Queen Essays

ENG102_MH_V5 | Writing Assignment 6: Research Story

Sign-up For StraighterLine Updates

© 2023 StraighterLine. All rights reserved    

Assignment Guide: Research Story

Assignment OverviewAssignment OverviewAssignment OverviewAssignment Overview What is a Research Story?

 Research stories share an inquiry process you have conducted; in story form, it discusses how you went about researching a topic, and ultimately, what you learned by conducting the inquiry. The research story should be highly understandable to anyone reading about your experience, regardless if they have read your Research Essay.

What is meant by a research “story?”

In this assignment, you can see yourself as a scholar who embarked on a journey to learn, and ultimately, to prove something about your chosen topic.  You certainly faced many challenges, with perhaps the most important one being convincing your audience that your claim is worth considering. Like any personal narrative, you can share this journey in first person, as you are the protagonist—the main hero.  Telling the story of your research process and then reflecting on it should not only provide closure to your research experience, but also to enlighten any reader who wants to learn about your encounter with a research project.

 

In what format do I share my Research Story?

Your Research Story will be divided into three sections—each with a noted header: An introduction, the research process, and a discussion. Each section entails the following:

1. The Introduction: Your introduction should begin with a “hook” to engage the reader in your initial research question and the topic you explored. The introduction will also establish the importance and relevance of the conducted research.

2. The Research Process: This is where you take the audience on a narrative journey sharing with them “the story” of how your research began—all the twists, turns, ups, downs— and how it ended. Be descriptive, exploratory, and detailed. 

3. The Discussion: This section asks you to draw a conclusion about the research journey. The discussion allows you to share with your audience what you learned (or didn’t learn) from conducting the research. You might also discuss why the audience should care about something you have written—what you find relevant about the topic and the inquiry you conducted.

 

What should the tone of my Research Story be?

Unlike other academic essays, the Research Story’s tone can look, sound and feel like many things. Most importantly, tone can have an important effect on your audience’s experience with and interpretation of your voice and story. Consider the following types of tone:

Inspiring Humorous Passionate  Emotional Boastful Technical Conversational Academic

 

Who is my audience?

A research story is written for a general audience—not a community of experts on your chosen research topic. Thus, you may need to explain things a little more than you would to a group of individuals well-versed on your topic.  First and foremost, do not assume that your audience has read your Research Essay.  You’ll want to be extremely explicit as you introduce, illustrate, and discuss your research process.

Last modified: Monday, January 24, 2022, 1:19 PM

ABOUT US CAREERS PARTNERS PRESS BLOG

Questions? Call Toll Free (877) 787-8375 or Chat with an Enrollment Counselor

Email Get Updates

Live Chat (877) 787-8375Courses College Credit Credit Transfer My Line Help Center My Account 0

ENG102_MH_V5 | Writing Assignment 6: Research Story

Sign-up For StraighterLine Updates

© 2023 StraighterLine. All rights reserved    

Grading Guide: Research Story ENG 102 Rubric: Research Story

Grading Requirement: 750 words and three subheadings

0-1 Points 2 Points 3 Points

Section 1: Introduction/Thesis/ Theme (20%)

An opening “hook” or sentence or two meant to engage the reader in the topic.

Necessary background information about inquiry.

The lesson learned (thesis) may not be explicitly stated in the introduction, but the overall theme is clearly inferred.

The introduction does not inform the reader, and does not forecast the essay with an overview and thesis/theme.

An adequate introduction informs the reader, and an attempt at an overview and thesis/theme is evident.

A comprehensive  introduction engages the reader and forecasts the essay with an effective overview and thesis/theme.

Section 2: The Research Process (40%)

This is an exploratory section where the writer makes connections between stages of the research journey. 

This section will describe the steps the writer undertook throughout the research journey.

The writer does not portray the narrative in a manner or format that effectively helps the reader to understand the point of the story, or how one event led to another illustrating a clear and coherent research story.

Overall, the writer may or may not include enough details into the narrative to clearly connect to the point of the research story, or to the progression of their process for research. As well, some details may be irrelevant to the writer’s experience. 

The writer uses effective exploratory details to outline the point of each stage of the story. The story illustrates a certain and thoughtful research process.

Section 3: The Discussion  (30%)

This section is an analytical  reflection of the research experience.

