Discussion:
Assessment Specifics
Cover Letter
• Minimum 200 words (successful cover letters are often longer)
• Address letter to your instructor
• Answer at least 3 of the 6 questions below; (where applicable) provide brief, specific examples of the following in your cover letter:
o What is your primary motivation or purpose for writing your draft? Who is your intended audience? What revisions did you make in order to improve how you accomplish this purpose and/or appeal to this audience?
o What feedback did you receive from your peers? How did you use this feedback to revise your draft? How do these revisions improve your draft?
o What feedback did you receive from other sources, such as your instructor or tutors? How did you use this feedback to revise your draft? How do these revisions improve your draft?
o What have you decided to revise in your draft, apart from feedback you received? Why? How do these revisions improve your draft?
o What problems or challenges did you encounter while writing or revising your draft? How did you solve them?
o What valuable lessons about writing effectively have you learned as a result of composing this project?
• Place the cover letter at the beginning of your final draft, before the first page of your actual essay draft; delete your purpose statement.
Your Final Draft
• APA or MLA manuscript style, as specified by your instructor
• Observation of the conventions of Standard English
• 1250 word minimum for final draft. This includes the Research Rationale, List of Source Citations and Annotations, and the Topic
Exploration Statement. (The minimum 200 words for your purpose statement is not included in this count.)
Research Rationale
1-2 paragraphs
• Describe the issue, problem, or controversy you are researching;
• Identify the relationship between your topic idea and either one of the CORE READINGS or the theme of the CORE READINGS selected by your instructor;
• Explain the significance or relevance of your research question(s) (to you and to others); and
• Describe what you hope to discover in your research, including 1-3 specific research questions.
List of Source Citations with Annotations
• At least 7 relevant, up-to-date, and credible sources, representing different perspectives, responses, and/or information relevant to the research question(s)
• At least 1 of the CORE READINGS from the Core Readings folder
• At least 5 sources from the Ivy Tech Library subscription databases
• A 7th source, which may be 1 additional database source; 1 additional CORE READING from your section's Core Readings folder; OR a reputable source of some other type (open Web source, video, podcast, personal interview, documentary film, TV news story, etc.).
• Correct Works Cited (MLA) or References (APA) source citations (as assigned by your instructor), arranged alphabetically by author's last name
• Double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font, using hanging indents
• An annotation for each source that includes discussion of all five points for each source (Writer, Publication, Summary, Stance, and Use), each part clearly labeled.
• Each annotation should be 1 paragraph, approximately 5-10 sentences long.
Topic Exploration Statement
3-4 paragraphs.
• Objective and accurate representation of the ideas and information examined.
• Accurate and well-reasoned interpretation and synthesis of the information and ideas discovered about the issue or problem.
• Use of at least 4 relevant and credible sources, cited in-text.
• Use of evidence from sources (at least 8 paraphrases and/or quotations), clearly discernible from each other and from the writer's voice and cited using correct in-text citations.