Writing Assignment 6: Draft of Research Paper

Summary: In this exercise, you will write a good draft of a moderate-length essay about the topic you have chosen to focus on.

Purposes: To give you the opportunity to organize what you have learned and what you have concluded about your chosen research topic. To give us sources for further discussion and writing. To help you prepare for your presentation.

Due: 8:15 a.m., Tuesday, 1 November 2005

Final Version Due: Tuesday, 22 November 2005

To Turn In:

• Bring fifteen printed copies of your essay (double-spaced, please) to class on Tuesday, 1 November 2005. If it is difficult to obtain fifteen copies of your essay, please get me one copy of your essay by noon on Wednesday, and I'll make the copies for you.
• Please email a copy of your essay to Mr. Rebelsky. I prefer plain text, HTML, or Microsoft Word .doc format.

Background: Each member of this Tutorial has selected a particular issue or topic that relates to the relationship between intellectual property and information technology. We have already used these topics as an incentive to identify resources and to discuss these topics. It is now time to bring your work to fruition.

The Assignment: Write a moderate-length (3000-4000 word) argumentative paper on the topic you have chosen. As is the case with any good argumentative paper, your paper should have a central point and provide a wealth of supporting evidence for that point. In supporting your point, you should draw upon the sources that you have identified in prior assignments and upon other sources you have discovered. You may also want to reflect upon the reactions and comments of your colleagues during the discussion of the topic.

Using This Work: You will present your work to the class in a number of ways. First, you will distribute your work to the class as a whole on Tuesday, 1 November 2005. We will edit and discuss your papers on Thursday, 3 November 2005. You will present your work orally on one of the four classes between Tuesday, 8 November 2005 and Thursday, 17 November 2005. You will provide the class with a final version of your research paper on Tuesday, 22 November 2005. Your colleagues will then use the papers for preparing their next writing assignment (an introduction to the collection).

Further information about presenting your work will be available in the near future. Expect to have about fifteen minutes to present and ten minutes for questions and answers.

About the Term Draft: Although the work due on Tuesday, 1 November 2005 is designated as a draft, it should be a substantial draft. That is, it should contain grammatical sentences, a logical flow of reasoning, and a substantial point. You should have had another person edit it at least once. A weak draft will give your colleagues little opportunity to suggest interesting improvements, so the quality of your final paper will depend substantially on the quality of this draft.