Oakton Community College Effects of Cosmetics on Women Paper Purpose: 1) To fulfill requirements designed to develop crucial skills in areas such as the following: critical
thinking; research; evaluation; synthesis, and documentation of primary and secondary sources; argumentation;
and all phases of the writing process. 2) To help you develop knowledge of your chosen topic and the
awareness of the problems raised by your specific issue–and historiography in general–that can only be
achieved by working on an extended, in-depth project.
Assignment: Create and support an original thesis, that is, an
arguable
proposition on your chosen topic.
Support your paper with at least eight sources (include three scholarly journals and two primary sources
[internet sources no more than 25% of the total]. The argument may be prescriptive or descriptive (or some
combination), but it should be structured to persuade a specific audience.
You have quite a bit of latitude on the topic, but this must be on a humanities (analytic / interpretable) issue.
You may write, for example, on a historical issue, event, problem, or theme. Ideally, your paper will also
demonstrate your awareness of historiographical and rhetorical aspects of your topic–in other words, how the
topic has been presented, portrayed (including visuals and symbols), and written about; and how your topic has
been or continues to be perceived by various audiences.
NOTE:
The final paper will not be a simple “objective” report, random
exploration
of your topic, or collection
of facts
; but rather an interpretive analysis of your issue. Factual evidence will be used to support your thesis
directly (presenting your case) or indirectly (characterizing / refuting opposing views and possible objections to
your reasoning). MLA documentation is required and will be covered in class.