Human/Nature

Research Inquiry Paper:

An Environmental Conflict As Seen Through One Perspective
As you know, this term, a group of you will be examining a particular conflict between humans and nature.
This assignment will allow you to explore, in depth, that conflict through the perspective of one of the
stakeholders. This project addresses (at least) three of the main !"T goals# communication through
group work and writing, critical thinking and in$uiry through doing independent scholarly research% and the
diversity of human experience through examining one uni$ue perspective on the problem.
After you have educated yourself about the conflict, you will need to talk amongst your group and identify
the key stakeholders involved in the conflict. Then, you will need to decide which stakeholder each of you is
going to research. &ach of you will be looking at a different perspective'understanding of the problem and
as a finished product write a ()* page research paper which includes the following#
A brief introduction and explanation of the current conflict. (This may be very similar to
other people in your group.)
A more in depth explanation of the particular view'stakeholder and their experiences and
perspective within the current conflict.
A proposed course of action as to how to alleviate or address the conflict from that
stakeholder+s position.
This paper should be written in third person from the perspective of an outsider trying to understand
the conflict from this particular stakeholder+s position. ,n your electronic maga-ine, your voice may
change and may take on a first person perspective. !ote that everyone in the group needs to either write
in first person or third person for the maga-ine so it is consistent. This work needs to be analy-ed and
explained using reputable sources. .y advice is that you use direct $uotes sparingly as they can
impact your voice and the coherence of your paper. ,nstead, , recommend that you paraphrase
fre$uently. To clarify, a $uote is a passage taken word for word from the source and $uotations
around the phrase'sentence are used to indicate this. A paraphrase is when an idea'information is taken
from a source but you write it in your own words. This should also be cited but you don+t need to put
$uotations around the paraphrase. If you take information from a source an o not cite it! this is
plagiarism an you "ill receive a failing grae for your paper# "tudents can actually be dismissed
from the niversity for plagiarism. ,t is a serious offense. /ou will need to have a minimum of 0
sources. 1f those sources, 2 need to be from a peer reviewed source, i.e. a journal from the library
database or a book. /our research paper should be incorporated into the electronic maga-ine in a
condensed form.
3inally, you should include with your paper a 4orks 5ited or 6ibliography in .7A or A8A format.
3or each source (book, article, etc.) that you have used (i.e. cited in your paper), include a
bibliographical entry in proper format. There are multiple sources on line that show you how to cite in
text and well as in the works cited or bibliography.
Steps for the pro$ect
9. After you have identified the particular stakeholder that you are investigating, gather initial materials
A!: read them in order to understand the conflict more fully and your stakeholder+s position
specifically. 4hen you feel that you have a good understanding, write a research prospectus with an
annotated bibliography. This is due Thursday, April ;<
th
. The research prospectus is one page which
includes your working thesis and the general plan for each of the sections of your paper. Attached to
this one page is your annotated bibliography which is the appropriate citation (A8A or .7A) for each
article followed by a paragraph explanation which summari-es the content of the article A!: how you
intend to use it in your paper. ,f your prospectus shows a clear and workable organi-ation, no outline
will be re$uired for your polished draft. =owever, if , feel that you are still unclear on your
organi-ation and direction, you will be asked to include an outline as well with your polished draft.
;. !ext, you will write a polished draft which is due Thursday, .ay 9(
th
. A polished draft is not a rough
draft. >eneral editing and spelling issues should already be addressed. ,n a polished draft , should be
able to#
,dentify a thesis and see it developed throughout the paper.
5learly identify an introduction and conclusion.
?ecogni-e the significant sections of the body of the paper.
"ee that major editing'grammar issues are addressed.
&ven though you may still need additional information, all your sources should be cited in this paper
and you should include 4orks 5ited'6ibliography so , can see if you are doing this correctly. There
will probably still be clarity and development issues in this paper. %efore haning in your polishe
raft! each of you is to make an appointment "ith the "riting center to have someone help you
"ith your papers# 8lease bring the assignment to your session at the writing center. 8lease have the
person you conference with, sign or initial the polished draft of your paper. .ake sure you bring the
assignment so they know clearly the expectations.
2. The final draft is due Tuesday @une 2
rd
.
=ere is the grade breakdown for each of the sections#
?esearch 8rospectus and Annotated 6ibliography (A
8olished :raft BA
3inal :raft 9;A
Some "ors a&out strategy
C /our goal is to present the views of the individual'group you are investigating. Thus your presentation
and paper is not your response or reaction, agreement or disagreement with those views. ?ather your paper
is an effort to analy-e and, based on the evidence of your research, reveal the perspective of this one
particular stakeholder.
C A primary goal of this project is to gain practice doing authoritative and scholarly research. /ou should
carefully and consistently follow the .7A style or A8A style for documenting sources.
C /our paper should be based primarily on library research (which includes using the library databases),
including books, essays, and articles. &ncyclopedia and dictionary entries are useful as bibliographical
toolsDi.e., to find leads to more in)depth sourcesDbut should not be used as sources for you paper. Also,
you certainly may (and should) use the web as a bibliographical tool, but for this paper you may use
internet sources only if you can demonstrate that nothing comparable is available in print in the 8"
library.
C =ow many sources should you useE There is no fixed $uota. ,n my personal experience, , have found
that , usually look at twice as many sources as , end up using. Therefore, , recommend that you examine
at least twelve sources if you are to find six that you cite in your paper.
C 1n several occasions (to be announced) we will probably be having informal discussion of paper topics
and peer review of drafts in the mentor sections or main class.