For this assignment, you will choose a topic, narrow it, research different points of view about it, and identify your audience in order to develop your angle on the topic. 

 

After looking at the list of topics below, which was shared in Week 1's lecture, choose a topic in which you have more than just a passing interest. The best topic to choose is one which impacts you in some way. Having personal experience with the topic will probably lend some perspective on it and may get you closer to an angle on it. Also, sometimes research can be daunting, but if you have personal experience with the topic, or are even passionate about it, you will probably be more motivated to keep working when the "going gets tough."  Thus, while "interest" in a topic is important, mere interest will probably not sustain you through this project. You might ask yourself, "What is it about this topic that sparks my interest enough to write a ten page paper about it?" 

 

Once you choose the topic, please respond to the five questions below. Each of your responses should be approximately two paragraphs in length. This assignment will be graded using the Week 1 Assignment Rubric available in Doc Sharing.

 

Education

Technology

Family

Health and Wellness

School Bullies

Multitasking and Technology

Sexualization of Girls

College Students and Weight Issues

No Child Left Behind Act/Race to the Top

Technology and Social Isolation

Gender Discrimination

Childhood Obesity

Grade Inflation

Perils of Social Networking

Unequal Rights in Marriage, Children

Fad Diets

College Students and Underage Drinking

Online Dating/Online Predators/Sex Offenders

Children of Divorce

Junk Food

Student Debt

Illegal Downloading of Protected Content

Domestic Violence

Sedentary Lifestyles

College Students, Cheating, and Plagiarism

Internet Censorship/ Classified Information Leaks

Cyberbullying

Teenage Pregnancy

College Dropout Rates

Identity Theft

Life-Work (Im)balance/Flexible Work Schedules

Concussions in Athletes

High School Dropouts

Texting and Driving

Insurance Premiums for Smokers and Obese Employees

 

1.     What is your possible topic? Brainstorm five questions about it. In this section pick a topic from the above list and then brainstorm five questions you have about it. If you feel disconnected from the topics on the list, choose one of your own, but make sure it is not an "overused topic," such as abortion, gun control, capital punishment, or legalization of marijuana (unless you have personal experience with the topic and can offer a unique perspective).  Also, beware of current issues that might not be well-researched yet; you may not find enough sources at this time. Your purpose for brainstorming five questions is to narrow the topic to a manageable scope. Who knows, one of the questions may eventually become your research question, the question that directs your entire paper. Need help getting started? See the list of questions below that are related to the following topics: perils of social networking, concussion and athletes, and grade inflation. (The examples below do not include five questions; but yours should.)

 

 

Examples:

Topic: Life-Work (Im)balance/Flexible Work Schedules

Question #1: How can parent create a balance to spend more time with their families?

Question #2: Do long work hours negatively affect family dynamics today?

Question #3: What are the positive and negative effect on children who grew up with nannies?

Question #4: Do companies and large corporations play a role in family breakup?

Question #5:  

 

 

2.     How is the topic important to you and how does it affect you? What do you personally hope to gain or accomplish by writing about this topic? In this section, describe your topic and how it first affected you. Explain why it is important to you. Reflect on how or why your background, motivations, needs, or interests sparked you to choose this topic. The best topics are those that are important to and involve you. 

 

This topic is important to me because in my current position, I work hours which do not provide an adequate work-life balance. In fact, what it does provide is and adequate work-life imbalance. Due to this imbalance, employee morale and production are low. I was instructed during training that my hours would be 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday thru Friday. During training, my hours were fairly like what I was told. However, as soon as training was completed I obtained my own workload and my hours changed drastically. I am unable to leave work until the load is clear. This means that every time an assignment populates on my iPad then I must go to that location and complete the work order. Work orders, also called jobs, can take anywhere from two to five hours. We are unable to leave until the work load for the day is completely cleared and no more jobs are populating on the iPad. There are numerous times when I receive a job which requires four or more hours of work at 5pm. Jobs received at this late hour consistently further delay the time which I can leave because I must navigate to the location of the job through rush hour traffic before I can even start the four or five hours of work. I also now work weekends and my days off are constantly changing. This type of schedule makes it impossible to make any plans with my family and friends. I constantly disappoint my family, friends and my soccer team because I am unable to make commitments due to the hours of work. What I hope to gain from this assignment is an understanding of how this type of imbalance negatively affects employee morae and production. With the research from this paper, I could possibly make a solid case to my supervisor to adjust the hours so that the moral of the employees can be improved with more effective work-life balance.

 

3.     Research your topic and provide a brief summary of the current points of view about the topic. Share at least two different/opposing positions on the topic. While this section asks for summaries of two others' positions, write each summary in your own words. Each should be a paragraph in length. To conduct research on your topic, find at least two credible sources that offer opposing perspectives and summarize those points of view in a paragraph. Additionally, although we will be learning more about APA documentation style next week, use Citation Machine, the DeVry APA Handbook, APA tutorials in the syllabus, and/or Chapter 28 in your textbook to provide full APA references for both sources. (Note: The "click here" for your references is formatted as hanging indent.)

 

 

 

 

 

4.     Describe whom you might choose as your audience. Who are your readers, and what are their needs, motivations, and influences? In what ways will you need to structure your writing to appeal to them? Think about who will need/want to read your paper. What do you need to consider about those readers? Will they be open-minded or antagonistic? Are you outside your group of readers, which means that you need to choose a formal voice and use "they," or are you part of your group of readers, which means that you can use a more conversational voice and use "we"? Analyze the groups and individuals who are reading and writing on your chosen topic. Work to define who they are and how their backgrounds will dictate your writing approach.

 

 

 

5.     What specific issue will you write about within the larger topic, and what unique angle will you provide?

In this section, decide upon and explain which "side" of the argument you are on and what your thesis statement will be. To do that, you should attempt to come up with a question about the topic that you will answer in your paper. Your answer becomes your working thesis statement. For example, you might write the following: "With the growing instances of road rage across the nation, it might be argued that drivers who do not abide by the rules of the road are the cause of road rage (e.g., not using a turn signal when changing lanes; travelling slowly in the left lane when others are trying to pass; not turning into the same lane when turning a corner). If drivers who do not follow the laws are the problem, then shouldn't states require extensive driver's education of all new drivers?" Note that this question can be answered either yes or no. Additionally, the question asks, "Should...." Your question should begin with "should," "must," or "do we need to" because your thesis will be a persuasive, "should," "need to," or "must" statement.

 

 

 

Work life balance

This is important to me because it gives me an understand of the different changes we encounter during work. In order to keep abreast with modern technology workers have to either work long hours, go back to school or enroll in training programs provided by their company. /With the rise of internet and video I have to work long hours to clear a load that to is impractical and reminds me of modern day slavery. The has taken my time away from my family. I connot make plans because im not sure what time my load is clear because there is no set hour to leave.