Research Paper

Due Sunday, July 14th at 11:59 pm

225 Points (22.5% of your grade for the whole term)

Writing a persuasive essay involves trying to convince your reader of a certain point. For this essay you will incorporate outside research ( at least 5 sources) in order to strengthen your argument.

RESEARCH PAPER TOPIC:

For your research paper, you will be selecting a recent American scandal and make an argument about the following questions: Who is most responsible for what happened? What societal forces allowed this to happen?

We've already practiced doing this with our essays about Aaron Hernandez--we used the "scandal" of what happened with Hernandez to make an argument about who or what should bear most of the blame for the events that occurred.

The scandal or topic you choose is up to you, but here are some options/topics I thought of (I encourage you to think of your own!):

The college entrance bribe scandal
The Jussie Smolett case
The "Fake Heiress" Anna Delvey
The R. Kelly accusations and documentary
Michael Jackson and the Leaving Neverland documentary
Elizabeth Holmes and the fall of Theranos
The opioid crisis and subsequent lawsuits
The death of Nipsey Hussle
I encourage you to think of your own! If you have another idea, send me a Canvas Inbox message!

Guidelines for Writing

Since this is a research paper, you should be using at least 5 outside sources that you find through the LASC library or LASC library’s electronic resources. You may use ONE source that you find outside of this as long as you can convince me that it is from a reliable source.

Your essay should be between 5-7 pages.
The thesis should provide an overview of your argument about the topic you have selected--who should be held most responsible and what societal forces allowed it to happen.
The rest of your essay will provide support for your argument.
You should use correct MLA style in-text citations and a Works Cited page to cite your sources. If you do not cite your sources, you are plagiarizing.
The sources cited inside of your essay must match the sources found in your Works Cited page. If you cite a source in your essay, it must appear in the Works Cited page. In the same way, only sources that you actually cite in your essay should be included in your Works Cited page.

To see a sample research paper, please click: Sample Research Paper Sandusky Scandal