GSU Library Research Guides: ENGL 1102H Spring 2025 (Mitchell): Research Essay

Assignment Instructions

For this essay, you will conduct research on something that you feel negatively impacts your community. For this essay, your community can be either your neighborhood, city, state, or country. You will make an argument about what should be done to rectify the thing that is harming your community. As part of this essay, you will have a body paragraph that discusses the negative consequences that could happen to a person who advocates for these changes and argues why they should still do so despite the risks.

You must use at least five sources to support your argument. At least three of your sources need to be scholarly books or articles found in the GSU library catalog or in databases that can be accessed through the GSU library (www.library,gsu.edu). If you do use internet sources, they still need to be credible. Use the CRAP Test Handout to help you evaluate and make sure you are using the most effective sources. This evaluation should be just for yourself and should not be in the essay. You should have two to five pieces of evidence, a mix of direct quotes and paraphrase, in each body paragraph, and you need to use evidence from at least two different sources in each body paragraph.

Your essay needs to be between 1,500 and 2,000 words. You must include in-text citations and a works cited page. The works cited page is essential but does not contribute toward your 1,500-2,000 word count. Your essay should be in MLA format 9th edition, including the in-text citations and the works cited, 12 point, Times New Roman font, and double spaced. You cannot use the first person, second person, or contractions in this essay.

Criteria for Success

Below is a description of what I am looking for in your essay. All these qualities are important to have, but I have listed the criteria I am going to pay the most attention to in my grading first and every subsequent criteria I am going to focus on a little less on than the one before it.

An Effective Research Essay:

Effectively incorporates credible research and uses that research to develop an argument. You should have between two and five pieces of cited evidence, direct quotes or paraphrase in each body paragraph.
Has a clear, focused, argumentative thesis.
has a body paragraph that clearly discusses the negative consequences that could happen to a person who advocates for the change you focus on in the thesis and argues why they should still do so despite the risks. As with the rest of the essay, this discussion should be supported with evidence from your sources.
Is coherently and logically organized with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.
Includes in-text citations and a works cited that are formatted correctly.
Contains correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Get Ideas and Browse your Topic

America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers (Census)
We feature stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, the economy, emergency management, and population.
Pew Research Center
Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. We conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis and other data-driven social science research.

Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window
Updated weekly, this database offers in depth articles to researchers seeking understanding in todays crucial issues in topics such as politics, business, society and education.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
A video library containing over 30K titles (279K segments) in Humanities & Social Sciences, Business & Economics, Health, and Science.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides unbiased coverage of health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy, 1991 present.

Thirsty City: Politics, Greed, and the Making of Atlanta's Water Crisis by Skye Borden
ISBN: 9781438452807
Publication Date: 2014-07-29
In Thirsty City, Skye Borden tells the complete story of how Atlanta's water ran dry. Using detailed historical research, legal analysis, and personal accounts, she explores the evolution of Atlanta's water system as well as charts the poor urban planning decisions that led to the city's current woes. She also uncovers the loopholes in local, state, and federal environmental laws that have enabled urban planners to shirk responsibility for ongoing water quantity and quality problems.
Energy Democracy
ISBN: 1610918525
Publication Date: 2017-10-12
Energy democracy tenders a response and joins the environmental and climate movements with broader movements for social and economic change. Energy democracy is a way to frame the international struggle of working people, low income communities, and communities of color to take control of energy resources from the energy establishment and use those resources to empower their communities--literally providing energy, economically, and politically.
The Disability Rights Movement by Doris Fleischer; Frieda Zames
ISBN: 9781439907450
Publication Date: 2011-06-03
In this updated edition, Doris Zames Fleischer and Frieda Zames expand their encyclopedic history of the struggle for disability rights in the United States, to include the past ten years of disability rights activism.
Refocusing Crime Prevention by Stephen Schneider
ISBN: 0802084206
Publication Date: 2007-02-17
Stephen Schneider identifies, comprehensively details, and critically examines the many factors that obstruct public participation in community crime prevention programs, while formulating strategies and theories that attempt to empower disadvantaged and marginalized communities. Refocusing Crime Prevention will aid immensely in the struggle for crime reduction and safer neighbourhoods.

Books on Student Movements

Atlanta and Georgia-Specific Sources

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Historical Archive 1883 - Current This link opens in a new window
Nearly 120 years of coverage from Georgia's most influential newspaper. A comprehensive digital archive of local, state and national history.
Georgia Census Data This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the U.S. Census Bureau's State and County Quick Facts for the state of Georgia. Broken into three sections: People Quick Facts, Business Quick Facts, and Geography Quick Facts. Data can be limited to specific counties.

