Final paper

Final Paper Rubric Paper: 200 points (21.3% of final grade) Due Date: BY May 14th, 1:00pm, upload to Canvas

For the final paper, you will write an approximately 10-page essay (body of essay: 2,500 – 4,000 words, no more or less; Times New Roman, 1-inch margins, 12-point font, double-spaced) critically analyzing the second artifact(s) you choose to work with during the semester. The paper will be due by the end of our finals class period: Thursday, May 14th at 1:00pm.

Your analysis may build off of previous explorations in any of your write-ups, and should utilize the proposal and context paper as somewhat of a partial draft. Make sure that you edit any portion from your previous work so it reads cohesively. You will be graded on: cohesion, clarity, and logical flow; an argument that justifies the choice of artifact and the choice of method; situating your artifact and analysis in its historical context and larger scholarly conversations; and grammar. The purpose of this assignment, like the last paper, is for you to practice your ability to put forth a clear argument, this time in a more in-depth manner.

Grading Criteria: The essay will be graded on the following: justification and development of each portion; clarity of your arguments and essay flow; and grammar. More specifically, speak to the following questions (the points distribution are estimates):

Development (60 points): Does your paper address each part of the critical essay? Do the descriptions of your artifact and method give enough background, so that

an unfamiliar reader can understand your analysis? Do you justify why the artifact and method are important?

Do you situate your artifact within its larger context? Do you argue effectively that this is an important artifact to study?

Do you build a case that your method is an effective way to analyze this artifact? Does the method allow the analysis to cover the key points of intensity

and frequency? (In other words, does anything seem glaringly omitted?) Is the analysis about half (or more) of the paper? Do you situate your artifact, method, and analysis within a larger literature, citing

enough useful sources and explaining how you add to this conversation? Clarity (100 points): Does each part of the essay flow logically into the next?

Do your research question, analysis, and conclusion all build the general claim you are making?

Is it clear how and why you are utilizing each source? Do you cite something when making a claim that requires backing?

Do you build a coherent link between your artifact, its context, the method you choose, and your analysis?

Does your analysis lead to a conclusion that contributes to rhetorical theory? Grammar and Style (40 points): Are there a minimal number of grammatical mistakes?

Do you properly cite sources when you quote or paraphrase someone else’s points? Do you include a page number? Is there a reference page, and is it consistent?

Do you follow the formatting rules outlined at the beginning of this rubric?

Final Paper Rubric 2 COMM142, Spring 2020

Final Presentation The final presentation is now canceled.

Additional Information

Coverage Include all of the parts of an essay according to Foss: first, an introduction, including your research question/thesis, the contribution, and the significance; second, a description and justification of the artifact and its context; third, a description of the method that also argues for its use; fourth, the analysis, or the application of the method to the artifact and a report of its findings; and fifth, a conclusion, including what your analysis might contribute to rhetorical theory.

As with the short paper, you do not need separate section headings. That said, since this is a longer paper, section headings can help organize your thoughts and claims, and fully develop each section. Therefore, I do recommend that you follow section headings as described by Foss, but at minimum, make sure you include an introduction and conclusion and cover necessary information for a description (and context) of the artifact(s), description (and justification/ contributing insights) of method, and analysis. Again, craft an essay that flows from one portion to the next, and try to order it in a way that enhances the clarity of your analysis; the analysis should still be about half (or more) of your paper.

Make sure you also cover the following: Properly cite all of your sources. This includes proper citation within the body of the text (e.g., endnotes are fine for Chicago style; pages and years are necessary for APA) as well as consistent formatting in your references/endnotes section. I am most interested in consistency. Make sure that: a) every piece of information is present in your reference section (author, titles, publishing, year, pages, editors, translators, etc.); and b) the format stays the same for each type of publication. See OWL Purdue for more information. Include sufficient sources. You are expected to incorporate theories from the course in your analysis to explain some of the cultural themes present in your artifact. You must have at least five (5) academic sources. You are welcome to add more but are not required. These sources should reflect a collection of method and topic. Any necessary contextual sources (e.g., critical reviews of a film you analyze) are supplemental sources. You may utilize the sources from your context paper and annotated bibliography towards satisfying these requirements.

Note: There is often some confusion on how to find academic sources that talk about method, especially the later methods that fit under ideological criticism. These are more difficult because they are more open-ended. Often, the theoretical basis can act as sources to describe the method. Translation, through an example: in the essay on the 1963 Birmingham Campaign, Johnson (now a recommended reading) identifies the theory of “image events” to explain the rhetorical force of this particular event. The visual rhetoric of image events, as a theory to make sense of how rhetoric circulates, is the lens used to analyze images from the campaign and its aftermath. Here, method sources can also be theory sources: the academic conversation that links visual images and the spread of

Final Paper Rubric 3 COMM142, Spring 2020

messages/ideologies. In such ideological criticisms, the types of criticism (feminist, Marxist, structuralist/semiotic, etc.) can act as the method: that is, the lens/framework/units of analysis through which to examine messages. Overall, ask yourself: How am I framing the way I am going about, or approaching, my analysis? Through the metaphor criticism procedures? Through feminist criticism? From there, find sources that also use a similar methodological frame.

For topic, ask yourself: Has anyone written on my artifact? If not, has anyone written on an area related to my artifact? For instance, say you want to analyze a protest song. See if anyone has written about that song. See what is out there about protest songs in general. If it is war-related, see what exists in war protest songs. See what exists in the rhetoric of protest (songs or not). See what exists on the rhetoric of music (protest or not). These are all possible avenues. (See Foss’ section, “Identifying the Literature to Review,” especially the first paragraph on page 14, for further information.)

Method You may incorporate aspects of other methods, but follow one framework as your main focus. Make sure that you have one, overarching claim (or thesis statement, or answer to a research question), where the method is the guiding lens through which your analysis develops that claim. Clarify, if incorporating other methods, how you are making use of your methodological tools to contain your focus.

Keeping Yourself Organized First of all, refer to the suggestions offered in the Paper One Rubric on outlines, descriptions, and sources. Also note that the tutoring center is still taking Zoom appointments. As long as it occurs by our last week of instruction, you may also send me an outline or a couple pages to review.

Submission Please turn in the essay by the end of our final exam period. You are welcome to turn the paper in early. Follow the listed word count, which should make the body of the paper 8-12 pages double-sided. (Originally, the expectation was 9-12 pages. I will accept 8 pages due to extenuating circumstances. Any shorter would be insufficient, but 8 should be fine.)