This section will include a clear  statement about the lesson learned during the research journey.

The discussion section does not explore the importance of the overall experience; the lesson learned, or thesis, is not clearly stated or is missing completely.

The discussion section attempts to  illustrate the importance of the author’s experience. The lesson learned, or thesis, may need to be clarified in some way; it may or may not be disconnected from the events narrated or contradictory.

The discussion section explicitly illustrates the importance or relevance of the author’s experience.  The lesson learned, or thesis, is clear and reiterated in a meaningful way. 

Language and Style (10%)

Sentence Structure (Grammar) Word Choice/Vocabulary (Redundancy, repetition, awkwardness)

Overall, the writer’s use of language and style lacks development.

Overall, the writer’s use of language and style is proficient.  Overall, the writer’s use of language

and style is excellent.

Mechanics, Grammar, Punctuation (5%)

Comma errors, comma splices, apostrophe errors, capitalization errors, semicolon errors, colon errors, typos/misspellings

The work is unpolished with 4 or more repetitive grammatical, mechanical, and/or punctuation errors. 

The work is somewhat polished with 3 or less repetitive grammatical, mechanical, and/or punctuation errors.  The work appears polished with 2 or

less repetitive grammatical, mechanical, and/or punctuation errors.

Formatting  (5%)

MLA formatting: Heading (name, assignment name, course name, date), original title, header (page numbers), line-spacing (double-spaced), 1” margins, and 12-point font size. Underlined thesis statement.

3 Sections with subheadings:(1) Introduction, (2) Research Process, and (3) Discussion.

Meets little to none formatting requirements. 

Meets most formatting requirements.

Meets all formatting requirements. 

The thesis is underlined. If the thesis statement is not underlined, the essay cannot score above a 2.

 

Last modified: Monday, December 5, 2022, 5:02 PM

ABOUT US CAREERS PARTNERS PRESS BLOG

Questions? Call Toll Free (877) 787-8375 or Chat with an Enrollment Counselor

Email Get Updates

Live Chat (877) 787-8375Courses College Credit Credit Transfer My Line Help Center My Account 0

ENG102_MH_V5 | Writing Assignment 6: Research Story

Sign-up For StraighterLine Updates

© 2023 StraighterLine. All rights reserved    

Assignment Prompt: Research Story Overview 

For this assignment, you are going to compose a narrative of your research experience. You will draw a conclusion from your experience and communicate to your audience why what you said was important. That is, what is the importance of the research journey for you or for others? Focus on a take away from your research journey and focus on the events that led you to draw this conclusion.

Expectations

This assignment allows you to reflect upon and narrate the experience and the value of the research process. It is open form, and as such, the expectations for how to approach the topic itself is largely dependent on your own personal experience. The thesis, or conclusion, you have made about the research process can be featured as a sentence in the introduction or it can be delayed until the last paragraph where you discuss the larger implications of your experience.

Requirements

Length: a minimum of 750 words

Document Formatting:  MLA formatting: Heading (name, assignment name, course name, date), original title, header (page numbers), line-spacing (double-spaced), 1”margins, and 12-point font size, Times New Roman or sans-serif font. Underlined thesis statement.

Include a subheading for each section of this story: (1) Introduction (2) Research Process (3) Journey

Genre/Style: Reflection, exploratory, and narrative. This is a genre of writing that is hybrid and borrows from several genres listed above. Tone can be informal or formal with a focus on being reflective, introspective, and thoughtful. There should be an introduction to the background of what led you to the project, a body that maps your experiences, and a discussion that suggests the importance of the journey to you and others. You may use "I" or a first-person pronoun.

Sources: No sources are required; however, if part of your narration reflects upon how one piece of research changed your initial opinion, that source should be mentioned in text and cited properly at the end of the assignment. MLA formatting is required if any source is introduced.

Organization

Your paper should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

You may find it easy to start with giving some background on why you chose your research question, moving to the experience you had, and ending with a discussion of the importance of your experience for yourself and others. Consider following the template below:

Your Research Story will be divided into three sections—each with a noted heading.

