Paper details
Research paper guidelines
1. THE RESEARCH PAPER: Completion of a research paper is a requirement for ENGL102. Students who do not complete the research paper will not receive a Satisfactory/C for the course. The following are the general parts of the Research Paper grade:
The Research Paper Process: There are several stages of the Research Paper Process: topic choice, outline and thesis statement, and Works Cited page. At any point in the process, a student can contact or visit with me in person to receive advice and feedback.
The following are the minimum length and number of sources for the Research Paper. (For more details about requirements for the thesis statement and paragraphs of the Research Paper, refer to the information in Course Documents.):
o Length: a minimum of 3 full pages (rough draft) and 4 full pages(for final), which does not include the Works Cited page. Papers that do not meet the minimum length requirement or do not contain direct quotes from both your secondary and primary sources will not pass the assignment. Also, this is a final draft, which means he should have made changes based on the feedback you received. If I see no changes have been made from your rough draft, you will recieve a grade at a maximum of a C on the assignment..
o Sources: a minimum of four (4) sources, which includes the primary source (the story or play) and at least three (3) scholarly secondary sources, which must consist of critical sources and journal articles from the Literature Resource Center at the BPCC library, which is available for students to access online.
Very important: Other internet sources may be approved upon request, but students should make the request before planning to use them, especially as one of the minimum number of sources. The BPCC librarians are very helpful with showing how to search the databases. Both primary and secondary sources should be used and cited in each body paragraph of the Research Paper and those in-text citations will correspond exactly with the Works Cited list.
Sparknotes or Wikipedia are not acceptable sources All websites that you plan to use (that are not connected with a college library must be approved by me in advance.
For the Final draft of the research paper, I will not except a final draft if you have not submitted a rough draft
Drafts (both rough and final draft)s that are submitted below the page limit, containing no internal citations, or without direct quotes from ALL secondary sources will not receive a passing grade!!
Academic Integrity Policy:
Any student who plagiarizes any part of his or her work will, at a minimum, automatically receive a 0 for the assignment. Students should be aware of the Student Academic Integrity policy described in the Student Handbook and that if the policy is violated, they will be subjected to disciplinary sanctions listed in the Handbook. Plagiarism includes “copying-and-pasting” un-cited excerpts and working collaboratively with other students. Students are expected to work independently, to generate and express their own ideas about the literature, and to cite those ideas that they have borrowed from others or are using as supportive evidence.
General guidelines:
1. The papers should be typed in Times New Roman font
2. Each intro and concluding paragraph should be at least five sentences. The body paragraphs should be at least six sentences in length.
3. Only use third person and make sure that all of your verbs are in present tense
4. Each direct quote within your body paragraphs( there should be no quotes in your intro and concluding paragraphs) should be introduced.
5. The title of your story should be in quote marks..
What should be in each part?
The introduction of your paper should include the following:
Summarize the basic plot of the story or play in a couple sentences. This is done in order to give the reader an idea about what the basic outline of the story is like. Include a sentence about the author of the story. Provide their full name and the year of the story was first published.
The most important part of the introduction is your thesis statement. It should include the main points that you plan to develop in each of your body paragraphs. Everything that is included in your thesis sentence must be developed in your body paragraphs.
Each body paragraph should include the following:
Each one should have a topic sentence that relates to one part of your thesis.
You should also include a direct quote from both the story or play, and a secondary source in each body paragraph.
You must include internal citations as a part of body paragraphs. They need to appear at the end of each direct quote. See the sample paper for an example of what they should look like.
You must have at least one quote from your primary source and one of your three outside sources in each body paragraph.
Watch out for plot summary! Use the story to prove your thesis rather than retelling the plot.
The main goal of your concluding paragraph is to restate the thesis statement. You also need to restate the main point in the body of your paper. Do not include any new information in this paragraph because you do not have time to develop it fully before the end of your paper.
Review this document that has an additional example:
Explanation of the parts of the Paper.docxPreview the documentView in a new window
MLA citation help:
Your Hodges Harbrace handbook should be your main resource for any citation questions. It has a detailed section on citing all kinds of sources. I will also include a sample work cited page from an old paper in this section. You must have a Work Cited page with your rough and final draft of the research paper.
