Write a six to eight page double spaced research paper which develops a position regarding a geographic or geologic problem in Earth Science. The paper should be typed (12 pt). Each page should have a page number. The paper should make a point, persuade, or convince the reader that your point of view is correct. Go beyond description. No data dumps please. Bold your position so your instructor is sure to recognize the point you are making at the outset. To present your point of view, you will need to obtain data and support for your argument from the literature. While books are an acceptable source, you should rely predominantly on journal articles. Part of the purpose of this course is to introduce you to library research which focuses on journals in the Earth Sciences. Reference to magazines (different than journals) should be non-existent. Your paper should have eight or more references. These references must be used in the text. Use data and evidence from the literature in the library not consulting reports by the firm you worked for this summer. Use of interlibrary loan is discouraged (the semester is too short to get material in time). Use of the world wide web should be very limited. (This is a library research paper based on peer reviewed literature). You are not expected to produce primary data and may not use this assignment to write about data you collected for an independent study or senior thesis. You will need to present your data in a scientific format and cite the sources of your information in the format of the Geological Society of America Bulletin. The audience for your paper is a junior in your curriculum (your peers). A geographer for geographers, a geologist for geologists. You are expected to rewrite the paper several times, and to turn in drafts as well as the final paper. The paper and drafts you turn in should be legibly typed. The figures and tables you use may be inserted into the text on the page immediately following the first citation of that figure or table. Figures and tables may be placed on separate pages. You need not type the text so that it surrounds figures and tables. I will not use the figures and tables as part of the page count for the paper (6-8 pages). Every page must be numbered (turn on the page-numbering routine on our computer early in your writing). An abstract is not required.
Someone usually asks about use of the paper for another course. The
one-for-two strategy is acceptable, but be careful. The assignment for
this course may be different than the assignment for another course. A
paper for another course may be descriptive, while I have asked you to
write a persuasive paper which addresses a scientific problem. A paper
for another course may be a term paper of 20 pages, while I have asked
for a short paper (six to eight pages). A paper in another course may depend
largely on books, while I have asked you to do library research which depends
on journals. I will use the topics and assignment in this course (ESCI
301) as a yardstick for grading. If you have questions please feel free
to discuss them during class or by appointment. Feel free to use the MSU
Writing Center. Your final paper should be submitted in a two-pocket folder.
Place the professor-reviewed draft on the left and the final paper on the
right.