English 330: Medieval Literature Dr. Debora B. Schwartz English Department, California Polytechnic State University Paper Guidelines:  Winter, 2010 The Final Paper is a piece of literary analysis focussing on one or more of the works read this quarter.  You are encouraged, but not required, to develop an idea or ideas which you have explored in one or more of your Blackboard Personal Response postings.    The Final Paper should be 4-5 pp. double-spaced pages in a 10-pt. or 12-pt. font Times Roman or Courier font.  Leave 1" margins on all sides.  At the top left of the first page, give identifying information:  your name, the date, and the class (ENGL 330).  Your title should be centered on the next line of the paper.  Create a header or footer with your last name and the page number which should appear on each page after the first.   If the paper is submitted electronically, save it as a Word file in a .doc format (not .docx) with the filename [yourlastname].doc Follow the guidelines below for correct line spacing, indentation and documentation. Be sure to PROOFREAD for spelling, punctuation, and basic grammatical errors, as well as for clarity (clearly stated thesis; logical development of argument; adequate and relevant textual support; solid conclusion.)  Consult the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST both BEFORE and AFTER completing your first draft, and make sure you do not commit the sort of errors listed on the checklist!   Preliminary Remarks 1) Your ENGL 330 paper is not a reaction paper -- don't use it to express your personal opinion about a reading, to criticize or praise it.  Instead, it should demonstrate your understanding of the medieval reading on its own terms, in the medieval context -- the message the author was trying to convey to its original audience.  (Whether or not you agree with the author is irrelevant to this assignment.). 2) Your ENGL 330 paper is also not a research paper.  DO NOT CITE ANY SECONDARY SOURCES.  You can -- and should -- mention background information that is relevant to your argument, but there is no need to provide documentation for information presented in lectures or class materials.  The only citations in your essay should be quotations from the medieval literary work(s) you are analyzing.  3) Your ENGL 330 paper is an EXERCISE designed to help you practice analytic writing skills. It is not the place to try to dazzle me with something new and original.  It's hard enough (and perfectly legitimate) simply to demonstrate your grasp of an interpretation presented in class. Concentrate on constructing a strong logical argumentbased upon close reading (analysis of specific passages in the text). Your paper should demonstrate your ability to  understand a medieval work in its own context, on its own terms construct a logical argument (i.e. paragraph order should be carefully thought out) support that argument with well-chosen textual passages write clear, correct prose which conforms to the stylistic guidelines on the the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST and/or presented below 4) A paper you write in this class will probably be unlike any paper you have written in the past.  PLEASE READ AND FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES CAREFULLY.   This assignment is not as simple as it may initially seem. Basics The Final Paper is worth 15 % of your final grade.  It should be 4-5 double-spaced, typed pages in a 10-pt. or 12-pt. Times Roman or Courrier font, with 1" margins on all sidesNumber pages after page 1.  Your paper should NOT be significantly longer than these limits; grades are based in part on how well you adhere to the parameters of the assignment.   Be sure to follow the guidelines provided here (not what you were asked to do in another class) for correct line spacing, indentation and documentation. Be sure to PROOFREAD for spelling, punctuation, and basic grammatical errors, as well as for clarity (clearly stated thesis; logical development of argument; adequate and relevant textual support; solid conclusion.)  Consult the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST both BEFORE and AFTER completing your first draft, and make sure you do not commit the sort of mechanical and stylistic errors listed on the checklist! Remember that your paper should be textual analysis, not summary: you will cite carefully chosen examples from the reading(s) in order to support a specific argument about them. The best analogy to writing a good analytic paper is a lawyer arguing a case in court. Both lawyer and paper writer must build a carefully constructed argument to prove the validity of a debatable point. Your client is analogous to your text and/or general topic; your client's "plea" -- guilty or innocent of what specific charges -- is analogous to your thesis. Like a good lawyer, you should begin with an opening statement (the introductory paragraph) which fully articulates your thesis (the interpretation you are advancing in your essay) and suggests how you will structure your argument. While your opening paragraph should not get into the specific examples you will discuss in the body of your paper, it should indicate what kinds of evidence you will use to make your case. You will support your thesis in the body of your paper (approximately three pages independent of your introduction and conclusion) by citing carefully chosen examples from the primary text(s) to demonstrate the validity of your thesis.  Don't forget to give paper a title which identifies the works/authors discussed and gives reader some idea of what you are arguing (your thesis).  (Also, remember that your paper title should not be underlined or italicized, but the titles of the works you discuss should be.)   Developing an Interpretive Analysis Your paper should be analtyic and interpretive rather than merely descriptive.  Yes, you will base your argument upon specific details from the text, but you must do more than offer an accurate description of content.  You must move beyond the astute observation to analytic interpretation of what you have observed.  Otherwise you will have no more than detailed notes for a paper you haven't yet written.  Description and summary, however detailed and accurate, are not a logically organized interpretive argument.  As you consider the readings we have covered this quarter, ask yourself the following questions:  When, where and for whom was the work (or works) written?  