A 15-20 pp. research paper (3750-5000 words) will be worth 40% of final grade.  You will present your thesis and a summary of your evidence and conclusion to your classmates as a final oral exercise, over an exam week dinner at Dr. Schwartz's home. (This oral presentation is required, but will be graded pass/fail; you fail only if you fail to attend!)

Students are encouraged (but not required) to choose a topic dealing with the text which s/he presents in class, so that the oral presentation and the accompanying annotated bibliography double as initial research for paper. Students should meet with Prof. Schwartz to discuss possible research topics well before their presentation and in all cases before the fifth week of class. A formal Prospectus (due at the end of week 6) will allow me to provide feedback helping you to improve the quality of your final paper.  Both the Prospectus and the Paper Preview section of the midterm exam are intended to ensure that you begin serious work on your paper well before the end of the quarter.

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. Number pages starting with the first page of text (Neither the title page, if you use one, nor the List of Works Cited page, count as part of the 15-20 page target length.)  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!

At the end of your paper, include a List of Works Cited: complete, correctly formatted bibliographic citations for all secondary sources quoted in your paper (i.e. critical writings about your medieval text), listed alphabetically by author.  Include at least at least eight secondary sources, of which at least one should represent each required type of resource and mode of access listed on the guidelines for the Annotated Bibliography and the Working Bibliography.  (Reminder:  the required types of resource are journal articles, essays in edited collections, and full-length works by a single or joint authors; the required modes of access are items from Cal Poly's print collections, acquired through Link+ and through ILL, and accessed electronically.) Indicate the mode of access in parentheses at the end of each bibliographic citation (as required for the Working Bibliography). Note: the critical apparatus in your primary text can count also as a secondary source, provided that it is correctly documented (consult your MLA Handbook).  I will look for evidence that you have actually cited the items on your List of Works Cited in the body of your paper and that you have drawn upon them effectively to formulate and/or support your argument.  List of Works Cited entries should NOT be annotated.

Keep in mind that your paper should be textual analysis, not description, summary or a list of examples.  Your paper must take a position on a DEBATABLE POINT--one that is based on textual interpretation and which could conceivably be argued another way.  The thesis embodies the central message of your paper.  It should be stated clearly at or near the end of your introductory paragraph. You will prove the validity of your thesis 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).

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 an interpretation of the primary text(s). 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.

The best analogy for good analytic paper writing is a lawyer arguing a case in court. Your primary text is the client; your thesis about 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 thesis 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 topic sentences for each section 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.

All documentation should be in the form of parenthetical references immediately following citations in the body of your paper. 

SECONDARY SOURCES:  Bibliographic information concerning secondary sources (works of criticism) is provided on the list of Works Cited at the end of your paper.  The parenthetical reference should give only the last name of the author and the specific page number(s) cited.  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.  In addition to the parenthetical reference, introduce citations in such a way as to make clear whose words you are citing, e.g.

As Helen Cooper points out, "[Provide citation here]" (Cooper, 27).

PRIMARY SOURCES:  Include ONE foot- or endnote the first time you mention or quote from a primary source. The note should refer to the primary work by AUTHOR (if known) and SPECIFIC TITLE (e.g. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Miller's Tale, NOT simply as the Norton Anthology) and give full bibliographic information: the editor/translator of the specific text, anthology title (if applicable), editor of anthology (if applicable), edition and volume numbers (if applicable), publisher, place and date of publication, and inclusive page numbers for the text which you are discussing (if it is in an anthology or collection). Your note should also explain the system used for parenthetical references, e.g.:

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 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? I warente it a thief" (MT 682-683). [Here, the final period of the quotation has been moved after the parenthetical reference.]

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 single-spaced block quotation--use normal double spacing]

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, 2001

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