Research Paper Essay
Requirements:
–Essay should be roughly 8-10 pages, including Works Cited page (going over is fine, as long as it’s not repetitive: 12 pages max)
–Papers should be typed, double spaced, Times New Roman, 1-inch margins.
Sources:
–You may integrate information from Engel’s And Then All Hell Broke Loose in the beginning of the research paper, but you will still need to find 6 other articles from research databases.
–3 scholarly articles
–3 non-scholarly articles/podcasts/newspaper articles/interviews/videos
**At least two articles must present your counterargument or your opposing point of view
Topics:
Choose one of the following questions:
Did The United States fail or succeed in its war on terror in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why/Why not?
Did the US have the right to become involved in the Syrian Civil War? Is it right for the US to pull out of Syria at the present time?
If the US and other Western nations are involved in Syria, should the US and the EU have a responsibility to take in Syrian refugees who have been negatively affected by the unceasing war in their country? Why/Why not?
Does the US have the responsibility to sever ties and economic connections with countries such as Saudi Arabia when atrocious human rights violations occur? Think about the Khashoggi situation, but also the lack of regard for women’s rights in the country?
Did the Arab Spring succeed? You can focus on one or two countries involved in the Arab Spring and do a comparison/contrast argument, or you can focus on the Arab Spring revolts in one specific country. What prompted the Arab Spring? Goals/Desired Outcomes? Did they succeed or fail?
Authoritarian rule in the Middle East: has it proven resistant to the spread of democracy? Can democracy work if it’s imposed on another country? Is that even democracy? How is democracy at odds with Sharia law and how has that impacted the US’ progress in the region?
Is peace achievable between Israel and Palestine? Which is better—a 2 state model or a 1 state model? Is there an alternative? Will anything work?
Iran: Did the US have the right to kill Soleimani? Was this an act of war?
How do we deal with ISIS now that it has disbanded? Do we accept ISIS wives/soldiers home (if their country of origin was the US or somewhere in Europe?) What are the moral/ethical questions involved in that?
Does our success or failure in the Middle East depend on the way we traditionally have fought wars? How has old-fashioned warfare vs new strategies that the terrorists use affect the outcome of the wars in the middle east?
Women in the Middle East? Can we bring Western ideals of feminism to the Middle East? Will it work? Is it offensive to their culture to do so?
What role did oil play in the US’ engagement in the Middle East? Was oil the real reason we got more militarily involved in the region?
What is the US’ responsibility in aiding countries in the Middle East that are suffering humanitarian crises? Yemen? What do we do about Yemen?
Are proxy wars moral/ethical? Look at Yemen/Syria and the US vs Russian involvement.
Has Covid-19 impacted the peace keeping missions or the civil wars in the Middle East? How have Middle Eastern countries dealt with the pandemic? Is Covid-19 more dangerous in war-torn Middle Eastern countries?
Paragraph 1: Thesis Paragraph: Develop the main argument and your subpoints. All should be in argument form. (Before you write this, you will need to complete the majority of your research and know what the focus of each paragraph will be)
In body paragraphs, use ONE source per paragraph.
Paragraph 2: Introduces the background of topic. What information do we need to understand your topic? Provide historical background to the region. Political situation of the country: development of events leading up to war/civil war/humanitarian crisis. You will need to find this from an encyclopedia/Wikipedia/historical book. This does not count as one of your sources.
Paragraph 3: More background info. Use Engel’s And Then All Hell Broke Loose as your source for this paragraph to back up your argument and to provide the historical info.
–Topic sentence presents the argument.
–Develop that argument for 2-3 more sentences
–Introduce source, author and title
–Introduce a quote using a signal phrase
— Provide the quote, following MLA guidelines
–3-4 sentences analyzing the quote in more depth.
Paragraphs 4 and 5: Counterpoint 1 and 2:
–Present the argument of your first counterpoint as topic sentence (make sure this links to the arguments expressed in the previous paragraphs, using a phrase like: “Although the US has ultimately failed in its attempt to bring democracy to the Middle East, some see minor successes in….”
–Then develop the argument of the topic sentence for 2-3 more sentences.
–Introduce counterargument source, author’s first name and last, and article title and present the main argument of the text as it relates to the main argument of this paragraph.
–Develop the text’s main argument for 2- 3 more sentences.
–Provide context (info) for the quote if necessary (if that’s not covered by the main arguments in the previous sentences)
–Introduce a quote, using a signal phrase
–Provide the quote, following MLA guidelines
–Analyze the quote, focusing on the language of the quote and relating the analysis back to the main argument of the paragraph.
Paragraph 6: Now you are getting to your own main arguments:
–Topic sentence should contradict the general counterarguments made in paragraphs
3 or 4 (or both)
–Develop how the counterarguments are incorrect for 2-3 more sentences
–Present the argument of the paragraph
–Then develop the argument of the topic sentence for 2-3 more sentences.
–Introduce the new source, author’s first name and last, and article title and present
the main argument of the text as it relates to the main argument of this
paragraph.
–Develop the text’s main argument for 2- 3 more sentences.
–Provide context (info) for the quote if necessary (if that’s not covered by the main arguments in the previous sentences)
–Introduce a quote, using a signal phrase
–Provide the quote, following MLA guidelines
–Analyze the quote, focusing on the language of the quote and relating the analysis back to the main argument of the paragraph.
Paragraphs 7, 8, 9:
–Topic sentence should transition from the main argument of the previous paragraph
–Then develop the argument of the topic sentence for 2-3 more sentences.
–Introduce new source, author’s first name and last, and article title and present
the main argument of the text as it relates to the main argument of this
paragraph.
–Develop the text’s main argument for 2- 3 more sentences.
–Provide context (info) for the quote quote if necessary (if that’s not covered by the main arguments in the previous sentences)
–Introduce a quote, using a signal phrase
–Provide the quote, following MLA guidelines
–Analyze the quote, focusing on the language of the quote and relating the analysis back to the main argument of the paragraph.
Conclusion:
—Do not say “In Conclusion”
–Wrap up your main arguments of the paper. Do not address the counterpoints. You’ve already shown why those are faulty/incorrect.
–Since your paper is presenting an argument and a major problem in contemporary politics, the rest of your conclusion should gesture forward to possible solutions.
