POL S 385/ENVIR 485 POLS/LSJ/SIS Writing Center

Political Ecology of the World Food System Research Paper 8-10 page paper due on Thursday, May 29 Construct and answer a research question that “identifies an important problem in the world food system and prescribes a solution or set of solutions designed to address it.” Objective is to reveal what is hidden through description and analysis.

Example Questions What policy actions are available to maintain the affordability of traditional crops like quinoa when global popularity and demand increases? Is it possible to reduce the carbon footprint of industrial meat production in the United States?

Thesis A good thesis statement responds to the question posed by the research question. Essentially, the thesis statement is your argument writ small. The thesis statement should be in the introductory paragraph of your paper: social science is NOT about suspense. Be as clear, direct, and concise as possible.

Example Thesis Patent sharing with indigenous nations is a way to generate income for people who have traditionally relied on newly popular crops like quinoa. The income from the patents can help to retain the staple crop’s affordability.

The Argument Each premise and assumption of the thesis is shored up by supporting evidence, and the whole is analyzed. What is analysis? A clearly written analysis will indicate how key points relate to one another and consider relevant assumptions. Often, analysis requires judgment or evaluation of sources or claims. Each chunk of the thesis statement should be supported (rather than merely asserted)—by which I mean evidence and/or logical inference should be used to persuade the reader of the statement’s correctness—in a way that is logically coherent. Paragraphs should come in the correct order and have clear and strong topic sentences.

Breakdown Premises Patent sharing with indigenous nations is a way to generate income for people who have traditionally relied on newly popular crops like quinoa. The income from the patents can help to retain the staple crop’s affordability.

Evidence Provide support for each argument and sub-argument presented in your paper. Evidence should come primarily from scholarly sources

Conclusion The conclusion is essentially a rear-view mirror: here’s what I’ve done and here’s the route I’ve taken. It introduces no new evidence, but it may gesture toward roads not taken: “although topic X has been my focus, recognize that question Y is crucially important because…” or “although I have limited my discussion to X, this paper leaves the following important questions unanswered.” Conclusions remind the reader why this question is important: the ‘so what/who cares’ question should absolutely be clear.

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