English 380, Love and Death: The Tristan Tradition
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State UniversityFinal Paper Guidelines
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 or in the Discussion Board postings you wrote in response to your classmates' ideas.
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 380). This information should be single-spaced, but be sure to switch to double-spacing for the remainder of the paper. 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. Do NOT skip an extra line between paragraphs.
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) The paper you write in this class is not a reaction paper -- don't use it to express your personal opinion about a reading, opera or film, to criticize or praise it. Instead, it should demonstrate your understanding of the reading, opera or film on its own terms, in its own context -- what it meant to its original author/director and target audience (whether or not you agree, and how much you did or did not enjoy it, are irrelevant to this assignment).
2) The final paper is an opportunity to practice analytic writing skills that can help you earn GWR certification on the final exam.
3) There is no need to try to dazzle me with something new and original. It's hard enough (and perfectly legitimate) simply to demonstrate your grasp of material presented in class. Concentrate on constructing a strong logical argument based upon close reading (analysis of specific passages or moments in the text/film).
Thus, your paper should demonstrate your ability to
4) The final paper 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.
- articulate what a given author or director's handling of the legend reveals about his/her attitude towards or understanding of the Tristan stories
- construct a logical argument in support of that interpretation (i.e. paragraph order should be carefully thought out)
- support that argument with well-chosen textual passages (or references to specific scenes/dialogues in a film)
- write clear, correct prose, following the stylistic guidelines on the the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST
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 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) and/or film 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 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) and/or film 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.)
PROMPT: for this paper, you will analyze the use of a Tristan element or motif in 1-2 works discussed this quarter (literary texts, films or the opera, but do NOT focus on Bédier's retelling of the story as a whole). Explain how the handling of this specific character, relationship, object, theme, motif, or event from the Tristan story helps us understand something interesting and significant about the work in which it appears. While the primary focus of your analysis should be 1-2 specific literary, filmic or musical works, you may also refer (briefly) to Bédier's retelling to explain how the motif is typically presented. Your analysis should explain something interesting and significant about the way in which the author/director understands and/or reinterprets -- offers a translatio of -- the legend and its meaning. As you consider potential paper topics, be aware that it's not enough simply to note the similarities and differences between the baseline story and the ways in which your chosen topic manifests itself in the author/work you are focussing on. You also have to have something to say about the specific differences which you note. Typically, you will briefly acknowledge the similarities between the baseline story and the specific work you are focussing on, before turning your attention to the differences, since it is these differences which will give you a key to help understand the work/author in question.
NOTE: You may write on any works, including ones you may already have explored in your Discussion Board postings or on the midterm exam. But the work(s) on which you focus in this out-of-class paper will be off-limits for the final exam essay. You will need to choose different work(s) and a different character, event or motif as the focus of the essay portion of the final exam.
A good way to begin is to ask yourself the following questions: Does the work you are analyzing have an overall message (or purpose), and if so, what is it? How does the author/director seem to understand the story s/he is presenting? What point is the author (or director) trying to make? Does s/he (author or director) have any particular agenda s/he is trying to advance? Is the text (or film) a relatively faithful retelling, or does it significantly "reinvent" the traditional Tristan story? How does THIS particular treatment of the character, relationship, object, theme, motif, event or technique you are exploring fit into the work's overall message or the author's overall agenda or intent? What does this character / relationship / object / theme / motif / event "mean" to this author or in the context of this work? Finally, WHY might the author have chosen to treat this character / relationship / object / theme / motif / event in this way (e.g. due to a specific audience, a shift in social values, a different genre or artistic medium, etc.)? These questions will help you develop an interpretive framework for your analysis; they will remind you that you should consider not only the WHAT (provide an accurate description of content) but the HOW and the WHY.
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.
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; note that you may not be able to boil this thesis down to a single sentence. Keep in mind that a thesis is not simply descriptive (a statement of facts) -- it takes a position on a debatable point based on textual or filmic interpretation -- one which could conceivably be argued another way. For example: "the significance of the love potion in Lovespell" is a fine TOPIC for a paper. But simply describing how the work you are focussing on handles the love potion 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 author/director's specific use of the love potion conveys and/or why each author/director may have chosen to use it in this way; 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, but do not pad it with random "factoids" -- accurate facts that are not directly relevant to what you will argue in your paper.
Rather than trying to boil the complexities of your argument down into a one-sentence thesis (which may not be possible), concentrate on writing an introduction which clearly articulates the central message of your paper -- the interpretation you are advancing about the work which is its focus. Do NOT hold back this information for your conclusion or reveal it gradually, one idea at a time, in the body of your paper -- it should be fully articulated UP FRONT, letting your reader know where the paper is going and how you intend to argue your case.
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/film 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) and/or film. 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.
The body of your paper (approximately three pages independent of your introduction and conclusion) provides textual and/or filmic 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 citations or scenes occur in the primary text/film). 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 and/or filmic 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 (and/or filmic) 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 ParagraphThe 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.
