Requirements:

You may work ahead of the scheduled dates, but not after. Make sure that you do not get behind. Check the Schedule of Assignments on page two of the syllabus for all due dates.

In determining the grade for the paper, I will consider form (mechanics, grammar), content, documentation, and process. Each will affect the final grade for the paper.

Research papers will have a body of seven to ten (7-10) pages. The paper must also have title page, outline, and Works Cited pages. (These pages are NOT considered as part of the body page count.) You will find a sample research paper, including a sample Works Cited page at the Purdue OWL website or if you have purchased The St. Martin’s Handbook you can find a sample in Chapter 16. Information about formal outlines is in Chapter 3. The order of pages in the paper is title page, outline, body of paper, works cited. These are all to be saved and sent to me as one document.

The final Works Cited page will contain seven to eight (7-8) sources.The sources will be derived from appropriate books, periodicals, etc., to denote variety of sources used. Cliffs Notes, Masterplots, Monarch, Wikipedia are NOT appropriate sources. Each of the sources used in the Works Cited must be used at least once in the research paper.

You are to follow MLA format and documentation as described in Chapter 37 of the Literature: Craft & Voice text and also in The St. Martin’s Handbook.
Use direct quotations sparingly (no more than 25% of the paper).
Be sure topic is sufficiently limited.
All words should be spelled correctly and errors in sentence structure eliminated.
The level of diction should be formal (no slang, contractions, jargon, or technical terms without definition).
The paper should be well written and scholarly.
All borrowed information must be noted whether quoted or not.