Research Paper - Law & The Humanities

Here are the instructions for the research paper. If you would like to submit a rough draft for the paper please do so by the end of week 10. The final draft of the research paper is due by the end of week 13.

The research paper will be similar to the short essay in that I will be asking you to discuss one of the required works we read/viewed for the class. You may choose any of the required works we read/viewed for the class from week 1 to week 11. You should discuss a major character, issue, or theme from one of these works; you may even do a comparative analysis of a similar issue, image, or theme in two works. If you would like, you may also relate the work to a modern-day issue. If you wish, you might describe how a contemporary issue mirrors the work that you are discussing. Or you might even want to consider how the lessons or morals contained within the work can help explain and illuminate a legal issue that is of consequence today. The length of this research project on one of the required readings from week 1 to week 11 should be 7-9 pages.

Some questions which you might consider as your write your paper on a particular work: If it is a work of non-fiction, you might discuss what constitutes effective law and order in the society that created the document. If it is a work of fiction, you might discuss what you think the author’s/filmmaker’s intent was in creating the work. In other words, what do you think is the theme of the work? If you wish, you might also talk about a troubling contemporary issue that has already been confronted by the work of art you are writing about. How do the conclusions reached in the work of art inform your opinion of the issue?

For example, if you write about “The Lynching of Jube Benson,” you could talk about how Paul Laurence Dunbar exposed the unreliability of eyewitness testimony, how it can be clouded by our preconceptions and prejudices. Then you could discuss any number of real-life cases of people who have been wrongly convicted based upon faulty eyewitness testimony and how (just as Jube is exonerated in “The Lynching”) their convictions were overturned by dispassionate science (e.g. DNA). Another example: if you decide to write about “A Dark Brown Dog,” you could talk about how Stephen Crane’s theory of naturalism demonstrates that the young boy’s environment crushes any humane and loving impulses he might have had. Crane’s vision can be then used to help explain the cycle of abuse that researchers have noted in families where an abused child becomes an abuser or a violent criminal.

This paper should be between 7-9 pages in length. It should be written in proper MLA format with a works cited page. A few days before the paper is due, I will put up an upload link.

A couple of notes: In most cases, I have given you only a small portion of an entire work. If you think that reading a larger portion would help you write the paper, by all means do so (For example, the complete Code of Hammurabi can be found online.) For all of the readings I gave you, I will provide the works cited information. For any other sources you use you will have to find the information yourself.

If you have any questions or concerns about this essay, please send me an email.