Which specific aspects of your experience with COVID will you focus on?

ANTH 305 Sheila R. Tully

Final Research Paper Guidelines

Details: 6-8 pages, 12 point font, Times New Roman, double-spaced, one inch margins. Chicago formatting (review Department of Anthropology Student Writing Handbook pp. 11&12 on ANTH website and Brown, Ch. 7). You will be penalized if you do not format correctly your paper, in-text citations, and bibliography (We will be reviewing formatting in class.) The bibliography should contain AT LEAST 6 academic sources (excluding any assigned readings). You may use the texts from class as well as other sources (websites, newspaper articles, blogs etc.) IN ADDITION TO your 6 academic sources. If you are not sure whether a source is an academic text, ask me. Goal: This assignment requires you to ask an anthropological question, then through research, answer it in the style of a professional anthropological article. This final paper utilizes many (in some cases, all) of the elements that you have been working on throughout the semester. Components: Your final paper must include (though not necessarily in this order): 1. A research question (thesis)

2. An introduction that includes research methods and a roadmap to the rest of your paper

3. A theoretical framework that explains your perspective and approach to your topic. You

should include key definitions central to your research question.

4. A literature review that provides an overview of anthropological studies relevant to your

research question. You need to show how your work adds to this literature. Your review

should highlight key analytical themes related to your research topic – for ex. national

identity, race/ethnicity, memory, ritual, gender, sexuality etc.

5. Specific evidence (statistics, examples, comparisons) that supports general statements and

flesh out your argument

6. Your analysis explains and interprets your evidence/data. Examine various parts of your

thesis, situate your thesis/argument in a broader context:

- Framing the context (political economic, historical, racial, religious, geographic etc.)

- Comparing and contrasting (looking at similarities and differences based on geographic

locations, age, gender, and other demographics

- Relationships (how and why do different groups or individuals interact in particular

ways)

- Applying theoretical frameworks (specific theoretical frameworks to explore ideas

about personhood, agency, intersectionality etc.)

- Social roles (who does what in a particular cultural setting)

- Cultural meanings and values (what is significant and meaningful to people in a

particular setting)

7. A conclusion that briefly summarizes the most important parts of your argument/thesis.

Clearly restate the answer to your research question (your thesis), explain the significance

and broader implications of your research, and (perhaps) raise new questions and further

directions for research.

Please review guidelines for previous assignments and relevant chapters of Writing Anthropology. Each part of your paper needs to be connected to the previous, using strong transitional vocabulary that follows the roadmap in your introduction. Each paragraph needs to build on the previous paragraph, following a logical and clear sequence of ideas. I strongly encourage you to confer with me as well as with classmates, to discuss ideas and trouble shoot issues related to your final project. We also will be using discussion forums to help each other as problems or questions arise. You will be writing several drafts, peer reviewing, and revising these before completing and submitting your final version of your paper.