The research TOPIC will be Frankenstein and Romanticism
Use MLA format, and double space. Use Times New Roman
12-point font with standard one-inch margins.
Minimum 2,000 words (not counting works cited page),
maximum 3,000 words, and use at least five credible sources to support
your thesis-driven essay. A thesis-driven essay makes a specific claim about
the essay’s theme and subject matter. What is the work about, or what does it
say to you? In the body of the paper (where you support your thesis), you must
quote directly from your primary source(s) and also your five critical sources.
Make it a goal to cite each of the five critical sources at least twice within
your paper (parenthetical citation), but you may find that you’ll be more
reliant upon some and quote from the more frequently.
You must write the paper on one of the works we are
reading in the course. Try to figure out which text interests you and let me
know early on what you decide. I will provide a list of topics that you may
want to explore, but feel free to come up with your own (and run it by me, of
course). I will be happy to help you as you work towards a thesis statement and
think about organizing the paper. Very important: use the CCM library or a
library near you to find good critical sources. Find scholarly academic books. Use
the databases available through the library, such as MLA International
Bibliography, JSTOR, Literary Sources, and Academic Search
Premier. Just a note: do not use reference sources for this assignment as
one of your critical sources. Reference sources are encyclopedias and reader’s
guides (like SparkNotes or Cliff’s Notes). These sources, while
helpful early in the research process to narrow down a topic or gain some
background info about it, do not provide in-depth analysis of your primary
sources. In addition, avoid general websites one might find with a simple
internet search. You need this in-depth analysis to help develop and support
your own claims throughout the paper. There are also excellent books in CCM’s
library filled with good critical articles about the texts we’ll be reading.
The reference librarians will help you to locate these if you ask for
assistance. Remember that I asked for credible sources, so be sure that your
source is a respected critic. Be able to identify the author of the work to
know this person is an expert in the field of literary studies. Also, your
essay must be a literary criticism on a literary text, not a history paper or
biographical paper, and you should avoid summarizing the work of literature you
are analyzing (assume your reader has read it). Finally, consider coming to my
office to review your paper before you hand it in. I will not write a paper for
you, but I will tell you what you could improve on for a better grade. This
means, of course, getting the paper done early.
Do your research, using databases and
reference material available through the CCM library to find five critical
sources. Finish this by the tenth week of the semester.
Organize your thoughts and supporting
arguments by constructing an outline if you wish. This can be a formal or
informal outline but have a sense of how you’re planning to organize your ideas
before your start writing.
Step Five: Write the essay, producing a literary
criticism based on your thesis idea (the theme), and incorporating quotes from
the primary texts and the five critical sources to support your points (don’t
forget to cite with MLA format!).
