The first research paper due for this course should utilize one of the short stories presented in the first four modules. The student should select one of the following short stories to work with:
The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Recitatif by Toni Morrison
For this assignment please turn in your completed first research paper.
The research paper must be an argument-based paper. That argument should be centered on the literature and one of the schools of literary criticism presented earlier. The paper requires that the student create the thesis for the paper and use peer-reviewed sources found in the Ocean County College Library to support the thesis.
The required parameters of the papers are:
Required Elements: Topic sentence, thesis statement, title, academic peer-reviewed sources, and formal language.
Length: 1,500 words
Academic Style: Modern Language Association (MLA) Style
Required Sources: No less than 3 peer-reviewed secondary sources and a primary source; each source can be used up to 3 times
Paper Topic: The paper MUST be an analysis of the literature read in this course.
Paper History: The research paper submitted must be original work by the student-created for this course.
Tips for Drafting your Paper
Your research paper’s thesis statement is the most important task for you. The thesis should be created as earlier as possible as the rest of your paper revolves around it. The first task to complete is to draft a usable thesis.
For the paper, your thesis statement should be an argument that is based on one of the schools of literary criticism. A clear method for considering this is to think of the thesis as the result of combining the reading you find most interesting with the school of literary criticism that appeals to you. As you read the three short stories take notes on what in the story is interesting to you. This will help you find the thesis you want to work with quickly.
For example, suppose you find Montresor of Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado interesting because he murders without any remorse or feelings. This is the seed we need to write the paper. Think of it this way:
Interesting Reading + School of Literary Criticism = Thesis and topic
Montresor is a stone-cold killer + psychoanalytic criticism = and argument why Montresor is emotionless
A little research in this area might show you that killers with no feelings can suffer from schizophrenia. This becomes your thesis then:
Montresor suffers from schizophrenia.
With this thesis, we can then spend the paper proving our argument that Montresor has schizophrenia. Our argument is found by close reading and consideration of the elements in the literature that interest us most. Again, it is important that you work on the thesis for your paper as earlier as possible.
Submit the final polished draft of this paper as a .doc or .docx file.
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