Ben Franklin-“The Speech of Miss Polly Baker”

Baker
Spring 2017
Research Paper
Early American Literature
For the Early American Literature course, you are to write one research paper and an annotated
bibliography. These are the directions for your research paper. Ideally, you will use the research
completed for the annotated bibliography to help you write this paper – this will save you time
and energy. You should not be copying and pasting all of the content from your Annotated
Bibliography into your paper, however; that is not the intent behind either assignment. You
might find that not all of your sources from the annotated bibliography are relevant to your
research paper’s topic; that is ok! If you need to do more research and find new sources, please
do so.
Content:
In this paper, you may write about any work of literature we are reading in Volume A or B. I
suggest you focus on only one work, but you may compare/contrast two if they are similar
enough to do so. You should not be merely summarizing your chosen work or author’s life.
Your paper must have a clear, specific thesis statement and your thesis must be included in
this essay. Your paper should be organized around this thesis and use clear logic to state your
claims and support. Your essay should not be one that you wrote for another course or a different
semester. You will need to include sources in this paper as support (see below). Your paper will
be 1300-1500 words in length. This word count does not include the heading, title, or Works
Cited page. You should use formal, academic prose that is free from grammar and punctuation
mistakes. Use third person point of view when writing this paper.
Research and Sources:
Your essay must use at least 5 scholarly sources to support your thesis. By “scholarly” I mean
sources that you find in person in the library or through the library’s databases. Sources that you
find through a random Google (or any other search engine) search are probably not scholarly.
Sources that are absolutely banned are: Wikipedia, SparkNotes, Cliff’s Notes, Shmoop.com, and
other similar sites. The 5 sources you use will be listed in a Works Cited page. The Works Cited
page should be the last page of the essay document. The Works Cited page should not be on the
same page as any part of the essay itself – conclude your essay, and then hit enter until you are
on a new page. All quotations should be enclosed within quotation marks and should be cited per
MLA guidelines as listed in the MLA Handbook, 8th ed. All paraphrases should be worded
correctly and cited per MLA guidelines. Any other source use should always be documented
according to MLA guidelines.
Paper copies of the sources you used in this paper must be turned in at the beginning of
class on the due date. Do NOT upload your sources to Canvas. Copy the title page of any
book used as well as any pages in the original which you took information from. Include a copy
Baker
Spring 2017
of the page containing the author’s thesis. If you used a journal article, you must at minimum
turn in the first actual page of the article and any pages which you took information from. You
may turn in a copy of the entire article instead, if you wish. By “information” here I mean
quotations, paraphrase, or references to ideas. Anything that should be documented in your paper
counts as a source use. Because this means that you will be turning in a lot of paper, you may
enclose your sources in a folder. Your source material must be clearly labeled with a full
heading.
General Format:
Your essay should be written using 12 pt. Times New Roman Font, double-spaced throughout.
Your margins should be left at the default setting of 1”. Your essay should have a full heading on
the first page only; it should include your first and last name, the course and section number, the
professor’s name, and the date. See example below. Your heading does not belong in the header
of the document. The only content in the header should be your last name and the page number.
Your paper should have a title, and it must be related to your topic, and if possible, your thesis.
Your title should not be “Research Paper” or anything similar.
Example full heading:
First Last
ENGL 2327.04
Professor Baker
Date Turned In
The final draft of your first paper is due in Canvas at the beginning of class on
Wednesday, April 19, 2017. Paper copies of your sources are due at the beginning of class
and in person (not uploaded) on the same date. Because this document is submitted online and
is due at the start of class, you can submit it on time even if you cannot attend class that day. You
may submit this essay early. Late penalties will be strictly enforced on this essay. See the
syllabus, pages 2 and 3, for the late policy.
Questions? Ask Ms. Baker! Contact her at tanya.baker@victoriacollege.edu or 361-573-3291
x3367.