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Informative Research Essay Assignment
Write an Informative (also known as an Expository) Essay. The function of the informative/expository essay is to explain, or to acquaint your reader with a body of knowledge, you do not present your opinion, but “inform or educate the audience on a given topic” (The KU Handbook for Writer). By explaining a topic to the reader, you are demonstrating your own knowledge. You will be using The Writing Process – you have the handout in your folder. Your pre-write will be done as an OUTLINE – example below. You will do in-text citation within the essay – examples are below.
Your paper must be typed, MLA heading, Times New Roman font, 12 size type, and double-spaced, don’t forget your title.
Paper Topic:
a. You are going to research a major figure in the Civil Rights Movement. You may select a person from the list below. If you would like to research someone else, you must get permission from Mraz. You may not select James Baldwin.
b. Topic Choices:
1. Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. Malcolm X
Grading:
a. The following items will be included as a part of your grade:
1. Research (20 points)
2. Outline (20 points)
3. Rough Draft (20 points)
4. Revision – done in one color on the rough draft (10 points)
5. Edit/Proofreading – done in a different color on the rough draft (10 points)
6. Peer editing (20 points)
7. Final Draft (112 points, graded on a 4-point rubric)
8. Bibliography/Word Cited (10 points)
Total possible points – 222
b. There will be spot checking and grading throughout this process – make sure you have items finished when they are due!
c. Grading Rubric and forms will be handed out
Parts of the Research Paper:
a. Introduction Paragraph
b. Body Paragraphs
c. Conclusion
d. Bibliography/Work Cited
Research Available and Requirements:
a. In this packet you will find several sources.
1. One primary source about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
2. Two secondary sources about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
3. Three or more web links with more information about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X
b. If you choose your own topic, you are responsible for finding ALL your own research.
c. You must find two (or more) additional sources about Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X.
d. The sources must be reliable and accurate.
e. You are required to use at least three sources:
1. You must use at least one or more of the attached sources, if your paper is about Martin Luther King, Jr. or Malcolm X
2. You must use at least one source that you find yourself.
OUTLINE EXAMPLE
I. Introduction
i. Background information
- James Baldwin was born in Harlem on August 2, 1924 and died from stomach cancer on November 30, 1987. (Solomon, par. 3).
- He is known for his writing, which dealt with issues of identity, race and sexuality.
- Baldwin is a unique figure in the Civil Rights Movement because he was not only African American, but also homosexual, so he faced many areas of discrimination.
ii. Importance
- Baldwin is a critical figure in the Civil Rights Movement because he has influenced generations of other writers, such as Toni Morrison, and because he is known as one of the most prolific and significant African American writers of the Civil Rights Era. (Turner, par. 2).
iii. Thesis statement
- The three major contributions of James Baldwin to the Civil Rights Movement are his essays Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, and The Fire Next Time. He wrote these three works when the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak. (The New York Times, par. 6).
II. Body Paragraph #1: Notes of a Native Son
i. Transition: Baldwin’s first published work was Notes of a Native Son.
ii. Main Idea #1: Notes of a Native Son is a collection of essays that James Baldwin wrote in 1955 that made important comments about race relations in America and Europe at the time.
iii. Supporting Detail #1: Notes of a Native Son criticized popular African American literature at the time, including Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Richard Wright’s Native Son. (Solomon, par. 4).
iv. Supporting Detail #2: According to Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the famous Harvard professor, “[His] essays articulated for the first time to white America what it meant to be American and a black American at the same time” (Powell, par. 6).
v. Restate main idea: Therefore, Notes of a Native Son is a prominent work that directly commented on race relations at the time.
III. Body Paragraph #2: Nobody Knows My Name
i. Transition: Another major accomplishment of James Baldwin’s is his essay collection Nobody Knows My Name.
ii. Main Idea: Nobody Knows My Name explores relations between whites and blacks in a way that was especially important at this time in history.
iii. Supporting Detail #1: In their 1961 review of this book, The New York Times lauded this book of essays as “a splendid book,” and dedicated an entire article to its review (The New York Times, par. 27).
iv. Supporting Detail #2: Baldwin wrote these essays while he was living in Europe, and this gave him a certain credibility to white Americans (Hart, par. 5).
v. Restate main idea: Thus, Baldwin’s essays Nobody Knows My Name mark James Baldwin’s entry into mainstream white American culture.
