Initial post:

For your initial post, please complete these two steps:

$1.$ Choose a topic

Your research paper should focus on a type of technology that you use for reading, writing, and$/$or communicating. A few examples are listed below, but you are free to choose something that is not on the list, as long as it is some kind of technology that you use for reading, writing, or communication.

$$ Social media, or a specific social media site, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok

$$ Texting

$$ Zoom

$$ AI $($artificial intelligence$)$

$$ Grammarly, or any other online tool used for writing

$$ Translation apps and websites

$$ Language learning apps, such as DuoLingo

$$ Text$-$to$-$speech software

$$ Audiobooks

$$ Ebooks

In your post, please state what technology you will be researching. In a few sentences, explain why you chose this topic. What are your thoughts on it now? Why would you like to learn more about it$?$

You do not need to choose something that you already know a lot about. In fact, it is better to choose a topic that you would like to learn more about. That is because you are going to research your topic before you begin writing about it$.$ Writing a research paper means that you begin by doing research to learn more, and then use what you have learned from sources in your writing by including information from the sources with citations. In future modules, you will learn how to find sources on your topic from the college library, how to find relevant information from your sources and take notes, and how to cite your sources in your paper.

In addition, please choose a topic that interests you! You will be spending a lot of time this semester reading and writing about your topic. It will be a lot of work, but I hope that it will also be enjoyable, and that you will learn something valuable from it$.$

$2.$ Understand Different Viewpoints

Since your research paper will be argumentative, you will need to develop and defend a controversial opinion about your chosen topic. In other words, the thesis $($the main idea$)$ of your paper needs to be an opinion with which readers might either agree or disagree. Before you work on writing a thesis statement for your paper, it is helpful to take a look at other people's viewpoints on the topic. In particular, you should try to find writing by people who disagree with each other.

For example, if you want to write about social media, you might find different articles by people who disagree over whether social media makes people more isolated; one person might say that using social media too often only makes people feel lonely, while another person may say that social media is a good way to connect with friends, and another person might say that it all depends on how it is used. To give another example, suppose you want to write about texting. You would probably discover that people disagree over the effects of texting on young people's writing skills. You might find one article arguing that texting causes children and teenagers to have worse grammar and spelling skills, and another article arguing that it has no negative effects, or even that it has positive effects.

Once you find two or more people who are taking opposing sides in a debate, you can begin understanding the different perspectives and forming your own opinion, which you will use to write the thesis statement and supporting arguments for your paper. It is a good idea to begin by reading different viewpoints for several reasons. First, you can be sure that the issue you focus on is controversial and relevant, meaning it is a good topic for an argumentative research paper. Second, it will help you understand the different sides of the argument, which you should always do before you form your own arguments. Third, it can help you think of points to make in support of your thesis, as well as counterarguments $($arguments from the opposite side$)$ that you should try to refute.

Please find at least two online articles which give conflicting viewpoints on your topic. Then, post links to each article. For each one, write a few sentences summarizing the points made in the article.

Here is an example with two articles which take different viewpoints on free college education. $($You may not use that topic for your own paper, but you may find it helpful to look at these articles and summaries as an example of what I am looking for.$)$

First article: $"6$ Reasons Why College Should Be Free"

Link: https:$//$www$.$edreformer.com$/$resources$/$reasons$-$why$-$college$-$should$-$be$-$free$/$Links to an external site.

According to this article, there are several benefits to making college free. One is that it will stimulate the economy because students will be able to spend more if they do not have student debt. Another reason is that it would enable more low$-$income students to attend college, which is difficult or impossible f