Community Profile Essay

 

The Assignment

In this essay, you should utilize varying methods of research to develop an objective essay and inform readers about a particular service organization or person important in providing services to the University, Norman community, or Oklahoma City.  You will gather this information through collecting data about your subject’s purpose and scope in delivering community service.  This writing assignment therefore asks you to collect data using several tasks, including interviewing, researching (print and non-print), and analysis of these tasks, all required to document and evaluate the body’s service to their community in a coherent written context. 

You will also be required to develop a list of five (5) possible subjects to be approved by me before beginning your research, as well as a set of questions and notes to be used during your interviews.  Your essay will be approximately 4-6 pages long, be double-spaced, and follow MLA formatting (available in the St. Martin’s Guide and during our class discussions).

You may not profile an organization in which you are already involved, and you may not interview friends or family members.  Religious, political, and social organizations are not ordinarily considered primarily service organizations, although they may occasionally provide some services.

You will also be required to go through a peer editing conference, using the previous criteria we have discussed, and a conference with me prior to handing in your finished paper due: _____________________________________.  

Criteria

Your grade will be based on the achievement of the following: 

Ø      The creation and completion of interview notes before research begins

Ø      The paper is written with an uninformed audience in mind

Ø      The logical progression of your analysis, as well as a conclusive evaluation utilizing your opinion, all the while using the evidence you discovered

Ø      The incorporation and use of a significantly broad range of research methods, including textual and non-textual, as well as at least one (1) interview

Ø      The paper demonstrates MLA format using at least three (3) sources, at least one of which must address the background of your subject.

Ø      The integration of data collected from your interview into the essay fluidly (i.e. quotations) and proper citations used

Ø      An emphasis on the service element of your subject, as well as a thorough examination of the role it plays in the community, both historically and in the future

Ø      Evidence of a progression of an edited piece of work, considering reader interest, utilizing work we have previously done in description, narrative voice, and

paraphrasing.

Note: All research, interview questions, peer editing sheets and notes must be submitted with your essay in a manila folder for the assignment to be complete.