IV. Body Paragraph #3: The Fire Next Time
i. Transition: Finally, his most important work and biggest contribution to the Civil Rights Movement is his essay collection The Fire Next Time.
ii. Main Idea: The Fire Next Time, a collection of essays James Baldwin wrote in 1963, is widely considered as one of the most important statements of the Civil Rights era by an African American.
iii. Supporting Detail #1: Baldwin’s essay “caused an immediate sensation” (Turner, par. 1).
iv. Supporting Detail #2: It was widely thought of as the most definitive statement ever written of African Americans’ struggle for equal rights (Powell, par. 2).
v. Restate main idea: Thus, The Fire Next Time was not only popular, but also an important statement about the Civil Rights Movement.
V. Conclusion
i. Transition: In conclusion,
ii. Restate thesis: James Baldwin’s most important contributions to the Civil Rights Movement were his three collections of essays, Notes of a Native Son, Nobody Knows My Name, and The Fire Next Time.
iii. Importance of Main Idea 1: Notes of a Native Son established James Baldwin as a commentator on the importance of race at this time.
iv. Importance of Main Idea 2: Nobody Knows My Name opened white Americans up to the writing of James Baldwin, solidifying his place in American literature.
v. Importance of Main Idea 3: Finally, The Fire Next Time was widely considered to be the most important statement about the Civil Rights Movement at the time.
vi. Significance for today: James Baldwin’s accomplishments are significant today because his opinions on race and racism are just as relevant today as they ever were.
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Primary Source: “Nonviolence and Racial Justice,” 1957
At age 28, the Rev. Martin Luther King was a recently minted PhD, a young father, and the face of the rising Civil Rights Movement. When he wrote this article explaining the credo of nonviolent resistance, he and the black community of Montgomery, Alabama had just ended their successful boycott of segregated city buses.
It is commonly observed that the crisis in race relations dominates the arena of American life. This crisis has been precipitated by two factors: the determined resistance of reactionary elements in the south to the Supreme Court's momentous decision outlawing segregation in the public schools, and the radical change in the Negro's evaluation of himself... Once he thought of himself as an inferior and patiently accepted injustice and exploitation. Those days are gone...
... the basic question which confronts the world's oppressed is: How is the struggle against the forces of injustice to be waged? There are two possible answers. One is resort to the all too prevalent method of physical violence and corroding hatred. The danger of this method is its futility. Violence solves no social problems; it merely creates new and more complicated ones...
Alternative to Violence
The alternative to violence is nonviolent resistance. This method was made famous in our generation by Mohandas K. Gandhi, who used it to free India from the domination of the British empire. Five points can be made concerning nonviolence as a method in bringing about better racial conditions.
First, this is not a method for cowards; it does resist. The nonviolent resister is just as strongly opposed to the evil against which he protests as is the person who uses violence. His method is passive or nonaggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent. But his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. This method is passive physically but strongly active spiritually...
A second point is that nonviolent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding. The nonviolent resister must often express his protest through noncooperation or boycotts, but he realizes that noncooperation and boycotts are not ends themselves; they are merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent. The end is redemption and reconciliation. The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness.
A third characteristic of this method is that the attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who are caught in those forces. It is evil we are seeking to defeat, not the persons victimized by evil. Those of us who struggle against racial injustice must come to see that the basic tension is not between races...
A fourth point that must be brought out concerning nonviolent resistance is that it avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love. In struggling for human dignity the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves to become bitter or indulge in hate campaigns. To retaliate with hate and bitterness would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can be done only by projecting the ethics of love to the center of our lives...
... it means understanding, redeeming good will for all men, an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. When we love on the agape level we love men not because we like them, not because their attitudes and ways appeal to us, but because God loves them. Here we rise to the position of loving the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed he does.
Finally, the method of nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. It is this deep faith in the future that causes the nonviolent resister to accept suffering without retaliation. He knows that in his struggle for justice he has cosmic companionship. This belief that God is on the side of truth and justice comes down to us from the long tradition of our Christian faith. There is something at the very center of our faith which reminds us that Good Friday may reign for a day, but ultimately it must give way to the triumphant beat of the Easter drums...
Secondary Source #1: Biography from Nobel Peace Prize site
Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.
In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.