The investigation of a single author’s work in greater depth

This is an assignment that focuses on the investigation of a single author’s work in greater depth. The assignment also identifies what is to be done in the paper.

The investigation of a single author’s work in greater depth

RESEARCH PAPER
This paper will allow you to investigate a single author’s work, or a pair of authors’ works, in greater depth. You may do this on any of the authors we have already or will read this semester. For authors we have not read, you will need to clear your topic with me first.

This paper should be 1,200 words at a minimum, but no longer than 1,800 words.
Your paper could focus on the themes, tropes, or use of symbolism or imagery, use of point-of-view, foreshadowing, or characterization in a primary text or texts (short stories or novels). It would probably be easier to limit yourself to material in the course anthology, but you may, with instructor approval, explore a primary source outside course readings.
After selecting your subject matter, begin researching by using the Library’s literature-oriented databases. You will need to find at least three (3) sources of scholarly literary criticism that support your assertion. You must integrate these secondary sources into your analysis of your primary source(s). Informative and also narrative research papers are unacceptable.

What You Should Do

1.      Firstly, make sure to review the grading rubric (see the attached PDF).
2.      Secondly, make sure that write about all texts using what is termed the “literary present tense.”
3.      Thirdly, do not use either the first or second person voice in academic writing unless it occurs within a direct quotation.
4.      Fourthly, only the titles of longer works (books, films, TV series, journals, albums, etc.) should be italicized. Underlining is no longer used. Bold font is not required.
5.      Your essay’s title (for this class, never title your essay after the assignment itself) also needs no special formatting unless it contains the title of another work, which should then be formatted per MLA guidelines, e.g.:

1.      A Fifty Year Vintage in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”
2.      Reconsidering “A Rose for Emily”: the Camouflage of Antebellum Ideals.
6.      Additionally, make sure all papers have an introduction that makes a debatable claim or proposal (your thesis statement), a set of body paragraphs (with each having a single focus), and a conclusion that brings closure to your paper’s interpretative claims.
7.      Lastly, make sure that your paper has the proper header—your last name and the page number—in the header field, not the body, and which uses the same font as the rest of the paper.