ENGL 501: Techniques of Literary Research
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
 
 

 Guidelines for Research Paper

Basics

An 8-10 pp. research paper, due at the date stated on the current class calendar,  will be worth 30-35% of final grade (see current class homepage for specific weight).  Yes, I'll read your paper if you write 12 pages rather than 10; but no, I do not want to read a significantly longer paper.  10-12 pages is about the length of a typical 20-minute conference paper.  I encourage you to keep an eye out for the Calls for Papers that are sent over the englgrads email alias, and consider presenting your work at an upcoming, graduate-student-friendly conference!  (Some departmental funding may be available to help defray your costs.)

A Paper Prospectus and Working Bibliography (worth about 15% of the class grade) will be due several weeks before the end of the quarter (see current class calendar for specific due date).   Students should meet with Prof. Schwartz to discuss possible research angles on their chosen author/text and any problems they have encountered in the research exercises by the fifth week of class at the latest. 

Paper should be double-spaced with the exception of indented block quotations, which I (unlike the MLA Handbook) ask you to single-space.  Use a standard 10-pt. or 12-pt. font, with 1" margins on all sides. Be sure to PROOFREAD for spelling, punctuation, and basic grammatical errors, as well as for clarity (clearly stated thesis; logical development of argument; adequate and relevant textual support; solid conclusion.)  Consult the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST both BEFORE and AFTER completing your first draft, and make sure you do not commit the sort of errors listed on the checklist! 

Paper must include citation from at least 6 secondary sources (scholarly writings about your primary text[s]), listed alphabetically by author's last name on a List of Works Cited at the end of your paper.  Of these, at least one should be from each of the following TYPES of resource: 1) journal article; 2) essay in edited book collection; 3) full-length book by a single or joint author(s); additionally, you should include at least one of each of the following MODES OF ACCESS, which you should specify parenthetically at the end of the Works Cited entry: 1) a hard copy work (print resource) found in the Kennedy Library collections (specify "Poly + Call #); 2) a work accessed electronically from one of the full-text subscription database in the Kennedy Library collections); 3) a work unavailable at Cal Poly which you have acquired through Link+ (specify "Link+); and 4) a work that is unable at Cal Poly or through Link+ which you have acquired through ILL (specify "ILL").  For electronically accessed subscription database sources, add the following to the basic bibliographic citation you would use for a print source:  the name of the database used (underlined and followed by a period); Web (followed by a period); and the date of access (day, month, year).  Some final thoughts on the secondary sources you should include on your List of Works Cited: 

  • Do NOT cite online resources other than Cal Poly subscription databases or free-access, peer-reviewed scholarly journals in this paper (no Wikipedia or web pages, please). 
  • If you cite the critical apparatus in your primary text (e.g. an introduction, preface, etc.), be sure to document it correctly (consult your MLA Handbook). 
  • Be sure that the citations on your list of Works Cited are complete and correctly formatted. Document all listed items correctly, including any items accessed electronically.
  • Be sure to include an entry on your List of Works Cited for EACH secondary source which you cite in your paper (and to omit any entries for sources which you do not end up citing in your final paper.)
I will look for evidence that you have drawn on the items on your List of Works Cited in formulating and/or supporting your argument.  However, do not forget that the purpose of your paper is to argue your interpretation of the primary source(s) -- not to present a review of criticism.  Your paper should offer an argument based primarily on close reading of your primary texts.  Treat the secondary criticism like a lawyer calling on an expert witness in court: only quote what is needed to bolster a specific point in your argument.  In a good analytic research paper, the total amount of citation from all of your secondary sources combined will typically be less than the amount of citation you include from your primary sources. 

Do NOT begin your paper with truisms, statements of personal philosophy, generalities, or examples from modern life -- you don't need a "hook"; you already have my full attention.  Nor should you provide a survey of secondary criticism.  Get to your point, which is your interpretation of the primary text(s). 

Write your paper in formal academic prose.  Avoid using the first or second person (I, we, you) in constructing your argument, which should be presented as objectively as possible.  The implication of first-person references is that your paper is just a statement of  personal opinion, and thus no more valid than opposing opinions; why should the reader care what you think?  Instead, aim for a tone of objective neutrality, which is rhetorically more effective than a statement of opinion ("I believe,"; "I think") in convincing the reader of the objective validity of your argument.

