Welcome!

From the Director of the Ball State Writing Program

About ENG 104: Composing Research

Course Description

(3 credits) Applies the fundamentals of rhetoric to the research process: methods of research; the rhetorical nature of research; elements, strategies, and conventions common to research writing, including multi-modal presentations of new knowledge. Prerequisite: ENG 101 and 102; or ENG 103; or appropriate placement.

Course Goals

  • Create and complete research projects. This involves generating a research question, engaging in critical/analytical reading, developing an argument with evidence collected from both primary and secondary research, and documenting sources appropriately
  • Align research questions with appropriate research methods
  • Employ critical thinking in evaluation, speculation, analysis, and synthesis required to evolve and complete a research project
  • Use a variety of strategies to gather and organize information appropriate for the context and persuasive to the intended audience
  • Use the university research library to forward their research agenda
  • Engage in collaborative research
  • Employ format, syntax, punctuation, and spelling appropriate to various rhetorical situations in a stylistically sophisticated manner
  • Collect, analyze, and organize research information in verbally and visually compelling ways
  • Take initiative for the development and completion of individual and joint research projects

Course Content and Format

The content and format of ENG 104 are designed to enable students to achieve the course goals:

  • Discuss, analyze, and respond to texts composed in a variety of media that develop an argument by relying on different kinds of research and that are addressed to diverse academic audiences
  • Analyze the connections among research questions, research methods, audience, and style
  • Design various research projects that involve generating a question, collecting data, analyzing data, and interpreting the analysis
  • Conduct research projects that rely on various means of gathering data, including but not limited to fieldwork, online research, and library research
  • Analyze data collected through a variety of methods
  • Compose proposals, progress reports, and final research reports for individual projects
  • Compose final research reports that are persuasive and appropriate for the intended audience and context
  • Compose research reports in multiple drafts, involving peer feedback, self-reflection, instructor’s written comments, and teacher-student conferences
  • Reflect regularly on the choices available and the decisions made in the creation and completion of research projects.

Requirements

As an outcome of the course content and format, which enable the accomplishment of the course goals, students in ENG 104 are required to complete:

  • Four or more research projects that address different audiences, contexts, and data collection/analysis processes
    • One project will take the form of a Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography
    • One project will culminate in a research-driven, academic essay of 8-12 pages; appropriate works cited is additional
  • Reading assignments for discussion, analysis, and response including texts created through a variety of media
  • Informal writing assignments (such as journals, reading reflections, in-class writings, or smaller pieces intrinsic to major research projects)

NOTE: In order to fulfill the University’s Core Curriculum requirement in Writing Program courses, students must earn a minimum grade of C to pass; a grade of C- is not considered acceptable. Writing Program courses may be repeated as many times as necessary to meet the requirement but:

  • The first and all other grades will show up on the transcript
  • Only the most recent grade earned in the course will be used to compute the cumulative GPA
  • A grade of W will not replace a previous grade
  • Course credit hours apply only once to graduation requirements

ENG 114: Composing Research (Honors)

If you are in the Ball State Honors Program, you may be taking ENG 114, the Honors version of ENG 104. The course is very similar to ENG 104, but you can read more about the honors version here.

About BallPoint

BallPoint started in the 1980s as a custom textbook designed exclusively for the use of students taking writing courses at Ball State University. It is written by actual instructors in the Writing Program who know the curriculum and have taught ENG 104. We also include sample student work from ENG 104 & ENG 114. For more information on how to get your work published in BallPoint, see our contest information.

It is paid for by student fees. For this reason, all pages are password protected and are meant to be accessed by instructors and student in ENG 104 or 114 only. There is also an ENG 103 version for students in that course or in ENG 101/102.

BallPoint Vol. 2 walks you through the research and writing process you will need for ENG 104 or 114. To navigate, click on the links above. Each section has subsections under the arrow. You can also move smoothly from section to section by clicking on “next” at the bottom of each page.

If you have suggestions or problems with BallPoint, send us feedback through this survey or email us at bsuwp@bsu.edu.

NEXT: 103 Review