Research Paper + outline

Research Paper Assignment

Topic. A major part of your paper assignment is to think of your own topic. While I will and have recommended topics, I never assign a topic.

Narrowing a topic. Part of your responsibility as a writer is to understand what your audience needs to know about your topic to understand your ideas. Then, you need to know what your audience needs to know about your topic to enjoy what you are saying or to relax or to work hard while they read it. Many students and faculty do not want to feel like they have completed a day’s work trying to understand, on a literal level, what you are saying. They may not want to look up more than five words in a dictionary—a Latin dictionary, a dictionary of slang, a Renaissance English dictionary—to gain a literal understanding of your ideas. Some readers will have a passing understanding of your topic; some will know virtually nothing. You, as writer, have to decide what information you want to provide and where and how you provide it. Do you include explanatory notes for difficult terms so the flow of the text is not interrupted? Is one example enough, three examples too many? Do your illustrations need more detail, more depth? How you answer these questions ties into your decision about narrowing your topic. For many students this is the most challenging step in writing the paper.

Many students try to include a narrowed topic and in-depth examples in their first draft. After students, friends, and/or family read their paper and ask a few questions, students realize they need to narrow the topic further, add more details and before they submit their first draft to the drop box. Dr. Rettig grades the first draft, suggests ways to further narrow the topic and asks more questions, encouraging students to give more commentary, more details. By the time some students finish their second draft, they have sufficiently narrowed their topic and provided the necessary details. Others continue this process until they submit their final draft. All students have a chance to revise their paper until they submit the final draft. Only the grade students receive on their final draft counts toward their final grade. Students who are able to write a paper with a narrowed focus and examples that contain depth and detail by the time they submit their second draft, are on track. Most students who work hard, are able to revise their second draft and receive the grade they desire by the time they submit their final draft. Most students are disappointed in the grade on their first draft.

Examples/Illustrations. Students must develop at least one example in depth, using relevant detail and commentary. Students’ commentary—their own explanation of how/when an event or idea is important to them, how it’s important, what is important—is a part of the writing process most students work on until they submit their final copies of their papers. Students must explain the who, what, when, where, and/or how of the topic. They must explain what is important or significant about an event, idea, or occurrence. Students often include two or three or more detailed examples. Some may be more detailed than others, but I want to know students can develop an idea or a description beyond explaining the obvious or giving only surface information.

Paper length. Your paper is to be 7-10 pages long, double-spaced, 10-12 point font, approximately one-inch margins. You do not need to include a title page, but do include a title on all graded essays. Do include my name and yours at least on the first page and the name of the class (English 170A). The page length is approximate. If, on your first draft, you are done explaining your ideas in the depth and detail you want and your paper is five pages, hand it in. You will not be docked. If you are done explaining your ideas and your paper is ten pages, hand it in. Do not add a few paragraphs to your paper to make it ten pages if the paragraphs you add are repetitious and irrelevant, to get to ten pages. Nor should you lop off the last couple pages, including your conclusion to fit in with the page length. If your paper is less than three pages or more than ten, try to adjust your topic to fit the page requirement or, add more explanation/commentary/details/examples.

Your final draft will be 7-10 pages long (give or take a page or two), and must include a Works Cited page. You will follow MLA format. You must include seven or more relevant sources. They can be primary or secondary sources, scholarly or popular culture. You must include at least four sources from scholarly journals.

Title. All your papers must have a title. Your title can be dull or imaginative, descriptive or mysterious. Discuss the title with the people you ask to read your paper.

Introduction/Conclusion. All papers need an introduction and conclusion, although some may not need a full paragraph; others may need two or three or four paragraphs. Do make these two of the best parts of your paper.

Mechanics. Do not think of grammar and mechanics while you are composing. Do a final check before drafts and final copies are due. If grammar and/or mechanics are a problem, get help from me, from your colleagues, from friends, family, advisors, anyone. If mechanics is a problem, learning this in one semester is difficult to impossible. Do not just give the paper to someone and ask them to correct it. Have them explain your error and how to correct your error. Then decide if you agree with the recommendation. If someone suggests you turn a compound sentence into a fragment and you follow their recommendation, I consider that your error, whether I am the one who suggested the change, a student in your writing group, or your high school English teacher who knows the grammar section of a handbook backwards and forwards.

Organization. How you organize your paragraphs and paper is your decision. But, sometimes a writer’s organization does not make sense to me. If so, I will let you know and we will discuss your options to add explanation, to point out connections that are not clear, or to rearrange your information. Do plan to check your paper organization by composing a final outline of each draft and final copy. You do not need to include a final outline in your paper.

Sources. You must include seven sources, four of which must be from scholarly journals. We will discuss at length the options for scholarly journals and for source material taken from short stories, poetry, and popular culture.

Length: 7-10 pages for final draft. Often a five-page paper is good for the First Draft.

Due Dates: First Draft, September 28

Optional Second Draft: October 24

Final Draft: November 2