Finding a Topic and an Interpretation to Argue

Your research paper should focus on the single author/work which you have researchedduring the practicum component of this class.  Because ENGL 501 is not content-specific, you have a great deal of freedom in choosing your author/work and the topic you wish to explore within the work you study.  You may choose to explore the use of a theme, a literary technique, or a stylistic aspect of the work in question.  As you consider potential paper topics, be aware that it's not enough simply to describe what you find; you also have to have something to say about what you have observed, i.e. what is the significance of the specific details which you have noted?  For a comparative paper, you should begin by acknowledging pertinent similarities between two works -- the common characteristics that make the comparison fruitful -- before turning your attention to specific differences which (one hopes) will provide insight into the particularities of the work in question. 

A good way to begin is to ask yourself the following questions:  What seems to be the overall message of the work under consideration?  What point(s) is the author trying to make?  Does s/he (the author) have any particular agenda s/he is trying to advance?  Does the text/author provide a reaction to or against another text/author? How does THIS particular treatment of a character, relationship, object, theme, motif, event or technique you are exploring fit into the work's overall message or the author's overall agenda or intent? What does this character / relationship / object / theme / motif / event "mean" to this author or in the context of this work?  Finally, you may wish to address the question of WHY the author may have chosen to treat this character / relationship / object / theme / motif / event in this way (or to use this particular technique).  These questions will help you develop an interpretive framework for your readings; they will remind you that you should consider not only the WHAT (provide an accurate description of content) but the HOW and, ideally, offer some theories about the WHY. 

Remember that your paper should be analtyic and interpretive rather than merely descriptive.  Yes, you will base your argument upon specific details from the text, but you must do more than offer an accurate description of content.  You must move beyond the astute observation to analytic interpretation of what you have observed.  Otherwise you will have no more than detailed notes for a paper you haven't yet written.  Description and summary, however detailed and accurate, are not a logically organized interpretive argument. 

Argumentation

Keep in mind that your paper should be textual analysis, not description, summary or a list of examples.  Your paper must take an interpretive position concerning a DEBATABLE POINT -- one that is based on textual interpretation and which could conceivably be argued another way.  Be sure to articulate the interpretation you will argue in your paper fully and clearly in the opening paragraph(s). You will prove the validity of this interpretation in the body of your paper by citing carefully chosen examples from the primary texts AND relevant support from secondary readings (criticism) in order to support a specific argument concerning the primary reading(s). Note:  it is unlikely that you will be able to boil your interpretive position down into a simple one-sentence "thesis statement" as you were taught to do for a five-paragraph essay in your introductory writing classes.  An effective introduction reads more like what you were taught to write as the conclusion to such a five-paragraph essay!

In fact, the best analogy for good analytic paper writing is a lawyer arguing a case in court. Your primary text is the client; your interpretation of that text is the client's "plea" -- guilty or innocent of what specific charges. Like a good lawyer, your opening statement (the introduction) will fully articulate your interpretation and suggest how you will structure your argument. While your opening paragraph should not get into the specific examples you will discuss in the body of your paper, it should indicate what kinds of evidence you will use to make your case. 

Thus, the introduction should do more than state your topic -- it should clearly state what interpretation you are defending and sketch out the parameters (but not the details) of the argument you will make to prove the validity of that interpretation.  This information should NOT be saved for your conclusion or revealed gradually, one idea at a time, in the body of your paper -- it should be fully articulated UP FRONT, letting your reader know where the paper is going and how you intend to argue your case.  As you articulate your argument (a sort of narrative outline of your paper), make sure its organization is dictated by logic, not by the order in which passages or events occur in the text you are writing about.  You should be able to generate an outline of the sections of the completed paper, in order, from what you say in your introduction. 

In the body of your paper, introduce textual evidence in support of EACH LOGICAL STEP in your argument. Citations from the primary text(s) and secondary readings (criticism) are the evidence which you are presenting in court; your analysis of those citations is the cross-examination of witnesses and/or interpretation of the evidence -- what will make or break your case. If you don't make your points explicitly, they are not entered into the court record and cannot be considered by the jury (your professor) in deciding whether or not you have successfully defended your client (proven the validity of your thesis) -- nor can they be considered by the judge (also your professor) who assigns the final grade!

Support your thesis with textual evidence, but keep paper analytic rather than descriptive. A summary of events or list of examples of a given theme or stylistic device is NOT textual analysis; you must have something to say ABOUT the examples you cite. Be sure to explain the relevance of the material you quote to your argument -- don't just stick it in and expect it to speak for itself. It must be interpreted for the reader; be sure to indicate clearly its relevance to your argument. 

