8/14/2019 Tips on Writing Investigative Essays

1/2

Tips on Writing Investigative Essays

Whats available to you to help you deal with the problem of students taking all or

part of an essay off the Internetespecially in research writing?

The idea of intellectual property has to be instilled. And we need to try to credit oursources when we talk in class. Suggestion: Tell stories about writers who have paid a

big price for plagiarism or lost reputations entirely.

But the wonderful thing is that you can still have other peoples property, and use it, even

if it isnt your own. Just give credit. And, then, too, you will improve the quality of the

essay because there will be an organic conversation (if you acknowledge that other

people have thought about the topic too!), not just information. Suggestion: Bring infive brief responses to something the class has read or seen and ask students how they

would use/introduce/respond to each. They sometimes need to learn the courage it takes

to have an opinion of their own, or how to process and synthesize information.

Make sure students have a sufficient knowledge base so they feel they can advance an

opinion of their own. Suggestions: Make sure that some class readings and some priorassignments give students background for their research essays. Have them prepare

annotated bibliographies (samples are in the Writing Handbook).

Encourage essays that are organic and use space breaks and perhaps have particular genre

requirements. Encourage real writingwith a particular audience designated, or a

particular publication in mind. For instance, have them write an introduction to a book

youve read together (or an outside reading), with particular requirements stipulated.Have them write an essay about science forNature, an essay about food for

Gastronomica, and essay about a writer for theKenyon Review.

Show them examples of what you have in mindgood examples. They may not know

what youre asking for, and have only the image of a high-school research paper in their

minds. Dont give them just professional samples, if possible. Good student work also isvaluable.

What students have to be encouraged to develop is their own voice. Even if you do not

want them to write in first person (and sometimes our disciplines prohibit thisthough itis becoming more and more widely accepted and adopted), voice is always present and

always necessary in essays. Theres engagement with ideas and other scholars and

writers, theres opinion advanced, theres questioning and doubt and assertionin otherwords, theres personality and a mind actively engaged and curious. And, quite frankly,

theres considerable ego in any kind of writing. Plagiarism is most likely to result when

students are taught and encouraged to disappear. They need to step up and be present intheir writing. Suggestion: Consider using the handout Keeping Your Voice in

Research (Writing Handbook).

1

8/14/2019 Tips on Writing Investigative Essays

2/2

Do preliminary exercises so that they understand what acceptable and unacceptable

documentation style are. Suggestion: There are exercises in the Writing Handbookon

paraphrasing, merging quotations, etc. Also, read A Pedagogy to Address Plagiarism ifyou havent yet.

Make sure that you have multiple checkpoints for your research assignment throughoutthe weeks of your course. Build them into your syllabus. Have students talk about the

way their ideas are emerging and the work theyre doing. Have them bring in annotated

bibliographies of their best sources, gradual refinements of a research question,controversial statements other scholars have made, problems they are facing that they

cant resolve, etc.

Think about Hjortshojs new terminology: investigate writing. He proposes that wehave students write papers in response to interesting questions. We teachers can help

with this, by assisting students in posing interesting questions. Some of these may be

outgrowths of discussions weve had with students in class. There should be suspense in

every essaycertainly in investigative writing. The idea to stress is that this is aninvestigation, not a report.

Make sure that you carefully review the schools policy and procedures regarding

plagiarism. These are available in the Writing Handbook. The main thrust of instruction

should, of course, be on deterringplagiarism, not suspicion and punishment after the fact.

However, awareness of consequences can certainly sometimes serve as a deterrent.

David Anderson has had students write essays about theprocess of composing a research

essay. Certainly such an assignment would ward off one-stop shopping. Think, too,about how allowing a more personal voice would make the generic look of prose on the

Internet stand out suspiciously. Perhaps we could discuss the genre of literary journalism

at one of our sessions, if theres time. This is a form that allows for a distinctive andhighly reputable blend of research and personal reflection.

David Everett and the library staff is establishing a new guide (research wizard) to helpstudents work through the entire research process. It will be what you get when you click

on the Start Your Research Here link on the librarys web page. Right now this is just a

subject guide to resources, but that step will soon be absorbed into the more elaborate

Research Wizard program.

2