The Revolutionary in Your Field
Assignment Overview
For this assignment, you will research a person who fundamentally changed, challenged, disrupted, or revolutionized a field of study or professional discipline. You will transform your research into a polished, two-page academic newsletter using Canva.
This is a research-based argument, not a biography.
Your central task is to make an argument about the significance of your chosen person’s work. Your newsletter should persuade an educated reader that this individual deserves to be considered revolutionary within their field.
Your writing should demonstrate the skills expected in Composition II: research, synthesis, analysis, argumentation, organization, audience awareness, and revision.
Learning Objectives
By completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your ability to:
- Develop a focused, arguable thesis.
- Conduct purposeful academic research.
- Evaluate the credibility and relevance of sources.
- Synthesize information from multiple sources.
- Distinguish between summary and analysis.
- Integrate evidence into your own argument.
- Analyze the significance of a person’s contributions.
- Write for a specific audience and purpose.
- Use rhetorical strategies effectively.
- Apply proper grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and sentence structure.
- Design information visually without allowing design to replace substantive writing.
The Central Question
Your newsletter must answer:
To what extent did this person revolutionize their field, and why does their impact continue to matter?
You should not simply tell your reader what the person accomplished.
You must interpret the significance of those accomplishments.
For example, instead of writing:
“Katherine Johnson calculated flight trajectories for NASA.”
You might argue:
“Katherine Johnson’s mathematical work did more than support individual NASA missions; it demonstrated the importance of mathematical precision in human spaceflight while challenging racial and gender barriers within American scientific institutions.”
The second statement makes an argument that can be supported with research.
Part I: Selecting Your Subject
Choose a person whose work produced a meaningful change within a specific field.
Your subject may come from:
- Science
- Medicine
- Technology
- Engineering
- Mathematics
- Education
- Literature
- History
- Psychology
- Business
- Law
- Politics
- Art
- Music
- Communications
- Sports
- Other fields approved by your instructor
Your person must have made a substantial contribution to the field.
Avoid choosing someone solely because they are famous.
Your research should establish what makes the person revolutionary.
Part II: Develop an Arguable Thesis
Your newsletter must contain a clear thesis.
Your thesis should make a claim about your person’s significance rather than simply announcing what the newsletter will discuss.
Weak Thesis
“Marie Curie was an important scientist who made many discoveries.”
Stronger Thesis
“Marie Curie’s research on radioactivity revolutionized modern science by expanding the understanding of atomic phenomena, establishing new approaches to medical treatment, and challenging the limitations placed on women in scientific research.”
Your thesis should provide your reader with a position that your research will prove or develop.
Part III: Research Requirements
You must use a minimum of 4 credible sources.
At least 2 sources must be scholarly or academic sources, such as:
- Peer-reviewed journal articles
- Academic books
- University publications
- Government publications
- Reputable research institutions
The remaining sources may include credible:
- Newspapers
- Museums
- Professional organizations
- Documentaries
- Major reference databases
- Reputable websites
Wikipedia may be used to locate background information or additional sources, but it does not count as one of your four required sources.
You are responsible for evaluating the credibility of your sources.
Consider:
- Who produced the information?
- What qualifications does the author or organization have?
- What evidence is provided?
- When was the information published or updated?
- What purpose does the source serve?
- Is the information supported by other credible sources?
Part IV: Source Synthesis
Your newsletter must demonstrate synthesis.
Do not organize your research as:
Source 1 says…
Source 2 says…
Source 3 says…
Instead, bring sources together to develop your own ideas.
For example:
Historians have emphasized both the scientific significance of Curie’s research and the institutional barriers she encountered. Her discoveries expanded scientific knowledge of radioactivity, while her career demonstrated the difficulties women faced when attempting to establish authority within scientific institutions.
The goal is for your analysis to control the research, rather than allowing the sources to control your writing.
Part V: Required Newsletter Content
Your newsletter must contain the following sections.
1. Headline
Create an engaging headline that reflects your argument.
Avoid generic titles such as:
“The Life of Albert Einstein.”
Instead, consider:
“Rewriting the Rules of Physics: Einstein’s Revolution in Modern Science”
2. Introduction
Introduce your subject, field, and central argument.