All quotations from the texts and/or references to the film should be followed by parenthetical documentation that provides either the author's name, the title, or an abbreviation thereof (e.g. Bédier or BED, Chevrefoil or CH, Thomas or TH, Béroul or BER, Lovespell or LS, Cligés or CL, Gottfried or G -- something that makes it easy to distinguish between the two works you are comparing) AND the specific page number, line number (for passages that are in verse which is numbered in your text, e.g. Marie's Chevrefoil) or DVD chapter number (for the film) for the example you are quoting/discussing.
Provide bibliographic information for each work in a foot- or endnote that also explains how you will cite the work in your parenthetical references (see above). The foot- or endnote for each work should be positioned immediately after the parenthetical reference for your first quotation from that work. (Subsequent citations do not need an additional foot- or endnote; simply provide the required parenthetical documentation.) Because the note provides full bibliographic information for the cited text, you do NOT need to include a Work Cited or Bibliography page at the end of your paper. (If this were a research paper -- which it is NOT! -- secondary sources would be on a list of Works Cited at the end of your paper.) Note form is preferable to a list of Works Cited for this assignment because it allows you to specify whether the numbers in your parenthetical references refer to pages, line numbers, or scene numbers from the DVD.
In your note, refer to the primary work(s) you are discussing by AUTHOR/DIRECTOR and/or SPECIFIC TITLE as found on the title page of the book; include the name of the editor and/or translator and specific editions if applicable (e.g. "2nd Rev. Ed." -- see back of title page); the series title if applicable (e.g. "Penguin Classics"); and give full bibliographic information (as found on the back of title page: publisher, place and date of publication). Present this information according to the correct MLA format for a first reference in note form -- check examples for correct order of elements, proper use of punctuation, capitalization, italics, etc. The note should also explain the system used for parenthetical references (i.e., what abbreviation you will use in referring to this text/film and whether numbers will refer to page numbers, line numbers, or scene numbers).
EXAMPLES of a first note reference:
1All quotations are taken from Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan, tr. A. T. Hatto, Penguin Classics (New York: Penguin Putnam, 1960), and will be indicated in parenthetical references by "Gottfried" and the specific page numbers quoted.2 Lovespell, dir. Tom Donovan, perf. Richard Burton, Kate Mulgrew, and Nicholas Clay, Clar Productions, 1979; DVD Shanachie, 2004. References to this film will be indicated parenthetically by "LS" and the DVD chapter number and title in which the lines or scenes discussed occur.
Cite Accurately: Be sure to cite accurately from the text or, should you modify a citation to fit more smoothly into the fabric of your prose, be sure to indicate any omitted words with ellipses (" . . . ") and any changes in vocabulary, verb tense, pronouns etc. in [square brackets], not (parentheses), which could be part of the quotation itself. Example: you might convert Tristan's first-person statement "I and my company are merchants, and we hail from Normandy" (Gottfried 157) into the following third-person statement: Tristan falsely claims that "[he] and [his] company are merchants, and [they] hail from Normandy" (Gottfried 157). Before turning in the final paper, proofread citations by checking them against the book. Be sure that you have cited and documented citations COMPLETELY and ACCURATELY, clearly indicating any omissions and/or changes.
Avoid Sentence Fragments: Your paper should consist of properly punctuated, grammatically complete sentences, not sentence fragments. To avoid sentence fragments when quoting, you can
Citing Verse: While most of our readings are in prose, some (e.g. Marie de France's Chevrefoil; several passages in Gottfried's Tristan) are in verse. When you are quoting fewer than four full lines of verse, the quotation should be integrated into your paragraph (not indented) and enclosed in quotation marks, separating subsequent lines with a slash ("/"). Example: "Sweet love, so it is with us: / You cannot live without me, nor I without you" (Chevrefoil 77-78).
- cite only grammatically complete sentences, taking care not to cut off a citation in the middle of a sentence. This strategy avoids fragments but can be awkward and does not allow you much flexibility in constructing your prose. Or, you can
- embed fragmentary quotations into your prose, adding any elements necessary to result in a smooth, grammatically complete sentence. Example: The reference to Brangane as "the lovely Full Moon" suggests that she is less beautiful than the two Isoldes, who are referred to as "the Sun and her Dawn" (Gottfried 186-7). The preceding sentence is grammatically correct, even though the cited passages "the lovely Full Moon" and "the Sun and her Dawn" are sentence fragments (lacking a main clause subject and verb).
By contrast, quotations of four or more lines of verse are presented as double-indented, single-spaced block quotations (see below); set them out in verse, as they appear on the page in your text (do not run them into paragraphs of prose).
Punctuation of Block Quotations:
A quotation of more than three type-written lines of prose (or four or more 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.
Longer quotations (four or more lines of verse, or prose passages that would take up more than three lines in your paper, regardless of numbering in the text) should be single-spaced and double indented (one more tab than for a new paragraph). Block quotations should preserve any verse lines as found in your text (i.e., you should type a hard return at the end of each line of verse). Prose passages should be typed like a regular paragraph (do NOT hard return to preserve the line format found in your edition). Follow standard rules of capitalization (capitalize proper nouns and the first word of each sentence). Omit quotation marks and place final punctuation of the quotation at end of line quoted, before the parenthetical documentation:
The simile chosen by Marie suggests that the lovers cannot live without each other: Tristan's message on the piece of wood thus communicates the lovers' interdependence . . .With the two of them it was just
as it is with the honeysuckle
that attaches itself to the hazel tree:
when it has wound and attached
and worked itself around the trunk,
the two can survive together;
but if someone tries to separate them,
the hazel dies quickly
and the honeysuckle with it.
