Research essay
The research essay assignment is due on November 19. It must be submitted through SafeAssign as well
as in paper. You are expected to bring to class a complete or nearly complete draft of your essay on November 12.
Choose one of the topics below. Write a six-page argumentative essay that has a strong research component. Essays shorter
than five full pages or longer than seven pages will be returned unread and ungraded. You must follow one of the following
presentation and documentation styles: MLA, APA, or Chicago.
Your essay must use the Times New Roman font, 12-point in size. There must be one inch (2.5 cm) margins on all four
sides of the essay. The essay must have double-spaced lineation. The essay should not have a title page if one is not
required. (Do not include an abstract page.) The essay should be justified on the left margin only: no full justification.
Your essay is an argumentative essay with a research component. Your main argument (your thesis) must be based on your research,
not on your personal opinion. It will probably be a response to one or both of the main academic sources you are using for your
research.
Your essay must use at least two peer-reviewed, academic sources. Academic essays from peer-reviewed journals are the most common
type of source for this. Your essay must include a brief summary of each of your sources and must engage with the scholars’
arguments in some way. Note that it is not sufficient with regards to these two sources to use a quotation to justify one of your
own statements: you must respond to their arguments.
For all the topics, you are required also to use I Am Malala in some way. A good way to use the autobiography is to
establish some context for what you will write about. You can also draw upon various sections of the book for examples of what
your essay is discussing.
You are welcome to use other sources of information. Remember that the value of your essay is partly based on your choice of
appropriate, reliable sources of information and quotations.
Here is the list of topics from which you must choose one:
- education for women in Pakistan and/or Afghanistan (and other Muslim countries, if you would like)
- the conflict between ancient and modern culture in Pakistan (and/or Afghanistan)
- health issues and poverty in Pakistan and/or Afghanistan
- a history of the Taliban
- the legacy of the Nobel Peace Prize
- Malalai of Maiwand and Malala Yousafzai
- the use of Pashto literature in I Am Malala