For this blog, you will start to pull together what you understand about your chosen conversation and the potential answers to your research question.
Step 0:
In order to complete this blog, you will first need to choose a specific audience that you believe would be interested in the answer to your research question. Please do not say “everyone.” For example, if my research question is “should my county change the bus routes?”, interested audiences might be those who currently use the bus system and voters who may vote on this question in the next election. Part of your grade on this assignment involves choosing a specific audience that is appropriate for your research question. See the bulleted questions below in order to help you pick a good audience.
Step 1:
After you choose a specific audience, you will need to find one additional source related to your research question that is especially relevant to this specific audience. For example, in my example above, I might find a source that explains how the new bus routes impact current bus users; or I might find a source that explains the language of the question on the ballot for voters.
Step 2:
Then, write a 300 word letter addressed to this specific audience. In the letter, you’ll explain your research so far and offer this additional source for their reading. (Although you are actually posting this letter to our class discussion board, you should pretend as if you are giving the letter to the specific audience you’ve identified and write the letter accordingly. This means you can address the audience specifically [“Dear Bus Riders”] and use second person pronouns such as “you.”).
In your letter, you should do the following:
- Explain your current research question and why you see this question as important to this particular audience. What specifically about your research is valuable, significant, and/or impactful to this audience? How does/will your research impact some aspect of their lives? Here, you might discuss personal impact, professional impact, cultural impact, political impact, or something else.
- Describe some of the research you’ve done so far and how this is helping you answer your research question. Here, you do not need to necessarily go over all of your research from Blogs 2 and 3. Instead, choose to focus on the particular idea(s) and source(s) that you think will be especially relevant to this particular audience.
- Describe the new source you found for this audience specifically. What is the title and who is the author? Here, give a brief summary of what this source says and explain why you think this source might be especially interesting/relevant to the person/group who is reading your letter.
- Explain to your audience where you plan to go next with your research. What ideas do you plan on exploring? What questions do you hope to answer? How will the next steps in your research help you to find answers/solutions to your research question?
Here are some student examples
Step 3:
After you have posted your letter, respond to two classmates. Each response should be at least 150 words long and respond to one or more of the following questions:
- Put yourself in the shoes of the specific audience they address in their letter. What questions might you have for them about their research? Are there any ideas/perspectives that you think they should consider? In what specific ways is this research topic/question relevant and significant? What suggestions might you have for them as they continue their research?
Here’s how you’ll be graded:
- Response (5 points): Does the student include thorough and detailed responses to the prompt, including explaining how the research question impacts the audience, why the audience should care, and a summary of the research done so far?
- Source Appropriateness (4 points): Does the student identify a good source for the audience to consider, summarize it, and explain why it is relevant to the audience? Does this source build on the student’s own understanding of the answer to their research question?
- Source Citation: (2 points): Is it always clear which ideas are coming from the student and which are coming from the source? Does the student effectively indicate the source’s ideas with appropriate in-text citations, effective paraphrasing and/or quotation?
- Further Research (2 points): Does the student discuss questions for further research? Do these questions seem appropriate and relevant to the issue as described in the letter?
- Comments (2 points): Does the student thoroughly and specifically respond to two peer’s posts, using the commenting instructions provided by the instructor?
Ban on Abortions
See Attachment for Questions
