The main objective of bringing in speakers for the Delicate
Balance class is to introduce you to a variety of contemporary environmental
challenges and to give you the opportunity to become familiar with the relevant
academic literature related to these challenges. The final paper project represents an opportunity for you to
select an issue of your choice to research, write a paper, and present your
findings to the class. The research
you conduct for your paper must involve substantial research of the academic
literature.
In general, your paper (minimum length: 15 double spaced,
typed pages) should consist of three broad sections. The first section of your paper should be the introduction.
In this section, you must clearly articulate a clear and concise thesis
statement, which you plan to defend using evidence found in the body of the
text. Prior to developing your thesis statement, you should frame one or more
research questions that guide your initial research phase. Once some preliminary
research has been conducted you can then begin to construct your thesis
statement. Additional research will then be conducted to gather evidence in
support of your thesis.
As you gather more evidence, it may be necessary to re-frame your thesis statement. The introduction can also contain background information on the environmental issue you have chosen. Essentially, the body of your paper will begin to link various related research articles from the relevant academic literature providing evidence in support of the thesis statement presented in the introduction. The final section of your paper is the conclusion. In this section you should again refer to your thesis statement and summarize the evidence you have gathered in support of your thesis statement.
It is important to understand that this paper must be your own work. Do not be under the impression that a plagiarized paper (or any portion thereof) will go unpunished. The Griswold library just purchased the license to Turnitin.com, a software search engine that checks papers against billions of pages of journals, books and student papers.
Due on September 22 (Thursday)
Project/Paper Proposal
The research proposal should contain your initial thesis
statement along with the research questions used to guide your exploratory
research. The proposal should contain references as well as a short analysis on
what you believe will be the expected findings.
In past years, topics for Delicate Balance papers included:
oil drilling in Alaska, environmental effects of food production system in the
US; a history of the modern zoos; the ecology of the eastern coyote, and others
Due on October 20 (Thursday) Bibliography and Outline
At this stage in your research, you should have collected
and reviewed all the literature you plan to use to write your final paper. As a
result, you must submit a complete bibliography, along with an outline of your
final paper.
Due on November
3 (Thursday) Draft of final research paper for peer review
Due on November 14 (Monday) . Final Paper
Your final paper is due in class.