1. The Introduction (one or two paragraphs): 

This is where you introduce your reader to the context of your inquiry. Begin with a “hook” to invest your readers in your story. In this section, you will discuss what led you to the topic, any experience or background you feel your readers need to understand your journey, which research question guided your inquiry, and possibly a conclusion you have drawn from the research process. That conclusion (thesis) can be explicitly stated in the introduction or delayed until the final discussion section.

2. The Research Process (the body of the essay consisting of multiple paragraphs, one paragraph per episode or event): 

This is where you take the audience on a narrative journey sharing with them “the story” of your research process. You may choose to follow how you tried to answer your research question, or how your initial opinion was challenged after coming into contact with a source, or how you struggled to navigate digital information. The focus is up to you However, there should be a focus. We don’t need to know everything. Choose something you feel is important and select the experiences that led to that illumination. Consider narrating the twists and turns of your journey and aligning the narrative events with the conclusion you have drawn from the research process. Be descriptive, exploratory, and detailed.

3. The Discussion (one to two paragraphs): 

This section asks you to process and analyze the experience you had while researching. The discussion is the place to make the conclusion you have drawn about your research journey crystal clear. If you didn’t mention that statement in the introduction, it must be mentioned here. The discussion allows you to share with your audience what you learned (or didn’t learn) from conducting the research or what was important about having a particular experience while researching. You could also discuss the relevance of your paper to yourself or to an audience.

       

       

Last modified: Monday, June 6, 2022, 2:45 PM

ABOUT US CAREERS PARTNERS PRESS BLOG

Questions? Call Toll Free (877) 787-8375 or Chat with an Enrollment Counselor

Email Get Updates

Live Chat (877) 787-8375Courses College Credit Credit Transfer My Line Help Center My Account 0

ENG102_MH_V5 | Writing Assignment 6: Research Story

Sign-up For StraighterLine Updates

© 2023 StraighterLine. All rights reserved    

Example: Color-Coded Research Story Last Name 1

First Name Last Name

English Composition II

Research Story

2 October 2021

More is Not Better: My Journey to Narrowing My Search

The Introduction (8)

“Code Red, Code Red. Active Shooter! Lockdown!” These are the words every school child dreads hearing. They send

shivers up your spine and your heart into palpitations. (1) Every school child in schools all over the United States has now

experienced this panic. Since the mid 90s, we have seen more and more violent episodes taking place inside schools.

Columbine shook the nation and Sandy Hook shocked every American. It seems every year we learn of a new attack and see

more school children die at the hands of disgruntled shooters. I’ve often wondered what to do about the school violence

problem. Ever since I was young I can remember turning off the lights, barring the doors to our classrooms, moving away from

visible, open spaces, and taking cover behind desks, in closets, remaining calm and quiet. We have gone through active

shooter drills in school learning what to do should we ever be in that dreadful situation. It made me often wonder what actions

administrators and legislators have proposed to proactively protect students rather than asking students to be on defense as

targets. (2)I decided to pursue answering the research question “what is the best way to decrease gun violence in the

classroom” as a general guiding question thinking that more topics to discuss would make a longer and more impressive paper;

however, in the process of research I found that if I wanted to be successful in argument I must narrow my inquiry because the

topic was expansive; I needed to craft specific reasons to convince my audience, and I could not do that if I was constantly

hopping from solution to solution. (3)

The Research Process (8)

Although I was committed to taking the easy way and churning out eight pages of text, I soon discovered if I wanted to have

a solid, successful argument I was going to have to narrow my research question (4). I began my search reading the general

overviews of the subject on “Opposing Viewpoints.” It became clear this was a huge topic with many different strong solutions.

There were the ban all guns people. There were the arm the teachers people. Both of these options seemed to represent

complete opposite sides of the spectrum. There were answers that seemed to occupy the middle positions, too: fund mental

health resources in the school, increase the number of resource officers on campus, and make sure all schools have proper

security installations including locking doors and metal detectors. My head was swimming with information. (5) If I wrote a paper

that really looked at all the answers to the initial research question I posted, my paper would have to be 100 pages long. I didn’t

sign up to write a book! (6)

I selected the one solution to the problem of school gun violence that initially seemed reasonable to me.(4)I read through

the list of various answers and the accompanying analysis, which took some time, as I sought out balanced opinions. One idea

seemed to strike me as extremely interesting: arming teachers in the classroom. Yes, I initially thought that this idea seemed to

be strong and appealing to me. Teachers should be equipped to protect their students, and if potential active shooters knew that

teachers were armed, then they might be convinced opening fire on a school was not such a great idea.(5) I was on a quest to

support this solution as the best solution to the gun violence in school problem; therefore, this specific research inquiry began to

guide my research. (6)

Now that I had my narrowed question, I could begin to take a deep dive into the merits and drawbacks of arming teachers.

