Assignment
Write an essay that investigates a connection between your field of study and a problem or controversial issue in society. The audience is people who are generally educated but do not have extensive knowledge of your field.
Length: 1500-2000 words
Sources: Minimum of 6. At least 3 of these must be from scholarly journals, and all sources should be selected based on reliability, currency, and level of information/analysis. The UMUC library will be very useful in helping you find appropriate sources. You can, but do not have to, include all of the sources from your annotated bibliography.
View the assignment through the Assignments area of the classroom.
Outcomes you should achieve by completing this assignment
The outcomes for this assignment are listed below, with the associated course outcomes in parentheses:
• Use research to write an essay that will inform or persuade an audience
• Form unified, coherent, and well-supported paragraphs in support of the thesis statement
• Select sources, use them to inform and support your writing, and document them in APA style
• Demonstrate accurate grammar and mechanics in writing
• Participate in the process of receiving feedback and revising your writing
Topic
This essay is the culmination of your research project, in which you are investigating a connection between your field of study and a problem or controversial issue in society. Sample topics for different fields of study are provided below.
• A student studying environmental managementmight choose to investigate the connection between flooding in a particular location and the location's policies on new development.
• A student studying psychology could research support for students with learning differences in elementary schools.
• A student studying cybersecurity could investigate the threat of identity theft for the average U.S. resident.
• A student studying history could explore similarities between the current U.S. administration and an administration from the past.
Before drafting your essay, you will have chosen a topic, developed a research question, and identified several potential sources in an annotated bibliography. You should write on the same topic for this essay, unless your professor has asked you to make changes to your topic.
Organizing and supporting your essay
As you write your essay, be sure to include the following:
• an engaging introductory paragraph that includes an effective and clear thesis statement
• any definition of terms or background information that your reader is likely to need to understand your paper
• unified, supported, and coherent body paragraphs that defend the thesis
• an effective conclusion
Research is a key element of this paper. Take care to support your claims with research throughout the paper. Include APA in-text citations whenever you use sources, whether through quote, paraphrase, or summary. An APA reference list at the end of the paper should list all of the sources cited in the text of the paper.
Point of view
This essay will be written in an academic style. Use third person point of view. Do not use "I" or "you."
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.