Guidelines for Research Paper:
Students are required to write a final paper that engages critically with three sources. We expect that it will take about seven pages (double-spaced) to complete the task. One of the sources that you must incorporate into your paper is the film Spirited Away. The work that you do for the “Writing Workshop Papers” on this film can be incorporated into your Final Paper. The second source must be academic writing on Spirited Away. The third source can either be another academic source or a second popular culture production. If you decide to incorporate a second popular culture production, you must consult with and get permission from the instructor.
For your scholarly sources, you must select at least one of the readings from the “Resources for Final Project” Google Sheets prepared for this course. If you decide to incorporate additional sources, it is encouraged that you use resources such as the LMU library search or JSTOR (search engine for peer-reviewed, scholarly articles), but please consult with the instructor regarding any source you decide to engage with for the paper.
Here is the link to “Resources for Final Project” Google Sheets: (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PH2zm075CRu5i34cwtE3s7IoLGEnHOov2sxqcUEcDsg/edit?usp=sharing)
You are required to use the Chicago Manual of Style (Notes and Bibliography) to refer to the sources consulted for the paper:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/cmos_formatting_and_style_guide/chicago_manual_of_style_17th_edition.html
Minimum sources you must incorporate into your final paper:
1) Spirited Away
2) one scholarly source selected from Eric’s “Resources for Final Project”
3) another scholarly source OR a second popular culture work
I HAVE INCLUDED A DRAFT THAT ANOTHER WRITE DID FOR ME AND MY PROFESSOR DID NOT APPROVE It needs to be a RESEARCH PAPER NOT A CREATIVE WRITING ONE I will send you the notes that he gave on the draft that the other writer wrote if you want you can use the same sources but the idea has to completely change as my professor did not approve I also submitted the template that he wants the layout of
Proffesors notes on the draft
This draft has several issues that need correcting.
For one, this is not a creative writing paper.
For two, your intro ignores the template provided. It’s hard to invent the structure for a paper. That’s why we tried to give it to you. This structure doesn’t work.
For three, the content here is unfocused. If you’re dealing with Nishimura and Reider, then you need to make clear from the first paragraph how each lens applies to Spirited Away, how those perspectives relate to each other, and what you’re adding to the conversation.
It’s not enough to simply announce an agenda (like “This study is dedicated to…”) because we need to know what argumentative claim you’re making (as per the template). You can’t invoke scientific perspectives because we’re not using scientific evidence. And most importantly, you need to make a claim (your thesis) in the very first paragraph.
To start, I urge you to go back to the outline and the template, which exist only to help you. Start by thinking about how Reider and Nishimura would respond to each other. Then think about what you would add to that conversation. And then develop your paper around that insight. How does a comparison of those two scholarly interpretations of the same movie help us understand the movie better?
But it’s important that you know this draft isn’t good enough because it spends most of its time offering abstract, unsupported thoughts on the movie.
Instead, we need to see you really engage with the scholarship. Put the sources into conversation with each other, then add your voice to the conversation. The outline and the template will help.
