Order 1235339: Research paper about a play

Some Points about Writing the Term Paper

1. Make certain that works cited formats adhere to MLA guidelines. Note that the 2nd and 3rd lines are done with a hanging indent.

A book by one author:

Commager, Henry Steele. Theodore Parker. Beacon, 1947.

An essay in a collection:

Leavis, Q. D. “Hawthorne as Poet.” Hawthorne: A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by A.N. Kaul. Prentice, 1966, pp. 25-63.

An article in a journal, found in a scholarly online database:

Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-Century England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96. ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May 2009.

Look in The MLA Handbook for further information; you are expected to provide correctly- formatted works cited entries for your papers. Points will be taken off if the works cited page is incorrect.

2. Make certain quotations are verbatim, punctuated properly, and introduced with an

independent clause. Immediately after the quotation, a comment is needed before you

proceed to your next point.

3. Long quotations (four lines or more) should be blocked, quote marks omitted.

4. Short quotations (less than four lines) should display quotation marks.

5. ALL QUOTATIONS SHOULD BE CITED PARENTHETICALLY.

6. Open .PDF files of articles in databases so that you will have page numbers to cite

parenthetically.

7. In citing works of literature, cite line numbers for poems; cite page numbers for stories and

essays; and cite the act, scene, and lines for plays.

8. Your thesis statement should be very specific—it should contain key words/phrases which

anticipate each and every body paragraph/section.

9. Mention names of the critics liberally. It is weak to write many critics feel or a critic has said.

Use the name and provide a quotation. Never refer to an author or critic by first name alone.

10. Refer to titles correctly, using quotation marks or italics as required. Look in Harbrace

Essentials.

11. You is unacceptable in a formal college paper. One may write, however, Hawthorne

addresses the reader . . . .

12. Vary your verbs. Instead of says or tells, try discusses, explains, comments, remarks, replies,

retorts, suggests, claims, concurs, declares, asserts.

13. Do not use contractions; they are informal.

14. Use different from instead of different than in a formal college paper.

15. Do not use abbreviations such as e.g. Instead, write for example.

16. Do not write the reason is because, which is redundant.

17. Do not begin a sentence with Well.

18. Avoid utility words such as nice, funny, and great.

19. Avoid clichés such as what goes around comes around.

Remember that a research paper is like any other paper—with an introduction and thesis, body

paragraphs, and a conclusion. The research is only to SUPPORT your ideas; some think that

research alone constitutes the grade—not so—you still must write a logical, well-written, well-

documented, grammatically-correct paper!