English 117E: Paper Guide
From UCSB English Department Knowledge Base
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Nuts and Bolts:
The paper should be 3 to 5 double-spaced pages plus a bibliography. Everyone knows the font and margin tricks, and they are obvious so let’s not be ridiculous. Type your paper in “Times,” “Palatino,” or something in that general area.Keep the margins reasonable, 1 inch or less please. All citations must be in MLA format. Please give your paper a title.
Paper Topics:
In addition to the paper topics handed out in lecture you are welcome, even encouraged, to come up with a topic of your own. Just a few caveats here. If you choose your own topic please meet with me before the due date or send me an e-mail regarding your topic. Please keep your topics limited to the first three plays we are reading (Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part One.)
Thesis Statement:
Your thesis should not be self-evident. It should be an arguable statement. “Midsummer Night’s Dream is about love” is not a thesis. “Love in Midsummer Night’s Dream is shown to be X” can be a thesis. Even better is “Love in Midsummer Night’s Dream is shown to be X because of Y.”
Evidence:
As the thesis is something you are trying to prove in your paper, you need evidence. This evidence should be in the form of quotations from the text (properly cited) and, perhaps, historical materials relating to Shakespeare’s time. Don’t simply recap the plot to me (I’ve read it too), bring specific attention to those parts of the text which help build your argument.
Structure:
I subscribe to the road map theory of paper writing. Give your paper a title that helps me understand where we will be headed (Midsummer Madness: Love As X in ......). Your thesis statement should appear somewhere in the first paragraph along with a quick synopsis of the stops we will be making in your evidence paragraphs on our way to get there (Love is shown as X through “paragraph one,” “two”,....”) Your evidence paragraphs should identify themselves with a topic sentence, and remind the reader why this stop is made and its relation to the eventual destination. By the conclusion your argument should be well supported and established.Here you can remind the reader why the argument is important or make suggestions for complications.
Plagiarism:
Plagiarism is defined as representing the words or ideas of others as your own. It is punishable by failure of the course, and, in some cases, expulsion from the university. Let’s not go there. If you are worried about inadvertent plagiarism see me or CLAS about how to credit your sources.
CLAS:
A great resource for paper writing. Campus Learning Assistant Services has numerous handouts on how to write a paper, MLA format, and many other topics. In addition, the tutors at CLAS, available though appointment or on a drop-in basis, can help with any step in the writing process.
Office Hours:
As always, you can come speak with me about any questions or problems you have with the paper writing process. I am expanding my office hours to 10-12 on Wednesdays and 12-12:50 Monday. You can also make an appointment to see me, or contact me by e-mail.
DUE DATE:
The paper is due on Wednesday, October 21 by 11:55 a.m. in my office South Hall 2432 Q. Papers turned in after this time will be penalized by 1/3 of a grade per day.