Atlanta Daily World
Atlanta Daily World was founded as the weekly Atlanta World on August 5, 1928, by William Alexander Scott II who was only 26 at the time. At the time, there was very little coverage of black educational institutions, businesses, prominent persons, churches, or other news of significance; the exceptions being crime news and death listings. This was despite the fact that Atlanta contained at the time the most prominent black educational institutions and persons of influence in the country.
Atlanta Daily World Archive (up to 2003)
WABE (NPR)
WABE is Atlanta’s hub for culture, news and conversation. They create original, award-winning content, and broadcast renowned shows from NPR, Public Radio International, American Public Media and more.

Atlanta Constitution, 1868 - 1984 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
AS THE ONLY major daily newspaper in the Atlanta area, The AC provides a glimpse into the political, economic, cultural, and social life of the southeastern United States. Content ranging from Reconstruction through the late 20th century.

Find Articles on your Topic

New York Times (ProQuest Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Coverage ranges from 1980 - current. The New York Times is considered the official U.S. newspaper because it publishes the complete text of important documents, speeches and presidential press conferences.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A scholarly, multi-disciplinary database providing indexing and abstracts for thousands of journals and other publications. PDF content dates back to 1887.
Global Newsstream This link opens in a new window
Global coverage of newspapers and newswires from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Australia.
News & Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Full text of U.S. and international news sources. Includes coverage of several major U.S. and international newspapers such as The Atlanta Journal Constitution, The New York Times, and the Times of London.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
A digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. It offers an interdisciplinary journal archive across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences

Environmental Research

Environment Complete This link opens in a new window
Find scholarly articles on ecosystem ecology, energy, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more.
Environmental Science Collection This link opens in a new window
Find scholarly articles on environmental science and research.

Streaming Film on Environmental and Social Issues
Academic Video Online Database Channel.

Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change, From 1979 to the Present by Eugene Linden
ISBN: 9781984882240
Publication Date: 2022-04-05
From a writer and expert who has been at the center of the fight for more than thirty years, a brilliant, big-picture reckoning with our shocking failure to address climate change.
Rainforest by Tony Juniper
ISBN: 9781642830736
Publication Date: 2019-09-19
In Rainforest: Dispatches from Earth's Most Vital Frontlines, a prominent conservationist provides a comprehensive view of the crucial roles rainforests serve, the state of the world's rainforests today, and the inspirational efforts underway to save them. In Rainforest, Tony Juniper draws upon decades of work in rainforest conservation. He brings readers along on his journeys, from the thriving forests of Costa Rica to Indonesia, where palm oil plantations have supplanted much of the former rainforest. Despite many ominous trends, Juniper sees hope for rainforests and those who rely upon them, thanks to developments like new international agreements, corporate deforestation policies, and movements from local and Indigenous communities. As climate change intensifies, we have already begun to see the effects of rainforest destruction on the planet at large. Rainforest provides a detailed and wide-ranging look at the health and future of these vital ecosystems. Throughout this evocative book, Juniper argues that in saving rainforests, we save ourselves, too.
Thinking Critically: Fossil Fuels by Bradley Steffens
ISBN: 1682825345
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
Fossil fuels make up 85 percent of total global energy consumption, but their share of US energy consumption is the lowest it has been since 1902, primarily because of concerns about climate change and pollution.
The World We Need : Stories and Lessons From America’s Unsung Environmental Movement by Audrea Lim
ISBN: 9781620975169
Publication Date: 2021
The World We Need provides a vivid introduction to America's largely unsung grassroots environmental groups—often led by activists of color and the poor—valiantly fighting back in America's so-called sacrifice zones against industries poisoning our skies and waterways and heating our planet. Through original reporting, profiles, artwork, and interviews, we learn how these activist groups, almost always working on shoestring budgets, are devising creative new tactics; building sustainable projects to transform local economies; and organizing people long overlooked by the environmental movement—changing its face along the way.
Hidden Scourge : Exposing the Truth about Fossil Fuel Industry Spills by Kevin Timoney
Publication Date: 2021
Hidden Scourge takes the reader on a journey into a covert world of energy industry spills with environmental incident data from over 100,000 spills in Alberta, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Montana, and the Northwest Territories. Timoney evaluates the truthfulness of regulatory reporting in light of evidence from peer-reviewed scientific data, original field observations, industrial and government reports, interviews, and documents obtained under freedom of information. In stark contrast to a halcyon picture of prosperity and "world-class" environmental management, the reality is rampant destruction of biodiversity, persistent soil contamination, failed reclamation, and thousands of undocumented spills.Hidden Scourge grounds existential debates about climate and ecological crises in evidence of how hydrocarbon-based economies change the ecosystems where fossil fuels are extracted.

