English Writing: Research writing with Rough Draft.

Essay 3 tips (on avoiding a D or F):

As you are working on your research papers, I just thought I'd reiterate some tips regarding avoiding receiving a D or F on the paper (as pointed out in class and on the syllabus):

· Make sure to use the A Doll House Research Paper tips (in Modules's Course Materials) to help guide you when composing your paper.

· Page length: make sure to reach the 5-7 page length requirement.

· Works Cited page: make sure to list both your primary source (the play itself) as well as the secondary sources. Make sure that you have a minimum of 4 secondary sources (meaning, sources that you've found; stretching beyond the minimum is encouraged, of course) and that you are observing the proper formatting rules for each Works Cited entry. Also, make sure to alphabetize your sources and offer the URL towards the end if it's a web source. Remember to correct any errors I had mentioned in my journal/outline feedback.

· Parenthetical references/in-text citation: make sure to reference each source at least once within the essay. In other words, avoid having 5 secondary sources but then only interacting with-say-3 of them. Make sure to cite the name of the author (or the essay/article title if it's anonymous) and the page # properly. Make sure that the citation within the essay coincides with what the given source is filed under on the Works Cited page. In other words, if a source is cited within the essay as (Arp and Johnson 4), make sure that said source is filed under "Arp, Thomas and Greg Johnson." Also, if there's no pagination, make sure to cite (n. pag.).  If there's no author, then cite the source by the title it's listed under on the Works Cited. Consult the Source Citation Power Point & Source Citation Mindfulness in the Modules's Course Materials if needed. Also, consult the Secondary Source Workshop prompt (in the Modules's Syllabus) for further assistance in synthesizing outside sources if needed.

· Frequency of citation: Avoid long stretches where you are not citing and interacting with passages from the primary and secondary source. However, also avoid back-to-back quoting and excessive long quotes that drown out your own voice. Emphasize "interacting" with the primary and secondary source addressing how it furthers/adds dimensions to a point you are making; avoid merely throwing in a quote. Aim for a variety of citation: quoting, summarizing, paraphrasing (remember with summaries and paraphrases, quotation marks are not used but citation still must be present). Lastly, avoid leaning on non-academic, Cliff Notes-type, Google'd sources since these sources affect a discussion's credibility. If needed,  re-consult the source citation chapters assigned earlier in the term for helpful examples/tips of insightfully interacting with your sources, not allowing your own voice to be lost.

· AVOID PLAGIARISM: If you're drawing ideas, details, or commentary from a source in any way, cite it! Failure to do so--even if it is just one copied sentence--may result in a D or F, depending on the severity of the copying.