ENGL102: Resources | Saylor Academy

Topic	Name	Description
	Course Syllabus

1.1.1: Academic Research Writing	What is Academic Research Writing?	Read this article, which provides a quick overview of the form, components, and purpose of a research paper.

1.1.2: Why Write a Research Paper?	The Purpose of Research Writing	Read this section and complete the exercises, which will help you identify the reasons for writing a research paper and will outline the steps you must take in order to complete a research project.

1.1.3: How to Manage a Research Project	Managing Your Research Project	Read this section and complete the exercises, which will help you identify the reasons for writing a research paper and will outline the steps you must take in order to complete a research project.

1.2.1: The Research Process: An Overview	The Seven Steps of the Research Process	Read this article, which introduces you to the research process and includes how to identify and develop your topic, find and evaluate background information (including sources, periodical articles, and Internet resources), and appropriately cite your sources. Several of the resources linked to through these pages are available only to students and staff at Cornell University. However, you should be able to use the general catalog information at any library. If you do not have online access to a college or university library, explore your local library's website for information about online access. A librarian at your local library may also be able to help you gain online access or answer questions about how to use their resources.

1.2.2: What Is Your Research Community?	Analyze Your Discourse Communities	Complete this activity. After you complete this activity, you will begin to see knowledge-making as a social process. You should also begin to notice the differences that exist in ways that different groups of people use language, reading, and writing.
	Research Writing in the Academic Disciplines	Read this chapter, which provides an overview of research writing and will help you understand why strong, evidence-based writing is essential for success in academic writing. Zemliansky explains how different communities work together to develop and revise ideas through research. By identifying your research community, you can help identify important research in your field and write more convincingly to members of that community. Take notes carefully.

1.2.3: Identifying and Understanding Your Audience	Audience	Read this articlefor a review of identifying, analyzing, and appealing to your writing audience.
	Audience Awareness	Read this essay on audience awareness for a good refresher on the importance of identifying, reaching out to, and addressing your audience in your writing.

1.2.4: Understanding Your Audience and Purpose	Research Writing and Argument	This chapter discusses rhetorical writing, which is writing that makes an argument as persuasively as possible by understanding and analyzing the readers or audience and then writing in a way that the audience finds convincing.

1.2.5: Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content	Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content	Read this section and complete the exercises, which will get you thinking about how audience and purpose affects your writing. This section describes how purpose and audience should influence the tone and content of your writing.

1.3.1: Discovering and Choosing a Topic	Activity: Identify Your Research Topic	Now, identify a preliminary topic for your research paper by stating your topic idea as a question and then identifying the main concepts or key words. You will have time to revise and refine your topic later. Although you may work through this course completely independently, you may find it helpful to connect with other Saylor students about this activity through the discussion forums. You may access the discussion forums here.

1.3.2: Develop a Working Thesis and a Research Proposal	Steps in Developing a Research Proposal	Read this section and complete the exercises. This section will provide you with a slightly different approach to developing a research topic and will describe how to develop research questions and a proposal that will help you guide your research. After reading this text, go back to your research topic, refine your topic as necessary, develop your research questions, and develop a short research proposal.
	Activity: Develop a Working Thesis	Use your refined research topic and synthesize the research questions you developed in this subunit in order to write a working thesis. Remember that your thesis is the argument you will work to prove with your research in your paper. Keep in mind that you will have time to revise and revisit your thesis later in the course.

1.3.3: Mapping Your Topic	Webbing	Watch this video and then map out concepts for the research topic you identified in subunit 1.3.1. Use this Mapping a Concept worksheet for some ideas on getting started.

1.4: Outlining	Outlining	Read this section and complete the exercises, using your own research topic. By completing these exercises, you will refine your thesis, and you should wind up with a complete outline. You will have plenty of opportunities later to revise and fill in your outline, so don't worry too much about polishing your outline.