CO150 College Composition

---

Overview:  In the past few weeks, we’ve seen how several authors are immersed in an on-going conversation about environmental concerns, and we’ve asked: what is the rhetoric of green?  As you’ve become more familiar with the conversation, certain questions have likely arisen. The class will now begin to develop a list of these questions within the rhetoric of green that we’d like to find answers to.  You’ll begin by choosing and narrowing an interesting research question. Next, you will go about answering your research question alongside a group of your peers who will be asking similar questions within a guiding topic. Then you will combine your research with your topic group’s, creating a research document that the community can continue to use as a resource throughout the semester. Finally, you will write an inquiry essay which explores in detail the development of your research process, from the seed that began the question, to your informed discovery of the issue’s complexity.

Annotated Bibliography (AB) Overview:  You will be working with a group of classmates to compile an annotated bibliography.  Prior to the formation of groups, you will ask a question you are genuinely curious about that stemmed from the conversations we’ve listened to closely and critically.  Once all students have asked an inquiry question, we will form groups of three-four students whose questions all fall under a similar topic.  Each group member will be responsible for finding sources that best answer their research question. You will document your sources with an annotated bibliography entry, consisting of an MLA citation, a summary of the source, and a response to the source. Once you have found six pertinent sources, you will compile your annotations with your topic group’s to create a community resource.  

AB Process:  Once the topic groups are formed, group members will share their particular research questions with each other.  The group should have a clear understanding of how/why their questions are related.  Each group member will be responsible for finding six sources related to their research question, keeping in mind that they will also need to connect the source to the overarching topic of the group. 

Group Tasks:

• Work as a community of researchers sharing ideas and points of view
• Identify the connection/correlation between the overarching topic and each group member’s specific research question
• Determine the different approaches people may take in looking at the issue by beginning a stakeholder analysis
• Help each other refine your research questions as you proceed 
• Divide group responsibilities; make sure you are not duplicating research
• Share research by reading each other’s annotations
• Compile an annotated bibliography (this should be one, seamless document; it should look like it has only one author)

Individual Tasks:

• Look for informative sources as well as opinionated sources
• Research thoughtfully—don’t just take the first six sources you find.  Be critical, evaluate your sources, and choose authoritative, credible, current, and relevant ones
• Provide a diverse representation of various stakeholders within your issue
• Read closely.  Write an academic summary of each source
• Read critically.  Provide a thoughtful, thorough evaluation of each source
• Keep track of where and how you found your sources so that others may refer to them as needed (i.e.:  collect complete citation information and cite sources in MLA style)

Requirements for the Annotated Bibliography:

• For each source you contributed to the investigation (at least six), provide a citation (MLA style) and an annotation.  The annotation will be approximately one page long (double-spaced) and include a summary of the source and an evaluation of the source’s credibility, authority, and usefulness to your group’s and your investigation.
• Once each member is done with all of their annotations, the group must compile a seamless document, with each entry appearing in alphabetical order (when it is assessed, it will not be necessary for the instructor to delineate who did which annotation, as it is, after all, a group effort).

Materials to Hand In:  Inquiry Essay and Annotated Bibliography: 

• Each member of the group will submit an inquiry essay, telling the story of their research process, and copies of your six annotations. 
• Together, the topic group will submit the group’s combined annotated bibliography, which will include each member’s annotations.  This single, seamless document will be submitted on the class File Folder, for its convenient accessibility as a resource to help with your progression towards academic argument.

Purpose:  The main purpose of the annotated bibliography is to keep track of and share your research with your topic group; the secondary purpose is to demonstrate your research skills as well as your ability to closely read and critically evaluate the sources you find. The purpose of the inquiry essay is to contextualize yourself within the conversation surrounding your issue.

Audience:  Yourself, your group members (who are investigating the same topic with you), your classmates (who may be interested in investigating the topic themselves), and your instructor (who will evaluate your research and reading). 

Inquiry Essay: This will present the story of your research process thus far.  An inquiry essay differs from other traditional academic essays in that its purpose is not to argue for a specific idea, but rather to illustrate your research and thinking process. The essay will help readers understand how you came to chose your questions and discover your position on an issue.  Since it tends to focus more on your thinking process and less on developing a response, this essay will not begin with a thesis claim that you seek to prove.  Instead, your inquiry essay will start with a discussion of your research question.  It will explain why you chose this question and where you stood on the question before you researched it.  Then, your essay will trace your inquiry process by summarizing and responding to three of the most influential articles you encountered during your research (these could be ones you found or ones found by a fellow group member).  At the end of your inquiry essay, you will explain where you currently stand on the issue by stating the claim you are likely to argue in the academic argument.

Requirements for Inquiry Essay:

• State your research question and explain how and why you chose this question.
• Explain your initial response to your research question.  Where did you stand on the issue before you researched it?  Also, explain why you initially responded to the question this way.  What about your values, background, or other factors may have influenced your thinking?  Use personal experience or previous knowledge to support your explanation.
• Summarize three articles that influenced your thinking on this issue.  What is each author’s purpose?  What is their main argument?  Which of their main ideas did you find most influential?  At least ONE of the articles should reinforce your own initial thinking on the issue.  Likewise, at least ONE of the articles should challenge your initial thoughts on the issue.
• Respond to the ideas from the three articles you’ve summarized.  Reflect on your initial responses from your group discussions to show readers how the articles validated or challenged your own thinking.  How did these ideas support or challenge your thinking?  Did you find the ideas in these articles to be credible and reliable?  Why or why not?
• Conclude your essay with a discussion of what you’ve learned from your research.  What do you currently think about your issue?  How have your views changed?  And finally, state your tentative thesis claim for the upcoming academic argument.
• Include an MLA Works Cited page
• Length:  3-4 pages, double-spaced

Details:

• Annotated Bibliography:  MLA style:  Each of your sources needs an MLA citation, followed by an annotation.  Double-space each entry and organize them in alphabetical order (by the author or first word/s of each citation).
• Inquiry Essay:  Center the issue and your research question at the top as the title.  Double-space.  3-4 pages.

Submitting Assignment:

• The annotated bibliography is a group effort, and as such, ONE, seamless document will be submitted on the class File Folder. 
• In addition to the group annotated bibliography, each student will also turn in the individual inquiry essay and copies of their six annotations in a pocket folder with supplemental materials specified in class.

Percentage Value:  20% of semester grade
Due:  TBA