Social Media and Mental Health Resources

These databases will help you build background information, as well as find scholarly articles specific to your topic. Start with the search ["social media" AND "mental health"]. Add additional search terms that align with your particular paper topic as needed.

APA PsycInfo This link opens in a new window
APA PsycInfo is unmatched as a resource for locating scholarly research findings in psychology and related fields across a host of academic disciplines.
PubMed This link opens in a new window
This resource is developed and maintained by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the US National Library of Medicine (NLM), and contains citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books in the fields of life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering.
Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts. Selected coverage of nearly 200 journals, and full text from 500+ journals in communication & mass media. Direct Opt Out Link
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Central brings together over 160 major subject areas, including thousands of full-text scholarly journals, trade and professional titles, newspapers, magazines, dissertations, working papers, case studies, and market reports all together on a powerful, user-friendly platform.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
This multidisciplinary resource includes a wide variety of encyclopedias and almanacs.

Google Scholar can be an excellent starting point for research but doesn't have the same filters/search tools as the library databases. Also, keep in mind that not everything in Google Scholar is actually scholarly.
If you do use it, make sure you have linked Georgia State University library in the settings in order to have access to more scholarly articles.

Social Media and Mental Health in Schools by Jonathan Glazzard; Colin Mitchell
ISBN: 9781912508167
Publication Date: 2018-10-22
Social media is at the heart of children's and young people's lives. It is intimately entwined with mental health issues and can be both a blessing and a curse. Do you fully understand the links between social media and mental health? What problems does social media present for your learners? What benefits could it bring them? What can you do to educate children and young people about the use of social media while also developing their digital resilience? Whether you are a primary or secondary teacher, this book helps you tackle these questions, with a range of practical strategies and solutions that are workable in school and classroom settings.
Mental Health in a Digital World by Dan J. Stein (Editor); Naomi A. Fineberg (Editor); Samuel R. Chamberlain (Editor)
ISBN: 9780128222010
Publication Date: 2021-11-16
Mental Health in a Digital World addresses mental health assessments and interventions using digital technology, including mobile phones, wearable devices and related technologies. Sections discuss mental health data collection and analysis for purposes of assessment and treatment, including the use of electronic medical records and information technologies to improve services and research, the use of digital technologies to enhance communication, psychoeducation, screening for mental disorders, the problematic use of the internet, including internet gambling and gaming, cybersex and cyberchondria, and internet interventions, ranging from online psychotherapy to mobile phone apps and virtual reality adjuncts to psychotherapy.
The Social Media Debate by Devan Rosen (Editor)
ISBN: 9781003171270
Publication Date: 2022-02-17
This accessible, student-friendly book provides a concise overview of the primary debates surrounding the impact and effects of social media. From Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to Snapchat and TikTok, social media has become part of our everyday experience. However, its proliferation has brought a myriad of serious concerns about the long-term effects of social media on socializing and personal relationships and the impact on well-being and mental health (particularly in relation to children and adolescents), as well as issues linked to information and culture (such as privacy, misinformation, and manipulation). Featuring contributions by leading international scholars and established authorities such as Christian Fuchs, Henry Jenkins, Michael A. Stefanone, and Joan Donovan, editor Devan Rosen brings together key contemporary research from multiple disciplines in order to provide crucial insight into these debates. This book will be an important resource for students and scholars of media and communication, as well as educators, parents, policy makers, and clinicians interested in the impacts of social media.
Violence and Trolling on Social Media by Ewelina Pepiak (Contribution by); Gerlov Van Engelenhoven (Contribution by); Greta Olson (Contribution by); Ann-Marie Riesner (Contribution by); Katleen Gabriels (Contribution by); Penelope Kemekenidou (Contribution by); Marjolein Lanzing (Contribution by); Stephanie Lotzow (Contribution by); Sara Polak (Editor); Daniel Trottier (Editor); Qian Huang (Contribution by); Rashid Gabdulhakov (Contribution by); Tom Clucas (Contribution by); Frans-Willem Korsten (Contribution by)
ISBN: 9462989486
Publication Date: 2020-11-10
'Trolls for Trump', virtual rape, fake news -- social media discourse, including forms of virtual and real violence, has become a formidable, yet elusive, political force. What characterizes online vitriol? How do we understand the narratives generated, and also address their real-world -- even life-and-death-- impact? How can hatred, bullying, and dehumanization on social media platforms be addressed and countered in a post-truth world? Violence and Trolling on Social Media: History, Affect, and Effects of Online Vitriolunpacks discourses, metaphors, dynamics, and framing on social media, in order to begin to answer these questions. Written for and by cultural and media studies scholars, journalists, political philosophers, digital communication professionals, activists and advocates, this book connects theoretical approaches from cultural and media studies with practical challenges and experiences 'from the field', providing insight into a rough media landscape.
Protecting Children Online? by Tijana Milosevic; Sonia Livingstone (Foreword by)
ISBN: 9780262344098
Publication Date: 2018-02-16
A critical examination of efforts by social media companies--including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram--to rein in cyberbullying by young users. High-profile cyberbullying cases often trigger exaggerated public concern about children's use of social media. Large companies like Facebook respond by pointing to their existing anti-bullying mechanisms or coordinate with nongovernmental organizations to organize anti-cyberbullying efforts. Do these attempts at self-regulation work? In this book, Tijana Milosevic examines the effectiveness of efforts by social media companies--including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Snapchat, and Instagram--to rein in cyberbullying by young users. Milosevic analyzes the anti-bullying policies of fourteen major social media companies, as recorded in companies' corporate documents, draws on interviews with company representatives and e-safety experts, and details the roles of nongovernmental organizations examining their ability to provide critical independent advice. She draws attention to lack of transparency in how companies handle bullying cases, emphasizing the need for a continuous independent evaluation of effectiveness of companies' mechanisms, especially from children's perspective. Milosevic argues that cyberbullying should be viewed in the context of children's rights and as part of the larger social problem of the culture of humiliation. Milosevic looks into five digital bullying cases related to suicides, examining the pressures on the social media companies involved, the nature of the public discussion, and subsequent government regulation that did not necessarily address the problem in a way that benefits children. She emphasizes the need not only for protection but also for participation and empowerment--for finding a way to protect the vulnerable while ensuring the child's right to participate in digital spaces.

