Civic Argument Research Paper
Context:
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
-James Baldwin
Raoul Peck’s documentary I Am Not Your Negro profiles the lives of three civil rights leaders through the lens of writer and activist, James Baldwin. The film, directed by Raoul Peck, is based on Baldwin’s last unfinished manuscript entitled Remember This House, which was to be a personal reflection on the lives and assassinations of his friends Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. “I want these three lives to bang against and reveal each other…” Peck’s work profiles the significance of these civil rights leaders and highlights how Baldwin’s writing is as relevant today as it was half a century ago.
Task:
Argumentative research paper:
What do you want to know about the themes, issues, visions, voices, and stories in the film I Am Not Your Negro? Generate your own topic around the life, times, and work one of the following figures:
Medgar Evers
Malcolm X
Martin Luther King Jr.
James Baldwin
Raoul Peck.
What do you want to know? What do you want to to find out? Begin by exploring your topic and developing research questions to guide your inquiry. Find sources, read, and collect information relevant to your topic. Analyze your information and develop a working thesis that makes an argument about your topic. Organize your information to effectively communicate what you learn.
You will present your findings along with an artifact (assignment TBD) to colleagues in your community at a roundtable event the week of March 27th.
A few notes:
Your topic must be submitted in a research proposal and cleared by your teachers before you begin writing.
Make an argument about your topic. This argument must be clearly stated in a working thesis statement. All body paragraphs must be focused and organized, clearly relating back to your thesis.
Research sources appropriate to your topic, and effectively use those sources as evidence to support and prove your thesis. You must research and use at least 5 outside sources* including books, periodicals, journal articles) .
Cite all sources using MLA Format. Your paper must include proper parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page.
Your research paper must be 5-7 pages, typed, double-spaced, in 12 point font, and in MLA format. Include a Work Cited page.
*A few notes about required sources…
Your sources must be reputable and reliable. Good sources include the following:
newspapers (San Francisco Chronicle, New York Times, etc.)
magazines (Time, Newsweek, etc.)
books
scholarly journals
some websites (We will be discussing internet sources during the research workshop.)
Remember that a well researched paper will include a variety of sources. Also remember that for academic papers, books and scholarly journals tend to provide the best information.
