Preliminary Research and Topic Selection

Description

Essay Prompt: Directions/Requirements Your essay will identify a specific topic related to brain research, establish your authority on the topic, and demonstrate an understanding of the information you found. Your job is to: 1.     Establish an interesting and precise topic related to The Brain and develop a research essay in 1100-1300 words 2.     Build ethos: establish your authority on the subject matter by connecting to your life experience and a variety of researched sources (minimum of 4-6 sources) 3.     Build logos: demonstrate a deepened understanding of your topic from mining your personal knowledge and logical source support for your ideas 4.     Create an effective writing voice that is informed, personal, and intentional: utilize summary and paraphrasing skills, direct quotes that are carefully explained and integrated into your writing, and effective response and argument techniques. 5.     Use an effective organizational pattern for college essays: include an introduction with a clear argument thesis statement, body paragraphs with clear topic sentences and supporting evidence, effective transitions (both sentence-to-sentence and paragraph-to-paragraph), and a concluding paragraph that wraps up the ideas and demonstrates the significance of the topic. 6.     State all ideas clearly and effectively: remove clutter to be as succinct as possible and edit for errors in grammar and wording Cite your 4-6 sources both in-text and in a Works Cited page according to the MLA8 format directions