Click here for more books on this topic in the GSU Catalog

Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory 2023
Pro tip: Check the citations at the end for other possible sources!

Online Articles (not scholarly but you may find informative)

Facebook acknowledges Instrgram's damage to teen mental health, but says there's good stuff too
Amanda Yeo, Mashable.com, 09/27/2021
How being sad, depressed, and anxious online became trendy
Jess Joho, Mashable.com, 06/28/2019
A Psychiatrist's Perspective on Social Media Algorithms and Mental Health
Tammy Qiu, Stanford University HAI, 09/14/2021

Videos (not scholarly but you may find informative)

A Psychiatrist's Perspective on Social Media Algorithms
Nina Vasan & Sara Johansen, Stanford University HAI Events, 05/12/2021
Social media offers individual and collective benefits, but may leave negative impact on mental health. In this seminar, Stanford’s Nina Vasan and Sara Johansen present safety and empathic design frameworks and explore how algorithms can be used to design interventions that support the most vulnerable groups, considering not only if an intervention is helpful but how and for whom it is helpful.
This seminar took place on May 12, 2021.
Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health?
Bailey Parnell, TEDx Talks, 06/22/2017
Scrolling through our social media feeds feels like a harmless part of our daily lives. But is it actually as harmless at seems? According to social media expert Bailey Parnell, our growing and unchecked obsession with social media has unintended long term consequences on our mental health. As social media continues to become part of the fabric of modern life – the “digital layer” – abstinence is becoming less of an option. Bailey think it’s high time we learned to practice safe social before it’s too late. What are the common triggers? How are they affecting you over time? How can you create a more positive experience online? Bailey covers this and more in “Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health?”
Surgeon General warns of social media danger to mental health
Vivek Murthy & Hallie Jackson, TODAY, 05/23/2023
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy discusses his new advisory warning about the potential harm social media has on young people’s mental health. “We see rates of depression and anxiety and suicide and loneliness going up among people and I’m concerned that social media is an important driver of that youth mental health crisis. We're issuing this advisory to sound the alarm."