English 4371/6371: Cultural Encounters in Early America

M. Householder

Fall 2005

Essay Assignment #3: Research Paper

Background: In part, majoring in English should prepare one to read competing arguments about a topic, analyze them, sift their evidence, weigh their relative merits, and then write an essay of one’s own that synthesizes what one has read and what one thinks. This assignment invites you to put into practice all of the skills—reading, interpreting, analyzing, evaluating, synthesizing—that you have been working on this semester.

Assignment: Write a 12-page documentary research paper on any topic(s)/text(s) from or related to the course. In this paper, you should make an original, insightful argument about this topic/text, one that helps correct, clarify, or elaborate some well-defined critical question, problem, or controversy. To support your argument, you will use two kinds of evidence. 1) You will need two to four secondary sources that help frame your topic as a question, problem, or controversy that merits further critical attention. Although you will use only a small number of sources to frame your argument, you may also find it necessary to make limited references to other sources to develop it. 2) You will also need to analyze at least one primary text as a way of illustrating/ supporting your argument. If you are uncertain about the viability of either of these kinds of sources, please consult with me.

Criteria for Evaluation: Your paper (typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins in a font similar to this one) will be assessed according to how well it does each of the following things:

· Articulates a cogent, original, and insightful way of thinking about a critical question, problem, or controversy.

· Demonstrates independent research into, and thorough understanding of, relevant primary and secondary sources.

· Uses a clear, precise, well-defined thesis that is sophisticated in both statement and insight to control the argument and keep the reader on track.

· Selects and integrates well-chosen examples in the form of quoted (and properly documented) textual evidence.

· Uses persuasive reasoning to develop and support the thesis consistently.

· Structures the argument logically by using topic sentences that link back to the thesis statement, smoothly developing the argument through the use of transitional words and phrases that express the precise logical relationship between one sentence/paragraph/idea and the next.

· Uses sophisticated sentences effectively. Usually chooses words aptly. Observes conventions of written English and MLA manuscript format. Makes few minor or technical errors

Steps in the Process: The initial research for this paper has already begun. Ideally, you will be able to use some of essay #2 (probably with some revision) as raw material for the research paper. The next four weeks will likewise be broken into stages and checkpoints that break the larger project into more manageable chunks.

· Tuesday 11/22: Thesis statement workshop. Checking for an insightful, coherent, arguable thesis statement. Come to class with your best current version of your thesis statement ready to share.

· Tuesday 11/29: Working draft due. Bring four copies of your paper with you to class. Peer conferences will be scheduled for Thurs-Fri.

· Wednesday 12/7: Final drafts due.