The research should guide you into the paper and give you substantial facts and concrete evidence to work with, as well as other voices and opinions about the subculture you choose. You will research an aspect of your subculture that relates very closely to your personal experiences. Therefore, your personal stories and your research should complement (or complicate) each other; your research may help you to expand your knowledge of your culture, but your experiences may also challenge scholarly accounts of that culture. You will become a source in this paper. You will still be moving continually between claims and evidence between concrete, vivid details of experience and your answer to the So what? but the evidence will also come from your personal experience. You will need to find primary and secondary sources: Primary Sources are contemporary accounts of the topic you are writing about. They are usually written by a person who experienced it. They can include diaries, memoirs, scientific academic journals, speeches, interviews, blogs, websites. They can also be newspaper or magazine articles, audio or video recordings, research reports, social science books, and literary works. Secondary Sources interpret and analyze primary sources. They give the reason why. They comment and build upon primary sources. They are usually published works, such as journals, articles or books. For your final paper, you should cite a minimum of four sources: at least two primary sources and one secondary sources. Two of your sources need to be academic sources. You will need to look into many more sources to get a feel for what people are saying about the issue and to make sure the sources you do quote are representative, especially significant, or for some other reason worthy of inclusion in your paper. When you write, consider who your audience is, the context for your essay, and what your purpose is. For example: What does your audience want to know? Why? What can they gain? Remember to ask yourself all sorts of questions while conducting your research and in the beginning stages of this essay. A place to start is to have a list of questions you have about your topic, and then conduct research to find sources that will answer those questions. Begin by writing down notes of the rituals, hierarchies, language practices, and significant artifacts of your subculture. You may want to start with one piece of evidence from your personal archive (such as a photo, a significant quotation, a letter, a ticket stub, etc.) as a way into your paper or as a focal point. Think about what this subculture provides to its members. How does your subculture differ from others? You should make sure your topic is narrow enough to really explore in that space. Remember, you are not reporting back on a conversation going on somewhere else, but asserting yourself within that conversation. Write something valuable that benefits the conversation about your subculture. Length: 5-7 pages. CHOOSING YOUR SUBCULTURE: A subculture is defined as a group that has beliefs and behaviors that are different from the main groups within a culture or society. For this essay we will broaden this definition to include social groups that YOU belong to. Think about the brainstorming you did in week one when you chose which identity you would write about for your “How to Become a . . . ” Here is a list of some of the subcultures students have written about for this assignment:Gamers, Skaters, Mothers, Hikers/Outdoors Culture, Military, Polygamy, Musicians, Artists, LBGTQ, Fan Fiction, Fashion, Live Action Role Play, Feminists, Cascadia. Do not worry right now whether or not your subculture will “work” for this assignment. Compose lists of the different issues you see in your subcultures to see what idea might be worth exploring in your essay. For example, a student belonged to the subculture of mothers, but her claim had to be more specific than that. The focus of her research essay then became the criticism from other mothers and the effects of such judgment. I have read essays about gender inequality in the gaming world, growing up in a polygamist family, and the demise of certain music scenes. So again, once you secure the subculture you will write about, begin to think of possible thesis statements. As soon as possible, send me a message that explains which subculture you would like to write about and why. AVOID THE WHALE RESEARCH ESSAY! There is a certain type of research essay that I refer to as the whale essay. It is similar to research essays we wrote when we were younger. For example, if we were writing about whales we might think to include where whales live, what they eat, how they live, etc. We would give all the facts about whales. We are not writing this type of essay. This is still a thesis-driven essay. It is not as factual as it is argumentative. You already have opinions/claims about your subculture. You have authority to write about this subculture because you belong to it. You will use personal experiences as examples/support of the claims you make. You will state your main claim/thesis and then conduct research to see what a variety of sources say about the same issue. This essay is designed so that you engage in a conversation with other sources about your subculture. You are not necessarily looking for all of your sources to agree with you.
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