Research Essay Assignment from Slavic 231

Professor Łukasz Wodzyński - Slavic

Below is an exemplary high-stakes writing assignment from Professor Łukasz Wodzyński in the German, Nordic, and Slavic+ Department. This assignment demonstrates how you might enable students to write for a specific audience and scaffold your assignment to  incorporate multiple writing tasks.

To download a PDF of the writing assignment, click here.

 

Assignment Language Commentary
Slavic 231: History and Ethics on Film: Polish Cinema

Lukasz Wodzynski

Research essay

Excited by the news of a young film scholar taking the world of academia by storm, the editor of the local film studies journal (The Madison Journal of History, Ethics, and Film) has sent you an impassioned email in which he invites you to contribute a short essay on a subject he’s sure would interest you: Polish cinema. Seeing this as an excellent opportunity to advance in the ranks of film critics, you enthusiastically agree to accept the invitation and submit an essay. The editor leaves you a lot of freedom when it comes to the topic of your essay but to potentially save you some time and stimulate your imagination, he provides you with some topic ideas (see the Suggested Topics document on Canvas).
Central Tasks
Right away, the professor identifies the main task and the audience. He also gives students a clear role (contributing to an academic journal).

 
The submission process has two stages:

  1. Essay proposal outline and presentation
  • Prior to submission of your essay, the editor asks you to submit an outline of your contribution. Your proposal should be 450-600 words long. It must provide:
    • a clearly-defined thesis stating the problem you will address along with an explanation of how your essay will contribute to existing scholarship;
    • summary of the argumentative structure of your paper (no more than 3 medium-sized paragraphs) in which you explain what steps you will take in addressing the issue at hand.
    • bibliography (see below for details).
  • The editor asks you to send him the outline by November 24, which happens to work well with your (intense) writing schedule.
Scaffolded Tasks
The professor requires that students write an outline first. This allows them to get feedback on their ideas early on.

 
    2. Research Essay

  • Given the printing costs, limited space, and other considerations, the editor asks you to fit your essay within the 2,000-2,500-word limit and comply with either MLA or Chicago Style
  • As you are well aware of, your contribution to MJHEF should:
    • present an original thesis, clearly connected to the topic and concerns of the journal and the topic the editor assigned you (Polish cinema);
    • provide clear argumentation in support of your thesis, using evidence when necessary (both primary and secondary sources);
    • demonstrate evidence of secondary reading, meaning you need to refer to at least three secondary sources – scholarly and peer-reviewed books or articles – and reflect this research in your writing, so that your thesis, argumentation, and conclusions account for the findings of other scholars*;
  • *You are free to use online articles, blogs, and Wikipedia in your research, but these sources do not count towards the secondary reading requirement.
Clear Writing Guidelines
The professor identifies the features of a journal article. Offering this list of features can help students who may be unfamiliar with a particular style of writing.

 
Learning outcomes:

Upon completing this assignment, you should be able to:

  • devise an essay topic that demonstrates your knowledge of the class material and communicates your interest in the course themes (ethics, history, film);
  • develop a clearly-defined thesis statement that identifies the problem you seek to address;
  • recognize, identify, and apply the features of an academic essay
  • plan and organize your argument, effectively selecting secondary sources to support your main points;
  • develop examples with specific details to illustrate a point.
  • reflect on the instructor’s feedback and incorporate it in the final version of the essay;
  • follow the academic paper formatting guidelines (MLA or Chicago);

 
Learning Outcomes
The professor identifies the learning outcomes of this assignment. This clarifies for students how their learning will be assessed in the rubric below.

 
Rubric

[See rubric transcription below for full grid.]
Evaluation Criteria
The professor offers grading criteria that connects with the student learning outcomes and writing expectations. In the future, he might consider assigning point values or percentages to indicate each category’s relative emphasis.

 

Grading Rubric for Assignment

CRITERIA POINTS COMMENTS
A. Content and argument (/60)
The author conveys a general appreciation that “poverty” can be conceptualized and measured in different ways /20
The author offers a specific critique (or defense) of the way that the World Bank conceptualizes and measures poverty /20
The author develops their own case for conceptualizing and measuring poverty in a particular way /20
B. Structure and Organization (/20)
An introduction sets out the purpose of the letter /5
A concluding paragraph recapitulates the most important points /5
The letter is clearly organized and flows well from one section to next /10
C. Style and Format (/20)
The letter is correctly formatted /5
The letter contains no spelling or grammar mistakes /5
The tone and language of the letter are appropriate for the audience /10
TOTAL (/100)

 

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