(4)I began pouring through data, analysis, and expert testimony on all sides of the issue and from multiple perspectives. I

sought out sociologists’ opinions, those who specialize in gun violence, teachers’ responses, reports of mishandling of weapons

in the classroom, teachers unions, and event analysis. Even though I thought I really had my mind made up about the solution I

had chosen, I tried to remain open and critical of each source I read. I read each account rhetorically looking for the author’s

attempts to persuade the intended audience. I applied what I had learned about rhetorical analysis in order to reflect upon each

source. (5)I really enjoyed reading these multiple perspectives critically, and I believe this process helped lead me to a different

thesis than the one I originally thought I would defend. (6)

Although my initial gut reaction was that arming teachers was the answer to school shootings, I came to the conclusion that

there were few merits to arming teachers in the classroom, and I had settled on my answer to the research question: arming

teachers to help prevent school shootings was an unreasonable idea.(4) For one, the cost to properly train and provide

teachers with weapons was a costly undertaking. Many school districts struggled to provide PPE and cleaning supplies for their

own campuses during the pandemic. The cost of firearms and ballistics and proper handling and sharp shooting training was

astronomical in comparison. Second, teachers don’t want to be armed. Research showed that it was an unfavorable idea

amongst teachers, teachers unions, and administrators. Third, in a high pressure situation, even a trained individual is unlikely

to always hit their target without injuring an innocent bystander. This creates a huge problem for schools and teachers in terms

of wrongful death and private lawsuits. Insurance coverage alone would be another added cost schools would not be able to

provide. Further, research has shown that violence is more likely to happen in places where people have guns even if those

firearms were initially meant for protection and defense. Last, school shooters largely are not deterred by the possibility they will

get shot. Most school shooters have determined they will not survive the attack, so arming teachers was not a deterrent.(5)

There were so many more drawbacks of arming teachers I could not ignore just how unreasonable such a solution was; it was

clear where this research journey pointed me. (6)

It was then I landed on my thesis statement: Due to cost, training, unfavorability among teachers, and chance for increased

violence, arming teachers in the classroom to prevent school shootings was infeasible(4)I had many strong reasons to support

this claim, and I even had spent time thinking about the initial perceived positives of arming teachers and was prepared to

respond to them in refutation and rebuttal. It helped I remained open throughout the research process allowing data and expert

opinion to guide my inquiry. As stated before, my initial thought was that arming teachers was a good idea.(5) I was ready to

start outlining my reasons and thinking through the particulars of each. I was grateful I made this discovery early in the research

process because If I had continued down the path of arguing the merits of each solution, I would have had a wandering

research argument! (6)

The Discussion (8)

One conclusion I arrived at was that even though I was overwhelmed at the prospect of writing a research paper due to the

length and amount of required research, that more content to present was not always better. I thought if I selected a big topic

with lots of answers I could then be relieved I would have plenty to write about. However, it became clear pretty quickly I

needed to zero in on one solution if I wanted to convince my reader of anything. If I had proceeded with my original plan, my

paper would have read like an encyclopedia entry instead of an argument. If I were to have made any persuasive moves in that

kind of an essay my essay would have had to have been long as a dissertation. By focusing on one solution and looking at the

merits or drawbacks I was able to craft reasonable arguments that connected with my readers.(7)

1. Hook

2. Story Setup

3. Thesis Statement

4. Topic Sentence

5. Narration

6. Transition

7. Conclusion and Analysis

8. Subsections to Divide the Three Components of the Story

Last modified: Thursday, October 28, 2021, 10:12 AM

ABOUT US CAREERS PARTNERS PRESS BLOG

Questions? Call Toll Free (877) 787-8375 or Chat with an Enrollment Counselor

Email Get Updates

Live Chat (877) 787-8375Courses College Credit Credit Transfer My Line Help Center My Account 0