Don't forget to give paper a title which identifies authors or work(s) discussed and gives reader some idea of what you are arguing (your thesis). Remember that your paper title should not be underlined or italicized, but the title of most primary texts should be.  Don't end your paper with a quotation -- it's your work; you, not someone else, should have the last word. 

Documentation

All documentation should be in the form of parenthetical references immediately following citations in the body of your paper.  Please FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES BELOW, as I am asking you to document your sources in a particular way.  Please be aware that part of the scholar's task is to adhere to any guidelines provided by his/her teacher, editor, or a publication to which s/he intends to submit her/his work -- no matter how arcane you may feel them to be!

SECONDARY SOURCES:  Bibliographic citations for your secondary sources (works of scholarly criticism) should be provided on a list of Works Cited at the end of your paper.  The entries on your list of Works Cited should be alphabetized by author's last name.  Be sure that your citations are in correct bibliographic citation format (consult the models on Dr. Schwartz's Guide to Research Tools or your MLA Handbook). 

When you quote from or refer to a secondary source, you will document that source using a parenthetical reference consisting of the author's last name and the page number.  If you cite more than one work by the same author, or works by two authors with the same last name, provide whatever information is necessary (e.g. first name or initial; date of publication; abbreviated title) to identify clearly the work from which your citation is taken.  Please do not use a footnote or endnote for this purpose; save notes for instances in which you wish to provide additional information that is clearly peripheral to your argument.

In addition to including the author's last name in your parenthetical reference, you should mention the author of the citation BY NAME in the body of your paper.  The first time you cite or refer to a specific critic, give his or her full name as it appears on the title page of the work; thereafter, you may refer to him/her by last name only.    Please note that in a research paper (unlike, say, a magazine article), there is no need to specify that the scholar you are quoting is a scholar, teacher, literary critic or academic; because you should only be quoting reputable scholarly sources in a research paper, that information is redundant.  But please be sure that you ALWAYS introduce citations so that it is clear whose words you are citing. Please use this paper to practice varying the ways in which you introduce your critics, e.g.:

  • As Helen Cooper points out, "[Provide citation here]" (Cooper 27); OR,
  • According to Helen Cooper, "[Provide citation here]" (Cooper 27); OR,
  • Helen Cooper argues that "[Provide citation here]" (Cooper 27); OR,
  • For Helen Cooper, "[Provide citation here]" (Cooper 27); OR
  • Helen Cooper has analyzed[explain the focus of the analysis], suggesting that "[Provide citation here]" (Cooper 27).
PRIMARY SOURCES:  For this paper, I will ask that you practice a different method of documenting your primary sources (the literary works that are the forus of your analysis):  you will still use parenthetical references immediately following your citations, but you will use an abbreviated title rather than the author's last name.  Additionally, you will use a single foot- or endnote for an explanation of the system you are using in your parenthetical references and to provide the publication information for your primary sources, in addition to listing them on your List of Works Cited.  Knowing how to use a note form to document your PRIMARY sources is a handy tool to have in your graduate student tool-kit; you may find it useful when analyzing more than one work by the same author (e.g. two novels or plays, several poems or short stories within a given collection) or when dealing with works (e.g. poetry, plays) which are cited by line rather than page number.  NOTE:  if the primary work you are writing on appears in an anthology, your note should be sure to include its AUTHOR (if known) and SPECIFIC TITLE (e.g. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Miller's Tale), NOT simply the title of the anthology (e.g. the Portable Chaucer).  In addition to the author and title, your foot- or endnote should give full bibliographic information for both the individual text you are citing and the book in which it appers.  Relevant information may include the editor/translator of the specific text (if applicable), the anthology title (if applicable), the editor of anthology (if applicable), the edition and volume numbers (if applicable), the publisher, place and date of publication, and inclusive page numbers for the text you are discussing (if it is in an anthology or collection). 

Your note should also explain the system you are using in your  parenthetical references, clearly identifying the abbreviated title you willl use and specifying whether numbers refer to page, line or other numbers in your text.  For example, if you are writing on Geoffrey Chaucer's The Miller's Prologue and Tale, you might use the following note for a prose translation (which includes only page numbers, rather than line numbers):

