Research & Source-Based Writing — Chapter overview · English 12: Complex Texts, Independent Inquiry & Public Voice, Grade 12
Develop a focused research question about the assigned book or the source packet’s issue. Collect and evaluate additional verifiable sources, build an evidence matrix, and write a source-based explanation or argument.
Chapter question
How can research & source-based writing help us examine complex texts, independent inquiry & public voice?
Units in this chapter
- Unit 5.1 · Independent Research
I can frame a question that is not only arguable and well-scoped but significant — one that answers a real gap in an ongoing conversation and is feasible to research in the time I have.
- Unit 5.2 · Synthesizing Complex Sources
I can distinguish primary, secondary, and scholarly sources and weigh each by the kind of authority it carries, rather than treating all sources as equal.
- Unit 5.3 · The Extended Argument
I can sustain a single thesis across a long essay by threading a visible throughline and making every section a sub-claim that advances it.
- Unit 5.4 · Documentation & Academic Integrity
I can document a source-rich essay in MLA using the container model and handle real-world edge cases — no page numbers, no named author, and quotations found secondhand.