ESSAY 4 Assignment

ESSAY 4 (Research Essay) Assignment
We have spent the past couple of classes discussing texts that grapple with the issue of public education in the United States. The documentary Waiting for Superman presents charter schools as a solution to the problem of teacher quality while The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman provides us with the point of view of public school educators and argues against the privatization of city schools. In the article, “Profoundly Multicultural Questions” Sonia Nieto argues that the main problem is inequity along racial and class lines, resulting in the children who need the most resources actually getting the fewest. And in the Porter article we learned that although gains have been made in narrowing the achievement gap in terms of race, class inequities continue to rise.

For this 1000 word research essay, you will, present your position on the charter school debate, with a focus on NYC. Should New York City invest funding in the creation of more charter schools?

Do independent research
Feel free to use our class blog articles, the films, books and reference sources for background info (including Wikipedia) and do include them in your Works Cited, but these sources will not count towards the 4 minimum, which should be from databases like NexisUni, Academic Search, CQ Researcher and Opposing Viewpoints.

 Come up with a rough OUTLINE of your paper
What do I mean by outline? Well, an outline is not the full paper. It's essentially a blueprint of what you're going to write.

It should include a rough draft of your introduction paragraph with your thesis statement. Then, give us a sketch of what you plan to write in each body pargraph. This can be 3 lists of bullet points (one list for each body paragraph). They don't even have to be full sentences.

You do not need to submit this outline, but I highly encourage you to work on this outline with a tutor in B200 to see if you're on the right track.


The full first draft of your 1000 word research essay will be due in-class Thursday November 29th.
YOUR ESSAY MUST:

Be at least 1000 words in length.

Include an intro with a clear thesis statement, at least 3 body paragraphs and a conclusion. More than 3 body paragraphs is perfectly OK.

Be well-organized and developed with supporting details, using the techniques and types of evidence we have discussed in class.

Be proofread for grammar, sentence and other language errors.

Include references (quotes and/or paraphrases) to at least 4 sources obtained via the library’s databases. The blog articles, the films, books and/ or reference articles are allowed but DO NOT count towards the 4 minimum.

NOT be a summary of your sources , but rather, a presentation of YOUR ARGUMENT and YOUR THINKING with support from the sources. Do not use any sources excessively.

Be in the Proper Format --- DOUBLE SPACED!

Include a proper heading and title. NO COVER PAGES or IMAGES.

Be in correct MLA format, including in-text citations and a Works Cited Page.

Be ORIGINAL and NOT plagiarized.