Fact Paper

In this paper, you will describe a person, object, or event using only empirically verifiable facts. The objective of the paper is to invite your reader to see the person, object, or event in an unusual light while ensuring that your paper remains completely free of any evaluative language. Your final draft should be 1000 words in length including in-text citations and references list. Try to not go too far over the word count. Watch and read the module for help with keeping your paper close to 1000 words.

Choose a person, object, or event that you find interesting and that you can readily research. RECOMMENDATION: your fact paper can be autobiographical! If writing about your own life or some thing or person in your life, you can still incorporate research. For instance, if you are describing a time when you were pregnant, you could cite research on pregnancy and compare and contrast your own experience with the research findings or claims. In doing so, you are providing different perspectives on a subject while still refraining from evaluation and editorializing.

After you choose a topic, begin to compile facts that allow you to show your topic in an unusual or unique light. By “unusual” I mean in a way different from how most people would think about that person or object or event. Your essay should NOT be a report. You are not writing an encyclopedia entry. You are making an argument by presenting an artful, carefully-crafted perspective. If you think this is near impossible, consider that journalists do it all the time.

Though you are being artful, you want in every case to use only empirically verifiable statements. Read or listen to the page on Canvas for more information. At no point should you use language that discloses your opinions or use evaluative language of any kind. Your essay should only contain carefully collected and composed empirical statements that you have strategically organized.

1. Your opening paragraph must be a vivid, detailed description of your topic.
2. The introduction of your essay must include a thesis statement and a preview of your main points in terms of where you are headed. Your preview should give your reader a sense of what you will talk about and why. Remember: all statements must be empirically verifiable.
3. The body of your paper should deliver on the promises made in your preview. For instance, if you promise in your introduction that the first section of your paper will discuss deaths that have occurred on Disneyland rides, then the first section of your paper should provide information about the number of deaths that have occurred on Disneyland rides. Do not suddenly start talking about the history of amusement parks.
4. To make the body of your essay interesting, you want to think about how you present information. Where do you place each sentence? Can you put two sentences together that suggest things that you cannot come right out and say? When do you introduce certain details? Which details do you leave out? We will talk about different kinds of empirically verifiable statements. The body of your essay should be a combination of different kinds of statements. Think, too, about how you compose each sentence. It is better to be detailed than vague. It is good to have a combination of specific and general information. Consider how best to get your reader to see the topic from a certain angle. It is a matter of selection, arrangement, and presentation.
5. Your essay should feature a conclusion that briefly summarizes the course of the paper. Without drawing conclusions or stating your opinion, end the paper in such a way that your reader will know they are taking away an unusual perspective. You cannot, of course, say as much. So you have to show your reader that somehow.
6. Any outside information or data you include in your essay should be referenced. Include a complete Reference List formatted correctly in APA. Use well-researched, reliable resources (no less than five) that establish credibility. All in-text citations must be complete and correct for ALL your sources and facts. View my short lecture videos on evidence here:

Formatting Requirements

Drafts and final paper must be typed and double-spaced with one-inch margins. Use 12 pt. font, preferably Times New Roman. Please do not include a title page or my name. Simply include your name, the semester, and the assignment (single-spaced) at the top of the first page. Citations should be formatted in accordance with APA guidelines. Those guidelines can be found in The Pocket Wadsworth Handbook and the

Below a sample paper has been provided

Please write about the topic Selena Gomez