Your introduction should establish:
- Who the person was
- Their field
- The major issue or development associated with their work
- Why their contribution matters
- Your thesis
3. Context: The Field Before the Revolution
Explain what the field looked like before your subject’s major contribution.
This section is important because readers cannot understand a revolution without understanding what changed.
Address questions such as:
- What were the dominant ideas?
- What problems existed?
- What limitations existed?
- What did people previously believe?
- What technological, cultural, or institutional conditions existed?
4. The Revolutionary Contribution
Identify the person’s most significant contribution.
Explain:
- What they did
- How they did it
- What problem they addressed
- What made the contribution different
- What evidence demonstrates its importance
Avoid simply listing accomplishments.
Analyze their significance.
5. Impact on the Field
Explain how the person’s work changed the discipline.
Consider:
- New theories
- New technologies
- New practices
- New research methods
- Changes in public understanding
- Changes in professional practices
- Influence on later researchers
- Institutional or cultural changes
Your reader should understand the before-and-after effect of the person’s work.
6. Challenges, Opposition, or Limitations
A sophisticated argument should acknowledge complexity.
Discuss at least one significant challenge, criticism, limitation, controversy, or obstacle associated with the person’s work or career.
Then analyze its significance.
This section should prevent your newsletter from becoming a simple “great person” profile.
7. Lasting Legacy
Explain why this person still matters.
Connect their historical contribution to the present.
Ask:
What would this field look like today if this person had never made their contribution?
You do not have to claim that one individual single-handedly changed an entire field. Instead, evaluate their degree of influence.
8. Conclusion
Return to your thesis.
Your conclusion should not simply repeat your introduction.
Instead:
- Synthesize your major findings.
- Reinforce your argument.
- Explain the broader significance of the person’s contribution.
- Leave the reader with a meaningful final insight.
Part VI: Evidence and Analysis
Your newsletter must maintain a balance between evidence and your own analysis.
Use research to support your claims, but explain why the evidence matters.
A useful pattern is:
Claim → Evidence → Analysis → Significance
Ask yourself:
“So what?”
After presenting an important fact, explain why that fact matters to your argument.
Part VII: MLA Documentation
Because this is Composition II, your research should demonstrate academic documentation skills.
Use MLA format for:
- In-text citations
- Works Cited
Your newsletter must include a Works Cited section containing your sources.
Your sources should also be documented throughout the newsletter when you use information, ideas, statistics, or quotations from them.
Part VIII: Visual Rhetoric
Your Canva design is part of the assignment’s rhetoric.
Include relevant visuals that help communicate your argument.
Possible visuals include:
- Photographs
- Historical documents
- Charts
- Graphs
- Timelines
- Diagrams
- Maps
- Images of inventions or discoveries
- Primary-source images
Do not use visuals simply to decorate the page.
Each major visual should have a purpose.
Ask:
How does this visual help my reader understand my argument?
Where appropriate, include a brief caption explaining the significance of the visual.
Part IX: Required Mechanics
Your newsletter must demonstrate intentional control of written language.
You must correctly use:
Commas
Minimum: 4
Semicolons
Minimum: 3
Colons
Minimum: 3
These punctuation marks must be used correctly and purposefully.
Incorrect or artificially inserted punctuation will not satisfy the requirement.
Your newsletter must also demonstrate:
- Correct capitalization
- Complete sentences
- Appropriate paragraph structure
- Correct subject-verb agreement
- Appropriate verb tense
- Correct pronoun usage
- Appropriate transitions
- Proper quotation integration
- Correct spelling
- Appropriate academic vocabulary
Part X: Two-Page Minimum
Your newsletter must be a minimum of two full pages.
The two-page requirement applies to substantive writing, not simply visual design.
Do not manipulate:
- Font size
- Margins
- Line spacing
- Images
- Text boxes
to artificially create additional pages.
Your instructor may require additional length if the research and analysis cannot be adequately developed within two pages.
Composition II Standard
Your newsletter should demonstrate the difference between summary and analysis.
Summary asks:
What happened?
Analysis asks:
Why did it happen?
Why was it significant?
What changed because of it?
What evidence supports that interpretation?
What are the limitations of that interpretation?
Why should the reader care?
Your newsletter should prioritize analysis over biography.