For your first paper, you did a “real-life” research project. You investigated an issue that touches on your personal interests, and you created your own new information about it (through surveys and the like).
But the research that you will do in most of your classes here at The College of New Jersey isn’t “real-life” research. It’s “academic” or “scholarly” research -- research that requires you to read and evaluate what experts and professionals have said on a topic. In fact, a very common classroom research assignment is to send you to the library to do a literature review or annotated bibliography, both of which are essentially a brief description and evaluation of the most important expert sources on a particular topic.
So, your next assignment is to do just that -- to describe and evaluate the most important expert sources on a “scholarly” topic. If your major is in the Arts or Humanities, your assignment is to do an annotated bibliography, which is the more common format for this kind of assignment in those fields of study. If your major is in the Social Sciences, Sciences, Business, Nursing, Education, or Engineering, your assignment is to do a literature review, which is the more common format used in those fields of study. If you are undecided about a major, you can pick whichever you want to do -- annotated bibliography or literature review. The main difference between the two is format; the basic idea behind each is the same.
In an annotated bibliography, you compile a list of the most important sources on a particular topic, providing complete bibliographical information and a paragraph or two of summary and evaluation for each source. In a literature review, you put things into a more flowing, paragraph form, as if you were describing the most important sources on your topic to give your reader a rundown and appraisal of what the experts say. An annotated bibliography is more of a list of sources with comments on each; a literature review is more of a descriptive overview of the sources.
You may pick your own topic, but your topic must be an academic one -- not a popular or personal one. I recommend that you choose a topic that you have already studied in another class or that you will be studying in the near future in your major. The topic should also involve some kind of controversy. A Nursing student, for example, might choose something to do with a controversial new technique in the care of newborn infants exposed to the AIDS virus in utero. An Education major, on the other hand, might choose to research the ongoing dispute over the pros and cons of mainstreaming children with special needs. A Business major might research the current recession and the economic policies of the Bush administration designed to end it.
You should probably pick a topic that you already know something about, because your sources must all be scholarly sources. They must come from professional journals rather than from the popular press. If you don’t know a lot about your topic, you may have to begin by reading popular newsmagazines to get enough background information in order to understand the expert sources you are required to find on the topic. Once you’ve learned the basic information you need from popular articles, you will be better able to read and evaluate the scholarly sources. But you may not include popular articles in your paper.
As you are thinking about a topic, you might also consider talking to a professor in your major. Ask about important controversies in the field. Later, go back to the professor with the scholarly sources you find and ask any questions you have about things you don’t understand in the sources. This is an opportunity for you to get to know -- and to impress -- a professor in your department, program, or school.
Keep in mind that your paper will be graded based on my usual grading criteria for papers. Your paper should be 1000-1200 words long. The number of sources that you include will depend on how much you write about each source, but I recommend 8-10 solid, scholarly sources as a general guideline.
For your first speech of the course, present to class one of the sources that you are including in your PAPER 2.
Your speech must be 5-8 minutes long. In it, you should give your fellow students some background about your topic, including a quick overview of the various experts in the field. Then, you should describe in detail and evaluate the source that you have chosen to present.
Your speech should be significantly different from your paper. Your paper should focus equally on a number of sources; your speech should focus primarily on just one. Your paper will give an overview of the various sources you’ve found; your speech should go into specifics about your most important or most controversial source.
Keep in mind that your speech will be graded based on my usual grading criteria for speeches.