Description
I am going to insert my teacher’s instructions. My essay needs to be an investigative essay with only 500 words. My essay is about “Is drug addiction a disease
The Investigative Essay- Where do I start?
For this assignment, you will select your own topic and then research this topic, uncovering or discovering “facts, opinions, information, and reactions” and then report that information to your audience (Reid, 2008). You will then write a scholarly paper (with only scholarly sources!) that reports your findings, in APA style, of course.
I had a young mother in class one quarter who had an autistic child who struggled with mathematics. She researched methods that parents could employ to help their autistic children learn math more easily. Her investigative essay was wonderful. She was a devoted mother who wanted to investigate how to help her child achieve; the result was a well-written, thoughtful paper that earned her a good grade ( J ) but more importantly, helped her become a better parent.
What will you write about? What interests you? What do you daydream about? Are you interested in sports? Politics? The Old Testament? Thomas Jefferson? Art? UFO’s? Your topic needs to be something you WANT to think about, and it does not need to be cliché. (Please avoid hackneyed topics! None of us needs to read another paper about the effects of cigarette smoking or texting while driving.)
Is there something in your life that you truly wish that you had time to find out more about? This is the time to pursue that topic. The only caveat is that students have the tendency to tackle a topic that is too big for their paper. If you are interested in art, for example, you would not want to write an essay on Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings. The topic is too broad! You want a focused topic that you can handle in a few paragraphs, so you may choose to write about one particular painting and its contribution to the art world.
Take a closer look at the list of techniques provided by your textbook. You may want to keep this list handy, as it will provide a checklist for your writing.
In the meantime, send me your topic ideas via the Investigative Topic dropbox as soon as possible. This topic is not set in stone; you are free to change your minds. I just want to make sure everyone is “on the right track” for the writing assignment.
Assignment: Write a 500-word report on a topic of interest to you. Keep in mind, an Investigative Essay provides information not generally known and is backed up with scholarly research.
Use two scholarly sources, and follow APA formatting