Research Paper

Overview: For the first research paper, you must research and write about the mass media in America as well as the novel 1984. You will write an argumentative, critical paper which explores one of three topics below.

Robert McChesney, Ben Bagdikian, and Bill Moyers all argue that the current ownership and concentration of our airwaves and media has harmed our ability to be a true democracy. They suggest that the power and wealth amassed by the giant media corporations have made our country evolve into an oligarchy (where a few wealthy individuals determine the laws and rules of our world). Write a paper in response to these ideas about democracy and information control. Remember, 1984 must be a source in this paper, so think of how Orwell’s world is paralleled by the way democracy and personal freedom are being eroded by a small group of people owning the flow of information (much like the novel’s Inner Party).

The world’s media outlets are owned by only a few major corporations—Disney, Viacom, The News Corporation, and Time Warner being the biggest. Write a paper which profiles and critiques one of these specific corporations (you can chose a different media corporation, but you must clear it through me first). You could start by telling your audience where the corporation started, how it got so big, several of its major holdings, and what you think is in store for it in the future. More importantly than the background information, however, you must critique this corporation—is it too big? Is it too powerful? What could be done to make this corporation have less power over society? Remember, this is an argumentative paper, so you need to not just provide a bunch of facts about the company; you must instead critically examine its role in our culture and the future. A good angle to take would be a discussion of how this corporation could lead to an Orwellian world of thought control…

The novel 1984 shows a world in which information, history, and even thought itself is controlled by Big Brother and the Inner Party. Write a literary essay which discuses 1984 in terms of the modern day ownership and control over information, news, history, and the truth. Some questions you may want to answer include: What connections are there between the fictional world of Oceana and the real world as discussed by scholars of the modern media? What technologies do we have today that make the world of 1984 seem plausible? What has stopped us from becoming as bad as Oceana, or what may lead to that eventuality? (You could also include mention of Wag the Dog here as a look at the way a modern day government or media conglomerate could control what we know about the world.) Note that while this is primarily a literary paper, it still must contain scholarly research as support.

Caution: You should not chose Topic 3 unless you are very familiar with writing about literature. There are certain literary terms and concepts which I expect you to be comfortable with in your response here. If are not an English major or have never taken English 1B or other literature courses at a college level, you should instead write about topics 1 or 2.

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A) Two different anthology articles from Navigating America (note that the chapter introductions

*) Your paper will not cite a website unless it is cleared through me personally, and even then, it does not count as one of your five mandatory sources.

*) Your final paper will follow MLA format and include a Works Cited page and formal outline.

*) Your final paper will follow all conventional, mechanical rules of grammar and punctuation.

*) Your final paper will be well organized and have a strong, argumentative thesis which the body proves.

*) Your final paper must be submitted along with the rough drafts and be submitted to turnitin.com by the due date.

Topic/Thesis Proposal (10 Points): Oct 19. You will write at least a one paragraph proposal and at least a sketch outline of your paper plans. I will not grade any research paper unless I’ve approved the topic and seen a research proposal first. See directions online.

Research Days (10 Points each): Oct 19 and 21. We will have research days in which your colleagues, the library staff, and I help you find sources.

Source Samples and Notecards (10 Points): Oct 21. You will submit two journal articles, two books, and full sets of notecards and bib cards for my approval. If you hope to use a website in class, you MUST show it to me on this day as well. See directions online.

Outline Draft (15 Points): Due the day of your conference. Your outline will be a formal, topical outline of the major ideas you plan to cover and the order in which you’ll cover them, including a preliminary thesis statement. Note: your thesis and outline are likely to change as your paper evolves, but by this point, you should have a pretty well thought out outline… See directions online.

Conference/Rough Draft (15 Points): October 26^th through 28th. You will meet with me for a 15 minute paper conference. You must bring the following things to get credit for the conference: 1) a full rough draft of your paper, 2) a full works cited page, and 3) your outline. There will be a sign-up sheet posted on my office door on Tuesday the 20th—all conferences are by appointment only, first come first serve with no make ups.

Peer Critique/Revised Draft: (15 Points): November 2nd. You will bring a revised draft of your paper for your peers to critique in class. Attendance is mandatory, so everyone can get solid feedback before turning in their final papers. You must also bring a copy of your rough draft in electronic format, so you can submit to the website turnitin.com.

Final Draft (150 Points): November 4th. A fully edited and proof-read final draft of the paper is due.

**Mandatory Elements**

Your final paper will not be graded without the two mandatory elements below:

1) Paper Proposal: The paper proposal assignment is due on October 21. If you do not submit this proposal and get official approval of your topic, I will not grade this research paper.

2) Turnitin.com: You must save an electronic copy of the paper and submit it to the anti-plagiarism site, turnitin.com. We will go over how to submit your paper to this site, and you will see how it can be useful in helping you root out inadvertent plagiarism or citation errors. I will not grade any research paper that does not get a passing originality report from turnitin.com

Reserved Books: The following is a list of books on reserve at our library. They are all for a 2 hour maximum check out time, but you can make copies and take notes in that time. These are books that are often helpful, so I wanted to put them on reserve, so every student gets a chance at the information.