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    The I-Search Paper

    Students will test their knowledge of what an I-Search paper is and Ken Macrorie's theory about writing.

    1

    What is the I-Search paper writing textbook primarily about?

    A: It spoke of and responded to the dissatisfaction many college students and faculty felt toward traditional term paper assignments.

    B: It introduces a new form of instructional help -- a context book -- that shows students what authority is in matters of learning and invites them to join the author and teacher in the educational movement called "Writing to Learn."

    2

    Ken Macrorie believed that the I-Search paper should and could replace the argumentative research paper in much undergraduate writing because it discourages students from speaking with their own voice and from their own perspective.

    3

    What is an I-Search assignment?

    A: It is written to communicate to a particular audience, not for the writer alone.

    B: It cares more about the life story of the researcher than what the writer has discovered and concluded.

    C: Its purpose is to help you discover and communicate the personal and professional significance of your research.

    D: While writing a memoir, use your personal experiences and responses to illuminate and illustrate the issue you are researching and the pattern that research has taken.

    4

    Although the personal research narrative does not take the form of an argument, often an argument underlies it or emerges from it.

    5

    Characteristics of an I-Search paper:

    A. Because it is argumentative, transitions and cues to your purpose and your response to sources are particularly important for you readers, who need to be able to follow easily the progress of your thinking.

    B: Your paper should convey not only the problems you faced in understanding the topic and presenting it to an audience, but also your sense of the larger significance of what you have done.

    C: An I-Search paper can be more argumentative than explorative.