Basic Information
Topic/Focus: Analysis, Argument, and Research
Length and Format: Draft must be at least 1/2 length of the final paper or 1000 words, include quotes and examples from one primary source (story, poem, film) and cited research from six+ scholarly journal articles from the library’s online databases, be double-spaced, in12-pt Times New Roman; MLA works cited page (not included in total word count)
Format: MLA paper format
Submitting Your Work: When you are ready, please upload your work as a .doc or .pdf. Name your work LastName_TitleofAssignment
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Gather all Your Research and Materials
Review your submissions for weeks 10-13 and study your feedback carefully. Review the research you found for the essay and finalize the sources you will use. Make note of the information you are quoting from your primary source (poem, story, film) and secondary sources. Write paraphrases for any sources you plan on paraphrasing.
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Familiarize Yourself with the General Structure of Your Research Paper
The Introduction: the introduction of the essay grabs the readers attention, introduces the author and the work(s), identifies the main characters or features of the work, provides a summary, and ends in a thesis.
The Body: The main part of the body and the main part of your essay are your body paragraphs. Each of your body paragraphs must have a clearly stated main idea.
Background: Your body begins with a background section, which is anywhere between 1-3 paragraphs. Everything in the background must be cited; even if it means citing every sentence, nothing in the background is your argument; it is all coming from outside research and includes summaries and paraphrases. Cite this information correctly in MLA.
Everything in a paragraph must relate to that main idea. When you present a claim or point about the story/poem/film you develop and prove that point via the use of this pattern:
Begin with your claim
Introduce the source and how it relates to your thesis
Cite the source
Explain the source
Provide secondary source support for your perspective
Comment on that secondary source support
Close by reiterating your claim
The body of your essay should include research sandwiches, which you learned about in the integrating research lesson. It should also include direct quotes and proper paraphrases from your secondary sources. The body also includes transitions between ideas. Transitions indicate when you are moving from one point to the next or from one aspect of a point to the next. Transitions are words, phrases, and sentences.
The Conclusion: the conclusion provides a summary, your final evaluation after analyzing the work and studying your thesis, any other implications your argument may have for reading the text in the future, and a closing statement.
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Write Your Draft
Download the attached format and follow it for your research paper draft. Be sure to include a works cited page at the end of your paper with your six secondary sources AND your primary source.
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Checklist for Key Requirements
1000+ words
Include your name, course and section number, assignment, and date in the upper left corner of the first page
Put your last name and the page number in the header of every page
An original title that is centered on the top line of the first page
Essays must have one (1) inch margins
A precise and debatable thesis. A thesis answers the So what can I tell my readers that they dont already know from reading the work of literature?
Not a plot summary
Do not write a biography of the author
Multiple paragraphs
Organized in essay form
Claims backed by evidence that is then analyzed
Properly integrated and cited quotes from the primary source and secondary sources
Use of the third person only; avoid first and second person
Strong verbs
College-level vocabulary
Include an MLA-formatted Works Cited page after your final page. The works cited page is not part of your word count
Proofread your assignment for grammatical and mechanical (spelling, capitalization, and punctuation) errors
