Assignment 4: Career Research and Reflection
Due Dates: Draft 1 (reflection) Due Wednesday, November 10
Draft 2 (research) Due Monday, November 20
Draft 3 (creative nonfiction) Due Wednesday, November 29
Draft 4 (final revised draft) Due Friday, December 8
Why Write a Career Research
Paper?
In Assignments 2 and 3, you analyzed
the arguments of other texts; now, you are being asked to make your own
argument. It is a very specific kind of
argument, though. You will be arguing
that your chosen career field/major is the right one for you. In order to make this argument, you will
need to look at both personal experience and research about the field. Throughout the semester, we have discussed
how both thesis/support and literary/rhetorical devices (metaphors, reflection)
can be persuasive to readers. You will
now be asked to combine the two in persuading your readers that your chosen
field is the best one for you. Plus,
you can now use the rhetorical techniques discussed during Paper #3 in your own
persuasive writing.
Another benefit: You haven’t been
given much of a choice for topic selection for the last two papers, but as you
can see from the draft dates above, you will write several different types of
drafts, and then you will choose which one to revise, depending on you own
particular writing style and taste.
You will gather the data that will allow you to
write a well-supported and logically sound argument. That data will consist of both primary sources (surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and observation)
and at least 2 secondary sources
(magazines, newspapers, books, government documents, print material from any
campus unit—pamphlets, handouts, flyers, Internet resources). Along with research material, you will also
use personal experience and reflection to further prove your point. Once you
gather and analyze the data, you will write three different drafts.
Draft #1 will discuss your past personal experience
and reflection about the career choice.
Draft #2 will be a more traditional research draft, in which you use primary
and secondary sources to prove your main point about the career. Draft #3 will be a creative nonfiction piece
in which you weave the information from the first two drafts (see “Creative
Nonfiction” handout). You will then
choose to revise either Draft #2 or Draft #3 to complete your career
reflection and research essay of 4-7 pages, including a Works Cited
page.
Using a Reasonable Tone
Remember
that in assignment 3, we identified a credible tone as being important to
persuading an audience. Regardless of
the proposal or the argument made on its behalf, you must adopt a reasonable
tone. The objective is to advance an
argument without speaking in an “arguing” (aggressive) tone. That is why it’s crucial to choose topics
that fall within the realm of policy and logic. It is also crucial that you use reasonable language and adequate
support, that you argue your point logically, and that you use trustworthy and
credible sources, and you must cite these sources correctly. Remember that no one will listen to you if
you quote your Uncle Bob (unless he knows a lot about your topic).
Getting Started
1. Think back to some of the prewriting strategies we used for Paper #1. In your first draft of this paper, you will write using personal experience and reflection. You might want to try making a map of your hometown, high school, or house, as you did for the first paper.
2. Also, try brainstorming about events or people who have influenced your choice of profession. Can you remember what first drew you to the career? Did you consider other careers first?
3.
Begin
researching for the second draft. You
will want to set up interviews and observations of people within the field (or
upper-classmen in your program) you are discussing in the paper. Also, start looking at secondary sources
about your particular career. Look at
the college catalog, recruiting information, information from your courses,
library sources (books, magazines, newspapers), or Internet sources (remember
to check for credibility).
4.
For
the creative nonfiction draft, begin searching for artifacts (report cards,
telephone conversations, community service awards, pictures, etc.) to help in
visually “showing” why you chose the career.
These can be used within the creative nonfiction draft
Amended Syllabus Outline
W Nov 8 Plans for data collections: surveys/ interview
questions, proposals
F
Nov 10 Draft
#1 Due; Discussion of secondary sources—structure options
W Nov 15 Begin
drafting—discuss format and CNF options
F
Nov 17 Drafting
M Nov 20 Draft
#2 Due; Writing Workshop
W Nov 22 Conference
Day—in class conferences
F
Nov 24 No class—Thanksgiving break
M Nov 27 Revision
issues—weaving ideas together—solving structure problems
W Nov 29 Draft
#3 Due; Editing workshop—grammar logs
F
Dec 1 Intro to in-class essay #3 and the mini-portfolio
M Dec 4 In-Class Essay #3
W Dec
6 Preparing the
mini-portfolio
F
Dec 8 Draft #4 Due; Preparing the
mini-portfolio—revision and editing
Mini-Portfolios
due during final exam time (check times);
Course evaluation