Presentation Guidelines

Present classmates with an overview of the topic that you researched this semester, how you approached it, what makes it important and what you learned from close consideration of it. In addition, explain which disciplinary approaches were helpful and how your work fits into the interdisciplinary or trandisciplinary context of the Liberal Studies program.

Research Paper Guidelines

Objective

To identify a problem in one of the assigned works and present a persuasive argument regarding the severity of this problem and the need for an organized response to it. In the process, students should demonstrate an understanding of the conventions of academic discussion and a chosen documentation format.

Topic

Choose one topic from the Environment anthology, Discipline and Punish or Never Let Me Go. After careful consideration of this work and published works by other literary critics addressing this topic, formulate a thesis statement for an argument about related issues and problems. Organize your argument around this thesis statement. Come up with three to five subtopics that are in themselves arguable and that add up to a strong case for your thesis statement.

Support your argument with evidence including quotations from the text and data from various sources in accordance with MLA, Chicago or APA format. The paper should also include some quotations from those secondary sources that you find the most useful in presenting your argument. Bring an 8-page minimum draft of you paper to class on November 21st for peer editing. After receiving comments from your classmates, revise and proofread before turning the final draft in on December 12th.

As you approach this subject, consider various disciplinary approaches to it that have existed in the university system. To what extent to academic considerations of this topic provide a basis for action to address it? What are the strengths and weaknesses of different traditional disciplinary modes of inquiry? How might a theory of inter- or transdisciplinary improve our understanding of the problems before us?

Annotated Bibliography

Identify eight secondary sources pertaining to your research paper topic. List them according to the MLA, Chicago or APA format for a list of works cited. Add approximately 100 words of commentary to each entry briefly explaining what it contributes to your understanding of the topic, what its critical orientation is, and what you think of it qualitatively. Turn this in on October 24th, 2013.

Writing Tips

• Produce original insights about the chosen topic.

• Present a coherent argument.

• Begin with an arguable thesis statement (somewhere in your opening paragraph).

• Organize your argument along the lines of subtopics that are themselves arguable and that contribute to a portion of the thesis statement in some way.

• Develop transitional sentences that make the relationships between paragraphs clear.

• Support your claims with quotations from the texts and include a list of works cited at the end of the paper in accordance with a standard documentation format (MLS, Chicago, or APA).

• Write in accordance with standard conventions of grammar and spelling.

  • Avoid contractions in academic writing.
  • Avoid use of the passive voice when possible.
  • Use transitional words and phrases to lead your reader effectively through your argument.
  • Italicize book and journal titles. Put poem, article, and short story titles in quotation marks.
  • Consult Academic Writing for Graduate Students or an alternative style manual for additional writing tips.