Essay #2: A Paper in your Field
DESCRIPTION
Your second paper should be a 3-5 page paper, formatted according to whatever guidelines are most commonly used in your major.
You must use at least three outside sources for the paper. This can include direct quotes, summaries, or paraphrases. Remember that using a source requires a Works Cited page. Also keep in mind that Wikipedia is never an acceptable source for an academic essay. Since anyone can edit the articles on it, there is no way to tell if the information is authoritative. Having said that, looking up your topic on Wikipedia can be quite helpful, and often Wikipedia’s cited sources are great. Looking up those sources and then citing the sources directly is perfectly acceptable as long as the source is authoritative.
TOPIC
The topic of this paper should relate to food and must be analytical in some way, but otherwise, it can be very open-ended. If you plan to pursue a biology degree, your paper might look into the biology of one food. If you plan to go into the medical profession, your paper might be about obesity or other food-correlated illnesses. If you are going into sociology, your paper might be about food security in low income families.
Enough examples? You get the picture. If you are unsure which direction your academic career will take you, pick a field you might go into. Also, best way to understand how to write to a specific field is to read other papers by people in that specific field. Use google scholar or the UAF library database as much as possible.
YOUR GRADE
An A+ paper will display the following qualities:
- 3-5 properly formatted pages, plus a Works Cited page
- Nearly perfect grammar and spelling
- A clear thesis statement that is placed at the end of the first paragraph with organized paragraphs that support that thesis
- 3 Sources that are authoritative (NOT Wikipedia)
- See Rubric for details
*Once you’ve turned your paper in, I will grade your draft, and advise you on changes that need to be made. Should you choose to revise, I will replace your first grade with the revised grade. The revision is due two weeks after the first draft. See course calendar for dates.