Media/Technology Research Essay

Compose a research essay of less than eight pages in which you provide information to readers about a concept or concern related to the media or technology. You will need to conduct research to gather information for this essay. You will then incorporate that research into the essay in an effort to explain the concept or concern.

Your emphasis should be primarily on providing information about your topic, but you may also focus some of the essay on complementary goals—perhaps persuading readers about an aspect of your topic or entertaining them to engage their interests. Familiarize yourself with strategies for conveying information, and then compose your essay, making decisions about how best to explain your concepts. 

Here are some strategies for getting started:

• Consider possible topics for an explanatory research essay. Our broad focus will be the media and technology, but you can't write about something that general. You might instead write about the ways teachers are using Twitter, about the future of electric cars, about methods of cleaning oil spills, etc. Identify a topic that is relevant, but narrow enough for you to cover in a research essay of less than eight pages.

• As you plan, think of opportunities to use graphs, charts, or illustrations to help make information evident. You will also want to organize your work clearly. Take notes, make sketches, and think about ways to focus and deliver information. Your overarching goal is to help others make sense of your topic.

• Learn as much as you can about your topic. See the library if you need help with conducting research. Synthesize the sources of information you encounter, identifying key strands of knowledge to share with readers.

• Select the most important points to share with your readers. As you pinpoint pieces of knowledge to share, remember that explanatory research essays should not simply dump data on their readers. Consider how to organize your key points so readers will find them easy to understand.

• Collect the best evidence you can find to convey your information. Take notes from sources you have read and strategize about how you will weave facts, quotations, or examples into the essay.

• Think about how the details and information you provide can be used to make larger points about your topic. You’re not trying to win an argument, but your information can connect with cultural concerns and help you draw conclusions.

• Look at the way your topic is treated in other contexts. Can you refer to some of these other messages to help readers understand the topic? Will you need to address competing claims about your topic.

• Develop an outline, graphic organizer, or some other planning document. Guiding your reader through complex information requires that you present materials in a clear and logical sequence.

The essay will be due on the final day of class.