ENGL 102.022/.025
Spring 2006
-- Research Paper Assignment --

Dr. Nick Melczarek | anmelczarek@salisbury.edu | 410-546-6203 (66203)
Pick a topic from the list below and write a 2,000-word research paper on that topic. Follow MLA style formatting as you learned in ENGL 101 and as shown in the Writer's Resource. Keep margins at 1" all around, and use 12-point font (either Palatino or Times). Type on only one side of each sheet. This time, you do need a cover sheet with the following information centered:
Paper title
your name
ENGL 102. Section #
Resarch Perp (which draft?)
Submission date

Example:
Romantic Subversion in "A White Heron"
Conscientious Q. Student
ENGL 102.001
Research Paper (final draft)
April 6, 2005

Number all pages except page 1, in the top right-hand corner. You will need a works cited page--see Writer's Refence pp. 241-42 for an example of what this looks like. Staple your paper before you turn it in; papers not stapled will not be read.
PAPERS THAT DO NOT ADHERE TO THESE GUIDELINES WILL BE RETURNED UNREAD AND COUNTED LATE. PROOFREAD YOUR PAPER FOR BASIC ERRORS BEFORE YOU TURN IT IN. EXCESSIVE UNNECESSARY WRITING ERRORS WILL CAUSE A PAPER TO BE RETURNED TO YOU UNREAD.
You must also submit an electronic copy of your research paper to the appropriate section of Turnitin.com--I will not read your paper until you have submitted it.

Be sure to use literary terms that apply to your discussion (e.g. "protagonist" instead of "main character," etc.) and use them in such a way that shows you understand the term. Your research must come from the critical articles in the Casebook; while you are welcome to use other sources as well, the bulk of your research must come from the Casebook's critical articles. You will need to cite at least four of the critical articles. Be sure to quote and cite the story and the critics to illustrate and support your argument, in MLA parenthetical format. See pp.21-27 in the Casebook for an example paper, and also the appropriate pages in Making Arguments and the Writer's Resource. No bloc quotations. No plot summary. No waffling, padding, circumlocution, or jamming your paper with irrelevant crap. Write direct sentences in the active voice.

Remember that you are making your own argument or point--use the critics only to help you illustrate a point you are already making on your own. Do not try to use the critics to do your job for you.

TOPICS:

Agree with a specific point in one critic and support him/her or disagree with a critic and argue against her/him, using other critics' arguments for support and illustration.

Jewett's story describes the clash or meeting of two worlds--industrial/rural, feminine/masculine, intuitive/scientific, etc.--but with what result? (Pick one of these variations, and discuss with the help of the critics.)

The use of apostrophe and the "pathetic fallacy" in Jewett's story work as strengths rather than weaknesses.

Jewett's story does or does not (pick one) work as an allegory. (But an allegory of what?)

The strength of Jewett's short story lies in its ability to be read psychoanalytically or to be read politically (pick one).

The character Sylvy in Jewett's story is not as simple or meek as she seems; she's actually more powerful than the male ornithologist. (How/why?)

FINAL DRAFT DUE MONDAY APRIL 3, TO MY OFFICE.

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