Moffett Research Paper

ENG 220 Research & Writing Assessment Paper

“The Ideas of James Moffett”

Research Question: What are the most important and enduring ideas James Moffett has contributed to the field of teaching writing?

This weekend month you will write a 5 page paper answering this question based on researching James Moffett. There are two reasons we are doing this: 1) so the professor can get a sense of your abilities to both locate information online and evaluate which information is appropriate to both the assignment and the context of teaching writing; and 2) so the professor can evaluate a sample of your writing. In light of reason 2, be sure to pay close attention to writing well. Be conscious of producing an error-free paper which has a thesis that answers the question, and uses topic-centered paragraphs which support your thesis and offer evidence from your research. You must also include a works cited page. Remember: this is a course that gives you the opportunity to tutor LaGuardia students. As the professor, I have a serious responsibility to assess your skills in these areas before I let you tutor. This difficult assignment is one of the ways I will do that.

We will discuss how you should structure this essay in the coming classes. It will fairly resemble the structure of our 101 review.  

HINT 1: Be attentive to the exact language in the title of the assignment. Do not present information that does not concern the main question: What are the most important and enduring ideas James Moffett has contributed to the field of teaching writing?

HINT 2: If you do not know how to use the library search engines to look in Academic Search Premier, JSTOR, or any other search engine that you might need, figure out how to get help. This assessment is, in part, a test of your resourcefulness—what do you do when you are presented with something that seems challenging or beyond your current knowledge base?

HINT 3: I have already conducted this search myself, and am aware of what will come up on Google when you search for Moffett using a variety of key words. I expect you to use the most informative of the online resources available to you, not just the first 1-2 things that come up on Google.

HINT 4: Because I have done this research already, I am already very familiar with the materials you will find. I will surely recognize any plagiarized material instantly, so do not plagiarize. Use summary, paraphrase, and quotation from your research to help you describe Moffett’s ideas, and always cite sources.

Good Luck!