Do the works in question have an overall message (or purpose), and if so, what is it? What point is the author (or scribe) trying to make?  Is s/he (author or scribe) trying to advance a particular agenda?  How does the aspect of the work you are writing about fit into the work's overall message or the author's overall agenda or intent? WHY might the author have chosen to treat the topic you are writing on in this way?  These questions will help you develop an interpretive framework for your readings; they will remind you that you should consider not only the WHAT (provide an accurate description of content) but the HOW and the WHY.  The Introductory Paragraph The first paragraph of your paper should not only identify your topic, it should make clear precisely what you will argue ABOUT that topic.  This information is your thesis, the central message of your paper.  A thesis is not simply descriptive (a statement of facts) -- it takes a position on a debatable point based on textual interpretation -- one which could conceivably be argued another way.  For example: "Wiglaf's heroism" is a fine TOPIC for a paper.  But simply explaining what Wiglaf says or does and the consequences of his actions is purely descriptive, not interpretive and analytic (there is no debatable point, and thus no thesis).  To move from a topic to a thesis, you must explain what message the Wiglaf episode helps the author (or scribe) to convey and/or why the author/scribe may have chosen to include this episode to get his pint across; this "what" and "why" are integral parts of the interpretive thesis you will argue in your paper. As part of the "what" and the "why," your introductory paragraph should include any background information which is essential to your argument (e.g. date of work, target audience, etc.), but do not pad it with random "factoids" -- accurate facts that are not directly relevant to what you will argue in your paper. A good introduction sketches out the parameters (but not the details) of the argument you will make in support of your thesis. (Save specific examples and quotation for the body of your paper.)  It can be particularly helpful to include this "roadmap" of your essay in in-class writing (e.g. on an exam), since doing so forces you to think through the logical structure of your argument rather than charging off in a wrong direction. Even if you do not include this information in your introductory paragraph, thinking through where you are going before you write will add clarity to your paper, helping you to set up a paragraph structure dictated by the logic of your argument (rather than e.g. the order in which textual evidence or scenes occur in the text you are writing about).  It can also help your reader to see where your paper is going.  Do NOT begin your paper with truisms, statements of personal philosophy, generalities, or examples from modern life; get to your point, which is an interpretation of the primary text(s). You have a limited amount of space in which to make your case; don't waste it on a "hook."  (You already have my full attention.)  Avoid using the first or second person (I, we, you) in constructing your argument, which should be presented as objectively as possible.  The implication of first-person references is that your paper is just a statement of  personal opinion, and thus no more valid than opposing opinions; why should the reader care what you think?  Instead, aim for a tone of objective neutrality, which is rhetorically more effective than a statement of opinion ("I believe"; "I think") in convincing the reader of the objective validity of your argument. Argumentation The body of your paper (approximately three pages independent of your introduction and conclusion) provides textual  evidence and analysis to demonstrate the validity of your thesis.  Be sure to keep your paper analytic rather than descriptive. A summary of events or list of examples is NOT analysis; you must have something to say ABOUT the examples you cite.  Provide a separate paragraph for each step in your argument, with appropriate transitions between them.  Order paragraphs according to the logic of your argument (not the order in which the events occur or citations appear in your text).  Or, if your paper requires the analysis of different kinds of textual evidence that do not have obvious logical connections between them, start with the most general, simple, obvious or concrete points and examples, and move to the most specific, complex, subtle and interpretive ones.  Provide three to four citations of carefully chosen textual evidence per paragraph (i.e. in support of each step of your argument). Follow up on your citations with a line or two of interpretation before moving on to a new example or a new idea (opening a new paragraph).  Be sure to explain the relevance of the material you quote to your argument -- don't just stick it in and expect it to speak for itself. Textual evidence must be interpreted for the reader. To return to the lawyer analogy, citations from the text are like testimony, the evidence you must interpret for the judge and jury.  Your analysisof those citations is the cross-examination of witnesses and/or interpretation of the evidence -- what will make or break your case. If you don't make your points explicitly, they are not entered into the court record and cannot be considered by the jury (your professor) in deciding whether or not you have successfully defended your client (proven the validity of your thesis) -- nor can they be considered by the judge (also your professor) who assigns the final grade.     The Concluding Paragraph The least important part of an effective paper, the final paragraph can be short and sweet.  Use it to sum up your argument without going in to so much detail that you repeat the body of the paper.  Remind the reader of the debatable point you set out to prove and of the steps in the argument you have made.  The best conclusions also offer some final insight or twist, a new thought that  grows out of what you argued in the paper -- but avoid assertions that are so unconnected as to require a whole new paper to back them up.  Don't end your essay with a quotation -- it's your paper, so you, not someone else, should have the last word.     Documentation Guidelines Include ONE foot- or endnote the first time you mention or quote from a primary source.  (If this were a research paper -- which it is NOT! -- references to secondary sources would NOT be given in note form; instead, they would be included on a list of Works Cited at the end of your paper.)  