Successful Assignments Will:
Have a clear thesis (a specific fact/idea/perspective which the paper is trying to demonstrate is true).
Utilize information from at least 6-8 sources to demonstrate why the reader should accept the thesis as true.
Cite all sources properly, both in the text and in the works cited page.
To the greatest extent possible, back up all important claims with appropriate sources.
To the greatest extent possible, back up all claims of truth fact with peer reviewed evidence.
Have a properly formatted works cited page, as laid out below.
Principles to keep in mind:
Introductions: Useful introductions remain concise, while providing background information and context of an amount appropriate to 1) how much the reader (me) probably knows about the topic, and 2) what the reader needs to know in order to understand the topic and begin learning about/engaging with your evidence.
In-text citations: whenever you use any information from one of your sources, it needs to be very clear that you are doing so, and which one the information is coming from. This can be be done with signal phrases, or parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence. See the section on in-text citation below for more details.
Introducing Sources: You will always make your paper more clear, engaging, readable, and convincing by giving some background about your sources:
where/when a source was published.
whether it’s peer-reviewed.
what type of study it was (cross-sectional, longitudinal, a meta-analysis, etc.)
If it was a clinical trial/scientific study, what the sample size was.
If it was a clinical trial/scientific study, what the design of the trial was.
Formatting your works cited page:
Start on a new page, after the end of your essay.
“Works Cited” should appear centered at the top of that page.
Long-Form Citations should appear in alphabetical order.
Long-Form Citations should all be properly formatted, as demonstrated below.
Citations should have a hanging indent.
Page should be double-spaced.
Format for the long-form citation of an online scholarly article:
Author’sLastName, Author’sFirstName. “Name of the Article.” Name of Publication, Volume Number if Available, Issue
Number is Available, Date of Publication, Page Numbers of Article in Journal if Available. Name of Database, DOI if
Available, otherwise URL. Accessed Day Month Year.
For full breakdown and examples, see the power point called “Citation and Appropriate Sources” on canvas, under files, in the file labelled “Annotated Bibliograph.”
Example Works Cited page:
Works Cited
Bardugo, Leigh. Six of Crows. Indigo, 2016.
Green, Melanie C., et al. “Understanding Media Enjoyment: The Role of Transportation Into Narrative Worlds.”
Communication Theory, vol. 14, no. 4, 2004, pp. 311–27, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2004.tb00317.x.
Johnson, Dan R. “Transportation into a Story Increases Empathy, Prosocial Behavior, and Perceptual Bias Toward Fearful
Expressions.” Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 52, no. 2, 2012, pp. 150–55,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.10.005.
Keen, Suzanne. “A Theory of Narrative Empathy.” Narrative (Columbus, Ohio), vol. 14, no. 3, 2006, pp. 207–36,
https://doi.org/10.1353/nar.2006.0015.
Keus, Kelly, and Roxanne Harde. “‘She Wished Someone Would Help Them’: PTSD and Empathy in the Six of Crows
Duology.” Children’s Literature in Education, vol. 53, no. 1, 2022, pp. 130–46, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-021-Links to an external site.
09441-0.
In-Text Citations:
Either in the sentence itself or in the citation at the end of the sentence include:
The last name of the author.
If there is no author: The first 1-3 words of the title (or whatever the first words of the long-form citation are).
The page number on which the info appeared, if you can find it.
If it’s a video: a time stamp instead of a page number.
Include an in-text citation any time you draw any information from a source, whether you are quoting from it, paraphrasing it, or just summarizing what it said.
Examples:
“Travis is so good at basketball sometimes I cry watching him dunk or lay-up because so few things in this world are that perfect and graceful” (James 13).
As LeBron James writes, “Travis is so good at basketball sometimes I cry watching him dunk or lay-up because so few things in this world are that perfect and graceful” (13).
On page 13 of “How I Got Good at Basketball,” Lebron James writes “Travis is so good at basketball sometimes I cry watching him dunk or lay-up because so few things in this world are that perfect and graceful.”
Relevant Course Outcomes:
Focus on a purpose
Identify problems or questions
Develop positions or arguments concerning problems or questions
Use reading and composing for inquiry, as well as evaluating and reevaluating perspectives
Integrate personal ideas with those of others
Determine the extent and relevance of information needed
Find, evaluate, summarize, analyze, and synthesize appropriate sources
Use information effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
Use information ethically
Apply conventions of format, design, and structure appropriate to the rhetorical situation
Practice appropriate means of systematically documenting sources
Mechanics:
Times New Roman or Calibri, 11 or 12 point font, 1200-1500 words (you can go over, idc). Last name and page number in top-right corner (in word, you do this by going to “insert”).
Heading on top left:
Your name
Profs name
Class
Date written like this: 22 April, 2024
