To guide you through this process, we will work through several steps. Here is how they will break down: Step 1/Week 1 - Select your problem-based topic. Remember that you will keep this topic for the whole 10-week class, so give this lots of thought. Complete a freewriting on your chosen topic. Step 2/Week 2 – Complete a topic proposal assignment to include research questions for all three writing assignments this term. Step 3/Week 3 - Construct an annotated bibliography using two sources. This process asks you to find solid academic sources and summarize them; it is extremely helpful in preparing you to draft your paper and helps you unfold the debate within the topic. Step 4/Week 4 – Draft the essay. Explain the issue, and identify and summarize the various positions within your topic in essay format. It is less important that your writing is high quality this week and more important just that you are writing! Step 5/Week 5—Submit your final Informative Research Essay, building from the draft you created in Step 4.