A list of Works Cited is not needed when you are citing only from primary texts and have provided documentation for them in note form.  A note is preferable to a list of Works Cited entry when you are dealing with a limited number of primary texts because it allows you to specify how you will refer to the primary text in parenthetical references. The note should refer to the primary work by AUTHOR (if known) and TITLE (NOT simply as Norton Anthology); include name of editor and/or translator of text, as applicable (found on title page, in introduction, and/or in first footnote); and give full bibliographic data (edition and volume numbers, if applicable; publisher; place and date of publication -- THIS is where you would include reference to Norton Anthology). For works in an anthology or collection, provide inclusive page numbers for the specific work quoted. Present this information according to MLA format for a first reference in note form -- check for correct order of elements, punctuation, etc. The note should also explain the system used for parenthetical references. EXAMPLE: 1 All quotations from William Langland's Piers Plowman, tr. E. T. Donaldson, are taken from The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Middle Ages, ed. Alfred David, 8th ed., vol. 1a (New York: Norton, 2006) 331-54, and will be indicated by Piers followed by specific line numbers quoted. The translator's name in the above example is found in the NA on p. 333, n. 1; publication information for the NA (editor, edition and volume number, publisher, place and date of publication) is from the front and back of the title page.  Page numbers indicate where in the NA the text of Piers Plowman is found.  Additionally, the note has allowed you to explain what abbreviated title you will use to refer to Piers Plowman in your parenthetical references, and to explain that the numbers found in these parenthetical references will refer to line numbers rather than page numbers.  After this initial footnote or endnote, do NOT use a note for each subsequent quotation.  Instead, provide parenthetical documentation in the body of your paper.  Parenthetical documentation should include the abbreviated title of the specific work you are citing (not of the author or the title of the anthology in which it appears) plus inclusive line, page or other numbers necessary to locate the specific passage quoted (include numbers of lines, section, stanza, act, scene, canto, etc., as applicable).  Use inclusive page numbers only if no other numbering is provided (as is the case for most works in prose). EXAMPLE: [PLEASE IMAGINE THAT THE FOLLOWING LINES ARE DOUBLE-SPACED, WHICH I CAN'T GET MY HTML EDITOR TO DO!] Chaucer as the narrator apologizes in advance for the crudity of the Miller's Tale, suggesting to the reader that if he finds it offensive, he should "Turne over the leef, and chese another tale" (MT 69). [End of example.] This parenthetical reference means that "Turne over the leef. . ." is line 69 of the Miller's Tale, which you have previously identified in a foot or endnote as being from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, ed. E.T. Donaldson [this info is found NA p. 216], in The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Middle Ages, ed. Alfred David, 8th ed., vol. 1a (New York: Norton, 2006) 239-55. PUNCTUATION WITH PARENTHETICAL REFERENCES: note that in the above example, final punctuation for the quotation is placed after the parenthetical reference, rather than before the closing quotation mark. An exception: question marks or explanation points which are part of the quoted passage remain within the quotation marks; in that case, the parenthetical reference would still be followed by whatever punctuation is appropriate to the construction of your sentence (period, colon, semicolon, comma). EXAMPLE: She asked, "Are you afraid?" (37).  Here, the question mark is part of the quoted material, while the period is the punctuation appropriate to the construction of your sentence. A quotation of more than two full type-written lines (or more than three full lines of verse) should be set off as a single-spaced block quotation (note how example looks below): double indent (two tabs) and omit quotation marks. In this case, final punctuation of the quoted material precedes the parenthetical reference, which is not followed by punctuation. Quotations of more than three lines of verse are treated as block quotations: set them out in verse, as they are on the page in your text (do not run them into paragraphs of prose). If you are quoting less than three full lines of verse, you may cite them together in the body of your text, but mark the end of each line with a slash (/).  EXAMPLE:  [IMAGINE THAT LINES BEFORE INDENTED QUOTATION ARE DOUBLE-SPACED, WHICH I CAN'T GET MY HTML EDITOR TO DO!] Chaucer the narrator warns that he may need to speak "nevere so rudeliche and large,/ Or elles he moot telle his tale untrewe" (GP 736-7).  [NB: final punctuation of preceding citation follows parenthetical reference] In the interest of accuracy, therefore, he asks the readers to excuse any rough language he might use: [don't skip an extra line before single-spaced block quotation -- use normal double spacing] But first I praye you of youre curteisye [begin single-spacing; no "; double indent or tab] That ye n'arette it nought my vilainye Though that I plainly speke in this matere To telle you hir wordes and hir cheere, Ne though I speke hir wordes proprely. . . (GP 727-31) [no "; no punc. after final parenthesis; go back to double spacing here; don't skip additional lines around block quotations] In this way, Chaucer. . .  [continue your essay, using double spacing and regular margins] Your analysis then continues, double-spaced, below the indented, single-spaced quotation. Note that for indented block quotations, final punctuation precedes the parenthetical reference; for quotations within the body of your text, final punctuation of quotation follows the parenthetical reference.  FINALLY, be sure to consult the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST (which I will use in grading your papers) both BEFORE AND AFTER writing your first draft.  Be sure that you do not make the sort of errors included on this checklist!   Contents of this and all linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2010 Return to ENGL 330 homepage Return to Dr. Schwartz's teaching page Return to Dr. Schwartz's homepage Send me mail!