G. One 3600-5000 word research paper on a topic agreed upon by the instructor and student. Students will turn in a smooth first draft, which the instructor will evaluate and return to the students. Students will then turn in a revised paper for final grading. The first draft is an essential part of the process, so no final draft will be accepted unless the student has turned in a first draft; gotten it back from the instructor, marked for needed revisions; and written the final draft incorporating such revisions.
History majors will prepare their papers according to Turabian/Chicago Manual of Styleformat (using either footnote or endnote in-text documentation, i.e., the Notes/Bibliography style). The instructor may have special requirements beyond those in the books. Pages should be numbered, beginning with the first page of the text of the paper. Papers should have a minimum of 15 sources including a variety of types of sources, such as books, internet sites, and journal articles.
NOTE: The 3600-5000 word requirement and the requirement for at least 15 sources must be met on the final draft for the paper to be acceptable and to be graded. Final drafts not meeting these requirements will be assigned a zero until they are brought into conformance with the requirements, at which time they will receive a regular grade. The word count of 3600-5000 includes every part of the paper (title page, outline, bibliography, etc.), not just the narrative.
Make an outline for your research paper. Be sure to mention the main points from that outline, along with the paper’s thesis, in the introduction of the paper. Cover those main points in detail in the body or text of your paper, and summarize and explain them in the conclusion of your paper.
Attention students: Adhere to the following detailed instructions in preparing your paper.
Do not use first and second person pronouns (I, me, we, us our, you, your, etc.) except in quotations.
Do not use contractions (can’t, didn’t, etc.) except in quotations.
Do not use subheadings to divide your paper into parts. It is not incorrect to do so, but I want you to get the practice of having to rely solely on transitions to move the reader from one section to the next in your paper.
Do not use passive voice in your writing.Passive voice is not incorrect, but active voice verbs make your writing much stronger and more interesting. Passive and active voice have been covered in class lectures and a practice worksheet.
Practice pronoun-antecedent agreement. The following example sentence is incorrect: A child must obey their mother. A pronoun (their) must agree with its antecedent (child) in number—both must be singular or both must be plural. It is usually easier to make both of them plural. For example, Children must obey their mother.
The first draft and the final draft of your paper will consist of the following:
Title page
A brief outline with the paper’s main points
Text, or body, of the paper
Endnotes section (History majors, only if they use endnotes rather than footnotes)
Selected Bibliography, Works Cited, or References page(s)
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