All quotations from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Miller's Prologue and Tale are taken from The Portable Chaucer, ed. and trans. Theodore Morrison, rev. ed. (New York: Penguin, 1977), pp. 123-43, and will be indicated in parenthetical references by the letters MT followed by specific page numbers quoted.  But if you were citing the original Middle English text (from e.g. the 7th edition of the Norton Anthology), your parenthetical references should provide line numbers rather than page numbers.  In that case, your note should include all appropriate bibliographic citation information for the specific edition you are using (including inclusive page numbers where the Miller's Tale appears), as well as the explanation that parenthetical references to this work will be indicated by the abbreviation "MT" plus specific LINE numbers quoted. For example: All quotations from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Miller's Prologue and Tale are taken from the edition of E. T. Donaldson [this info is found on p. 213 of the 7th ed. of the NA] as printed in The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Middle Ages, ed. Alfred David, et al., 7th ed., vol. 1a (New York: Norton, 2000), pp. 235-52, and will be indicated in parenthetical references by the letters MT followed by specific line numbers quoted.  After this initial footnote or endnote, do NOT use a note for each subsequent quotation. Instead, provide parenthetical documentation in the body of your paper.  Parenthetical documentation should include the abbreviated title of the specific work you are citing (not of the anthology in which it appears) plus inclusive line, page or other numbers necessary to locate the specific passage quoted (include numbers of lines, section, stanza, act, scene, canto, etc., as applicable).  Use inclusive page numbers only if no other numbering is provided (as is the case for most works in prose).  When line numbers are included (e.g. for some poetry, plays and longer works in verse), cite line numbers, not pagination. 


EXAMPLE: [PLEASE IMAGINE THAT THE FOLLOWING LINES ARE DOUBLE-SPACED, WHICH I CAN'T GET MY HTML EDITOR TO DO!]
Chaucer as the narrator apologizes in advance for the crudity of the Miller's Tale, suggesting to the reader that if he finds it offensive, he should "Turne over the leef, and chese another tale" (MT 69). [End of example.]

This parenthetical reference means that "Turne over the leef. . ." is quoted from line 69 of the Miller's Tale in the edition (here, the 7th ed. of the Norton Anthology) which you have specified in a foot- or endnote the first time you quoted from or mentioned the text. 

Punctuation with parenthetical references: note that in the above example, final punctuation for the quotation is placed after the parenthetical reference, rather than before the closing quotation mark. An exception: question marks or exclamation points which are part of the quoted passage remain within the quotation marks; in that case, the parenthetical reference would still be followed by whatever punctuation is appropriate to the construction of your sentence (period, colon, semicolon, comma), e.g.: 

Allison asks Absolon, "Who is ther/ That knokketh so?" (MT 682-683). [Here note question mark within quotation, final period after parenthetical reference.] But: 
Allison asks Absolon, "Who is ther/ That knokketh so? I warente it a thief" (MT 682-683). [Here, the final period of the quotation has been moved after the parenthetical reference.]
For work submitted to me, I ask that any quotation of more than two full type-written lines (or more than three full lines of verse) be set off as a single-spaced block quotation (see example below): double indent (two tabs) and omit quotation marks. In this case, final punctuation of the quoted material precedes the parenthetical reference, which is not followed by punctuation. Quotations of more than three lines of verse are treated as block quotations: set them out in lines of verse, as they are on the page in your text (do not run them into paragraphs of prose). If you are quoting less than three full lines of verse, you may cite them together in the body of your text, but mark the end of each line with a slash (/). Be sure to maintain the capitalization (e.g. of first words in lines of verse) found in the original. 


EXAMPLE:  [IMAGINE THAT LINES BEFORE INDENTED QUOTATION ARE DOUBLE-SPACED, WHICH I CAN'T GET MY HTML EDITOR TO DO!]

Chaucer the narrator warns that he may need to speak "nevere so rudeliche and large,/ Or elles he moot telle his tale untrewe" (GP 736-7).  [NB: final punctuation of preceding citation follows parenthetical reference] In the interest of accuracy, therefore, he asks the readers to excuse any rough language he might use: [please don't skip an extra line before or after your single-spaced block quotation -- use normal double spacing]

But first I praye you of youre curteisye [note double indent or tab; no "; begin single-spacing here]
That ye n'arette it nought my vilainye 
Though that I plainly speke in this matere 
To telle you hir wordes and hir cheere, 
Ne though I speke hir wordes proprely. . . [no "]
          (GP 727-31) [indent or tab before parenthetical reference; no punc. after final parenthesis; go back to double spacing here -- don't skip extra lines around block quotations] In this way, Chaucer. . .  [continue your essay, using double spacing and regular margins]

Your analysis then continues, double-spaced, below the indented, single-spaced quotation. Note that for indented block quotations, final punctuation precedes the parenthetical reference; for quotations within the body of your text, final punctuation of quotation follows the parenthetical reference. 

Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2009

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