The first draft will consist of a 3-5 page CRITICAL ANALYSIS of one of the primary texts we studied. If you simply turn in a PLOT SUMMARY, instead of a
critical analysis with a clearly stated thesis, you will receive an F as a grade. The paper is supposed to be LITERARY, not a Social Science, paper. You may use
social science data to support your thesis, but ultimately you will be presenting a LITERARY ANALYSIS of a work of fiction. You will use, a minimum of three
(3) peer reviewed, literary secondary sources to support your thesis. In your paper, you will analyze a work of fiction–NOT a social issue. Paper should follow
the most current MLA guidelines. You will be required to attend an MLA workshop offered during the semester. You may attend any of the sessions
organized by the Writing Center or the one I will offer for our class only. You will also be required to attend a synchronous one on one tutoring/mentoring
session with me or with one of the professional tutors at the Writing Center in order to work on your draft revision. The final, revised, version of your research
paper should be five to seven (5-7) pages long (body/text only)—no more, no fewer. You may submit your paper anytime during the semester, but no later
than the due date. Papers submitted early on may be revised as often as you care to revise them. Again, late or short work will not be accepted and you will
receive a 0 for the assignment. All papers will be turned in via Blackboard in the ASSIGNMENTS section. If you are not familiar with BB, contact the Distance
Learning Office help desk immediately. Ignorance is not an acceptable excuse!
• MLA EXERCISE
You will be asked to write a comprehensive, annotated bibliography on a theme of your choice. I will provide more details/guidelines later. This exercise is the
first step towards writing your research paper. Therefore, it is a mandatory pre-requisite for turning in a final research paper. If you fail to turn in this exercise
on time, you will not be allowed to turn in a final paper and your grade will be a ZERO (0) for that portion of the course grade.
• READING JOURNAL ENTRIES (Discussion Forum Entries)
Students are expected to POST a Discussion Forum Journal Entry discussing the issues/themes presented in each reading. You have to POST a MINIMUM of
12 Discussion Posts. There is no set format for these entries, but you are expected to observe formal standard language conventions.You are also expected
to go beyond simple plot summary; instead, offer a critical interpretations of a passage, theme, issue raised by the author. This is a place to try out ideas for
your short papers. You will NOT receive a point or letter grade for each entry. Instead the journal entries will be graded holistically: ACCEPTABL (1 point) or
UNACCEPTABLE (0 points). At the end of the semester, I will multiply your points by 5 and that will be your grade for the Journal Entries. You can get a max.
of 60 (1 x 12 x 5) points for this grading category. In other words, each individual journal entry is woth 5 points and you either get all 5 points (if your post is
Acceptable) or you do not (if your post is Unacceptable). Each Discussion Forum Entry should be, at least, 450 words long – minimum, no maximum limit. You
are highly encouraged to comment on your classmates’ posts. I will grant you participation points for active engagement. To get full credit, you are expected
to post your Discussion Forum Entry by 11;59 p.m., on WEDNESDAY, on the same week the reading is assigned. Your grade will be added at the end of the
semester. There will be 12 Discussion Forum Entries total.
You can choose your own topic for this paper. The only requirement is that you write a literary analytical paper with a focus on one of the stories we analyzed
in this course. You may compare one of our readings to another book and/or movie not coved in this course but your focus must be on a work read in this
course. If you prefer I can assign a topic–just let me know ahead of time. If you are not sure of what a “literary research paper” is, then go to the Purdue Owl
Writing Lab and read the MLA site directions/guidelines/examples.