOT use any of the following vague groups as
your audience: “Winthrop students,” “college students,” “parents,” “citizens,” “young people,”
“politicians,” “interested people,” etc. You MAY use definable subsets of these groups (e.g. “The
Winthrop Panhellenic Council,” “Parents in Richmond County DHEC parenting classes,” “Members of
the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club”) if such an audience is appropriate for your
topic. But I’m tired of vague audiences leading to weak papers that earn low grades!
Don’t fall back on enculturated WRIT 101 paper strategies like “I want to inform college students why
they should be more aware of the environment.” Obviously, that’s an information paper, not an
argument, so it’s not a good Q at I—yet. By now you should be able to realize how abstract and
nonspecific an enculturated paper like that is, and how undefined the audience is (how many million
college students are there worldwide, for starters? Can you address all their F&P concerns in 2200
words?) Use the circle of elements and the CAIR standards to help you work out a specific argument that
you can address to specific, identifiable readers.2
NOTE: YOU MAY NOT ARGUE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE ISN’T A PROBLEM, OR THAT GLOBAL WARMING
IS NOT REAL, OR ANYTHING ALONG CLIMATE CHANGE DENIAL LINES. THERE IS NOT RELIABLE PEERREVIEWED EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THESE POSITIONS. DON’T EVEN TRY. THE PAPERS WILL NOT
SUCCEED.
I am deliberately leaving the topic open to allow you to create a space in which you feel free to argue;
however, I will be asking you to clear the topic with me in Thinking Notebook #5, so that we can be sure
you have chosen a question of appropriate specificity and scale. You cannot demonstrate good critical
thinking, reading and writing if you leave this paper for the last minute or try to change topics late; this
paper has to evolve and that takes time and investment on your part. See the specifications for Thinking
Notebook #5 to see what MUST be included in this proposal.
Quite obviously the textbook Writing Analytically will be your best friend in helping you put this major
paper together; use it liberally! (THIS IS A HINT. The book is in the Essential Stuff folder for a reason.
Smart students will use it extensively.) You will also be expected to follow the guidance in Nosich to
help you to:
o Define the Purpose and Question at Issue;
o Identify Barriers;
o Establish Context;
o Recognize Point of View;
o Gather Information (facts, claims, stances);
o Weigh Solutions (Test Implications, Consequences, Outcomes);
o Consider Concepts;
o Review Alternatives;
o Draw Conclusions;
o Make Interpretations, Decisions, and Recommendations.
You will NOT have separate sections of the paper with each of the above as titles; rather, that is the
prewriting circle work that must be reflected in putting a good paper together. If you go back and look at
the texts you read for papers 2 or 3, you should be able to identify where each of these processes have
taken place. Your challenge is to do as sophisticated and thorough a job with your topic, audience, and
scope as these writers did within their parameters.
A paper of 2200 or more words will need to be sustained at greater length than the kinds of arguments
you may have written in WRIT 101 and HMXP 102. We will spend some time in the next few weeks
brainstorming how you would produce such a paper, what kinds of evidence and analysis is needed to
support it, and where you might find the research. As always, I encourage you to use the Writing Center
and to bring drafts by my office to discuss them with me. NOTE: The people who have gotten the best
grades on this paper in the past have finished ALL of Wilson before they come up with their tapics. Get
reading!
Key Points
I encourage you to pick a question that you can engage with and that you feel you can write
clearly and effectively about. If you care about your topic, you’ll write a better paper.
You will be expected to figure out how this question is perceived by people in various disciplines
and to bring to bear information from mostly peer-reviewed sources found in databases and3
other professional data collections, not just Google and other Internet search engines, as you
craft your solution. One of the criteria for your grade is the quality of your critical reading as
evidenced in the research you present—so you will want to figure out where the best
appropriate information is on your question and use it wisely. Return to the Evaluating Sources
webpage at Dacus Library to assist you in this task.
Use the “Book a Librarian” service at Dacus to save yourself time and focus your energies
efficiently. It’s a researched paper—go to the pros to help you do the research!
You should envision this argument being made to a real audience, with faces, lives, group
objectives, etc.—one that I can identify from the strategies you use in your paper. You may not
use "The general public," "all interested people," "College students," “young mothers,” or
anything that vague as an audience. Those strategies lead to failing papers. You need something
like “The Public Works Department of Myrtle Beach” or “the science curriculum coordinator for
RHSD #3”—a real target whose FBIs and elements you can target effectively. You will be
completing both Thinking Notebook and Weekly Work assignments leading up to the final paper
that will help you refine your strategies for audience approach and I should see those critical
thinking decisions reflected in your final paper.
I will expect that a significant majority of your information comes from peer-reviewed and/or
disciplinary-acceptable sources. You may want to use sites like the Wikipedia for your own
information, but do not use or rely on these for the paper. Go back and review the materials
from earlier in the semester about finding credible material to support your argument; make
sure you apply them here, especially to advocacy web pages, blogs, and similar sources.
Of course you may not use any generative AI programs to help you compose this paper.
However, you may use AI programs such as EZ-Bib to help you format your sources correctly in
MLA 9th edition. As always, you must receive specific permission before using AI polishing
programs such as Grammarly or Quillbot.
You may want to begin by typing your topic into the “search” box on the Dacus Library website,
but don’t limit yourself just to that first page of results. Show me that you can probe for more
depth, breadth, and sufficiency of information. Demonstrate intellectual curiosity and
intellectual persistence! Remember that you can usually click a link that says “only scholarly
peer-reviewed sources” in most databases; this will do a lot of the sorting for you. It will also rule
out most but not all of the fake scholarly sources that are out there; sadly, fake news has seeped
into the scholarly publishing world. (This is a big reason why I do not allow you to write in
support of climate change denial topics; there are a couple of so-called “scholarly” climate
change denial journals that do not meet the standards of academic peer review but that show
up in some databases. Using unreliable or unsubstantiated information to support an
argument is a bad way to proceed; too many students have gotten themselves in trouble with
these topics in the past so I am just prohibiting them to prevent you from falling into the same
traps.)
Narrowing your topic will be key. "We need to develop renewable sources of energy" is going to
be too vague and broad for your paper; "We need to put windmills on the Winthrop campus to
power the blue security lights" is probably too narrow. But you’ll need to be closer to the
windmills thesis than to the vague thesis to make your paper successful.
Abstract
Academic writers learn early in their careers to summarize the main points of their written arguments in
abstracts running between 100-350 words (try summarizing a 271 page dissertation in 400 words; I had
to do that!). So for practice, you will be required to submit an abstract of 150-300 words for your paper.4
The Assignments folder in Blackboard contains instructions, helpful videos, and a student sample to help
you write an abstract for this paper.
Schedule
Week 10 Paper Proposal (Thinking Notebook #5) due
Week 14 Optional rough draft due (must be 75% complete & include Works Cited page)
Week 15 Final paper & 150-300 word abstract due by Study Day 11:59 PM. No extensions.
Grading
I will be using the Rubric for CRTW and applying the CAIR standards to your papers; I will be looking at
how you have tailored your persuasive strategies for a specific audience, how you have selected and
used outside research to support your argument, how well you have documented your use of that
research, and of course, how well you have written the paper (including your execution). This is your
chance to shine—let me see the best you can do! In rare instances (and I do mean rare) I may offer the
opportunity to revise this paper, but that is at my discretion.
A list of sample topics from past semesters is posted in the paper resources Assignments folder on
Blackboard. You may choose topics similar to these, or use them as the jumping-off point for
something totally different. That’s what the topic proposal is for—so that I can make sure you’re on
track. I will also post materials to help you create an effective abstract for your final paper.
