Reference no: EM132178038

The assignment: compose a 6-7 page persuasive essay, open topic with caveat that it must relate to education and must incorporate at least seven sources (books, articles including ones from our reader, online sources, interviews, surveys, etc.). You will need to identify a question or problem concerning some aspect of education that interests you and, hopefully, your audience (your classmates and any additional audience you specify).

To pick a topic, consider consulting with friends and/or reviewing the problem you identified in the First Assignment, "Education in the News" posts, and reader responses (yours and others'): perhaps an idea you only touched on in the past could be the basis for your research paper. In short, This Essay offers you an opportunity to explore some area of interest that you've always wished you could find out more about. Above all, pick a topic about which you feel passionate and try to convince others to feel the same.

For these reasons, your goal is not to just summarize others' research, as you may have done in high school. Rather, it is to know what others have said on a topic and then weigh in yourself, with your own "I Say" position. Try to come up with a question that could be answered differently by different interpretations of the evidence.

Avoid topics that are obvious or too broad to be treated adequately in 6-7 page essay ("Are the liberal arts important?") and avoid above all mere reporting (presenting the facts about a situation) rather than arguing (taking a stand about the significance of those facts).

Seek complications in your thesis and evidence: highlight for your readers issues that they might not have thought about before ("Critics complain that partying has become too prominent on college campuses, but this view obscures the extent to which partying has been a part of university life from its inception"). Some sample research essays are here:

Examples of research questions (need not be specifically University related!):

Why, if women generally earn higher grades in college than men, do they receive job offers at a significantly lower rate?

What factor(s) explains why in some school districts high school graduation rates for many minorities are significantly lower than district graduation rates overall...but in other districts, minority graduation rates are barely below or even equal to overall district graduation rates?

To what extent would having more online instruction benefit (or harm) this university? (or middle school science, high school history, elementary school math...)

What do UCSC's development plans mean for Santa Cruz residents?

How might UCSC create more community?

To what extent is grade inflation really a problem (in general, or here at UCSC)?

How can the university (or UCSC in particular) achieve greater diversity? (What do we mean by "diversity" in the first place, and what are the disadvantages as well as the advantages of having a diverse institution?)