(Chevrefoil 68-76)[Paper continues, double-spaced, below the double-indented, single-spaced quotation.]
Note that in the indented block quotation above, the final punctuation of "the honeysuckle with it" is at the end of the quoted line, preceding the parenthetical reference (which is not followed by punctuation).
Punctuation of Short Quotations With Parenthetical References:
Frequently, the final punctuation of a citation does not fit the syntax of your prose (e.g. the citation ends with a period, but you are still in the middle of YOUR sentence). For this reason, omit the final punctuation of quotations which are not presented in block form. Immediately following the parenthetical reference, insert whatever punctuation is appropriate to the syntax of your sentence (period, colon, semicolon, comma). Exception: if the quoted passage ends with a question mark or an exclamation point, include it before the final quotation mark AND insert the punctuation appropriate to the construction of your sentence after the parenthetical reference. You may also use ellipses [. . .] at the end of a citation if you wish to indicate that the passage continues beyond what you have quoted.
As noted above, longer quotations (four or more lines of verse, or more than three full lines of prose) should be single-spaced and double indented (one more tab than for a new paragraph) in a block which preserves verse lines. Omit quotation marks and place final punctuation of the quotation at end of line quoted, before the parenthetical documentation:
EXAMPLES (not from a Tristan text, but you'll get the idea):
The first four lines of Macbeth, act IV, scene i, read as follows:
1 Macbeth: Why should I play the Roman fool, and dieThese lines might be incorporated into your prose in the following ways:
2 On mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes
3a Do better upon them.
3b Macduff: Turn, hell-hound, turn!
4 Macbeth: Of all men else I have avoided thee.When Macbeth asks himself, "Why should I play the Roman fool, and die/ On mine own sword?" (MAC V.viii.1-2), the enraged Macduff replies, "Turn, hell-hound, turn!" (MAC V.viii.3).Each of the examples above is a grammatically complete sentence suitable for inclusion in a formal analytic paper. The first includes two citations, one ending with a question mark and one with an exclamation point. Note that these final punctuation marks are included in the citation (before the final quotation marks), while the comma and period, the punctuation marks appropriate to the construction of your sentence, follow the parenthetical references. In the second grammatically complete sentence ("Macbeth's regret. . . "), note that the final punctuation is omitted from the quotation (there is no period within the quotation marks), while the appropriate punctuation for your sentence (a period) follows the parenthetical reference.Macbeth's regret at the murder of Macduff's wife and children is implied in his response: "Of all men else I have avoided thee" (MAC V.viii.4).
The next example incorporates passages taken from The Tempest:
When Prospero shows Alonso his supposedly drowned son playing chess with Miranda, Alonso is afraid that it is but "a vision of the island" (TEMP V.i.176). Miranda is equally amazed when she first sees Alonso, exclaiming, "O wonder!/ How many goodly creatures are there here!/ O brave new world/ That has such people in't!" (TEMP V.i.182-5).In the first sentence, the final punctuation of the citation has been omitted (there is no punctuation preceding the final quotation mark); in the second, the exclamation point from the citation has been preserved. In both cases, the parenthetical reference is followed by a period, the final punctuation required by the syntax of your prose (a grammatically complete sentence which requires a final period).Be sure to consult the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST (which I will use in grading your papers) both BEFORE AND AFTER writing your essay. Proofread carefully, and be sure that you do not make the errors included on the checklist!
Don't forget to give your paper a title which identifies the works discussed and gives your reader some idea of what you are arguing (your thesis). The paper title should not be underlined or italicized, but the title of most primary texts should be. (Exception: the titles of individual lyric poems are enclosed in "quotation marks," not italicized or underlined.)
Avoid using the first or second person (I, we, you). 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.
Use the present tense in writing about literature. The past tense is appropriate for discussion of historical context or to refer to events that occur before those recounted in the text, but keep discussion of what occurs in the text in the present tense.
As necessary, modify citations so that the quoted passages fit smoothly into the syntax of your sentences. Be sure to indicate any changes in the citation using [square brackets], not (parentheses), since parentheses could be part of the material you are quoting. Indicate any omitted words or lines with ellipses [. . . ].
Remember: this essay is NOT a research assignment. Do not cite secondary sources. As appropriate, you may bring in information from lecture, online readings or the Introductions in the texts without documentation. To avoid plagiarism, be sure to state this information in your own words -- do not cite the guides or introduction directly.
On italics vs. underlining: either is acceptable, but pick one and use it consistently -- don't use both in the same essay. For what it's worth, I prefer underlining, which is easier to read. . .
Consult ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST (which I will use in grading your papers) BEFORE AND AFTER writing your first draft. Be sure that you do not make the sort of errors listed on this checklist!
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