Magine that you are assigned a four- to five-page essay that is due in three weeks. the teacher hands you the following writing prompt to guide your assignment: "scientists have successfully cloned animals, such as dolly the sheep. some people hope that cloning techniques will be used to clone humans someday, while others strongly oppose this use of technology. what is your position on cloning humans? write a persuasive essay articulating your position on the cloning of humans. use specific examples and details to support your views." evaluate your research question for this imagined research project. answer the following questions: what information do you need to research in order to answer this question? what sources will have this information? will you be able to research this question and address the answer in a research paper within a reasonable timeframe?

In order to answer the question assigned to you and, with that response, write an essay defending your opinion, the first thing you need to do is: become familiar with the subject. You must read a lot about the technology of cloning, using different sources and allowing yourself to think about it from different perspectives in order to develop your idea or point of view.

What information do you need to research in order to answer this question? You need to understand the history of cloning, by reading about when and where it was first thought of and the beginning of its researches and experiments. To do that, you will need to collect information from online researches on data websites (such as Wikipedia) and also websites specialized on scientific subjects. Read as much as you can to become familiar with the subject and start having your own ideas and opinions. Also, you will need to read specific researches made by scientists themselves. You can do that by looking for scientific articles and magazines, academic essays that can give you an idea of how cloning is done. It is recommended that you research on ethical matters from the humanities perspective too. After having a general idea, from as many different sources and opinions as you can find, embracing different areas of knowledge, you can move on to the next step.

What sources will have this information? First of all, online database websites, that collect general and historical information. Second, specified education websites, that can give you a deeper perspective on the subject. Then, on a more specific approach, academic researches and essays and scientific articles and magazines. It would be a good idea to collect information about public opinion on the matter. Graphics, percentages, questions asked to and answered by the general public. You can find that online, and also by going on a field research and interviewing people from different cultural and economic backgrounds.

Will you be able to research this question and address the answer in a research paper within a reasonable timeframe? Yes, you will be able to do that. You can organize yourself on a time schedule to develop each part of the process. If you have three weeks to deliver your assignment, it would be a good idea using the first week to do general and specific research, online and collecting physical material too, by going through a library and looking for academic essays and books that could help. You must read as much as possible throughout the first week until the beginning of the second week. Then, it is recommended that you start your field research, and organize your data to make it easier for you to access the information that you will need when you start writing. The final step would be coming to your conclusion, and writing down your thesis about the position you want to defend. Then, work, during the third week, on the essay, remembering to include parts of your research always with its correct references to support your point of view. Use the last weekend before delivering the paper to review it and make sure you did the best job possible.