Final Paper for American Literature
REQUIREMENTS:
● This paper must contain outside research. You will need to show that you have a firm understanding of the problem or
situation being discussed. Cu
ent magazines, journals and books should help you with this. The minimum number of
equired sources is 4, not including the story/poem/essay being analyzed, though you are free to use more. For this
assignment, you are restricted from using web pages, except for no more than 2 reputable news sites (e.g. NPR.org,
CBS.com) and government sites. (Note: journals/magazines/newspapers accessed via Tech’s online database do not count
as web pages. These are printed materials that have been scanned into the database for your convenience. Google Books
also does not count as a website.)
● You must use a well-known documentation style (e.g. Chicago, MLA, APA), and all sources must be cited according to
the rules of that style. If you have any questions about this, then please come see me.
● Each paper must be at least 4 pages long. The page length does not include title, headers, footers and Works Cited page.
This means that your text will need to run onto the 5th page. Margins must be set to 1”, and the font should be a double
spaced 12pt., Times New Roman. If the paper doesn’t meet these basic requirements, then you will lose MANY
points—OR I might not read your paper at all, and consequently, you'll receive a zero. Any paper that is short of the page
equirement (even by a line) will automatically forfeit all points.
● You must use ONE of the essays, poems or stories that we read and discussed this semester (except Poe’s “Tell-Tale
Heart,” which has been analyzed to death, and the movie, Bagger Vance). Feel free to expound on anything that we
discussed in class. While you are organizing your paper, try to remember some of the class discussions we’ve had.
● You need to offer abundant proof from the story/essay/poem—proof that supports your thesis. Don’t turn in a paper that
doesn’t have abundant quotes (with substantial intros and explanations) from the text that support your points.
● The work, in its entirety, must be your own. I cannot stress enough how strict I am with plagiarists. As I stated in my
syllabus, anyone who is caught plagiarizing will fail the course—no explanation will be acceptable. This means that if
you copy or paraphrase someone else’s work, and you do not cite that person, then you will be taking 201 (or the like)
again, and possibly at another institution.
● Your paper must be turned in ON TIME. Late papers will not be accepted. However, you are welcome to turn your
paper in early.
IF ANY OF THE STIPULATIONS LISTED ABOVE ARE NOT FOLLOWED, THEN YOU WILL LOSE POINTS,
PERHAPS ALL OF THEM.
Name_________________________________
Research Paper Grading Ru
ic
Does the Paper Meet ALL the Basic Requirements (e.g. on time, gets to required page min, 1”
margins, 12pt Times New Roman font)? If not, then enter 0/20 for the paper grade.
20 points 10 points 0 points
Intro ¶ and Thesis Very clear and engaging; nicely
introduces a clear thesis
statement
Clear but not especially
engaging; or doesn’t
introduce thesis; or
thesis lacks clarity
Intro and/or thesis
doesn’t work at
all—Doesn’t look
like you understand
this yet
Topic Sentences with
Transitions
Clear and Present in all body
paragraphs; clearly shows the
next element of the thesis to be
addressed
Present in one or two
ody paragraphs
and/or only expresses
part of the thesis.
Doesn’t look like you
understand this yet
Quotes from Story to
Support Topic
Sentences
All topic sentences are fully
supported with quotes from
story/poem/play
Missing some support
or some quotes seem
to be off-topic-even
after the explanation
Missing a lot of
support—Doesn’t
look like you
understand this yet
Introductions to
Quotes
NOTE: If you didn’t have
enough quotes, then you
couldn’t score well on this.
All quotes are introduced well
(helps readers understand who’s
speaking, who’s being spoken to
and context)
Most quotes are
adequately introduced
Many quotes lack
adequate
introductions—Does
n’t look like you
understand this yet
Explanations for Each
Quote
NOTE: If you didn’t have
enough quotes, then you
couldn’t score well on this.
All quotes are fully explained
(can see what the quotes mean
and how they prove/validate the
topic sentences)
Missing explanations of
some quotes
Missing explanations
for many
quotes—Doesn’t
look like you
understand this yet
Research Adequate research to support
the topic/points in each body
paragraph (also clear how the
esearch helps inform/explain
the quote from the
story/poem/play that precedes
it)
Lacks research in many
places or lacks a clear
elation to the quote
from the
story/poem/play that
precedes it.
No research used or
none of the research
supports the topic
sentences or body
paragraph points.
MLA Format All quotes have in-text citations
and a Works Cited entry
Missing some in-text
cites or problems with
the Works Cited page
Many problems with
in-text citations and
and/or Works Cited
page
Conclusion Interesting and doesn’t repeat
the thesis
Not especially
interesting, but at least
it doesn’t repeat the
thesis
Doesn’t look like you
understand this yet
Total Points__________ ÷ 8 =
. Final Grade __________/20
COMMON PROBLEMS ON THE NEXT TWO PAGES
COMMON PROBLEMS AND ADVICE TO KEEP IN MIND
TITLES
● In a title, all words are capitalized except for prepositions, conjunctions, and the articles "a," "an"
and "the"--unless any of these are the first word of the title.
● Titles are never simply the title of the work you’re analyzing. That’s already a title, so get your
own. Instead, try to be creative and clever.
INTRO PARAGRAPHS
● Don’t simply jump right into discussing the story. Help readers understand WHY you're about to
discuss the story. Provide a little context. Start by discussing the topic that you see the
story/poem/play addressing, and then segue into what the story/poem/play has to say about this
topic.
○ SAMPLE: If the paper is explaining how the story, “Marcus,” helps readers understand
poverty, then you might start by talking about poverty in the U.S. After that short
discussion, you might end with the following thesis--
Interestingly enough, Jane Smith’s short story, “Marcus” offers readers a better
understanding of poverty by showing us why people are forced to live in poverty,
how this problem is being ignored and what needs to be done to remedy the
problem.
● Notice in the last example that because the story is the focus of the paper, the thesis makes that
clear.
BODY PARAGRAPHS
● Clear topic sentences
○ SAMPLE: One way that “Marcus” helps readers understand poverty is by showing them
why there are so many impoverished people in America.
○ SAMPLE: In addition to giving readers a better understanding of why people are forced
to live in poverty, Smith also points out that this problem is being ignored by many
people.
These examples show 1) the story/author is the focus of each body paragraph and 2)
the
paragraph will deal with one element of the thesis.
● Supporting quotes from the story/poem/play
○ QUOTES RELEVANCE
Make sure the quote is validating the topic sentence
(Read the topic sentence. If your quote isn’t addressing that topic, then that quote is, by
definition, “OFF TOPIC.”)
○ INTRODUCTIONS/LEAD-INs FOR QUOTES
Make sure you have an intro to the quote that helps readers understand who’s speaking,
who’s being spoken to, and the context of the quote.
■ Example of a poor intro:
Then the story says, “She ain’t got no idea what we go through” (Smith 32).
(Notice that with this intro, the reader has no idea who the “she” and “we” are and
why this is being said.)
■ Example of solid intro:
Once the rich woman leaves the alley, the homeless man turns to all his
homeless friends and says, “She ain’t got no idea what we go through”
(Smith 32).
○ EXPLANATIONS FOR QUOTES
Make sure you offer readers an understanding of what the quote means, why certain
word choices are interesting/important and, most importantly, how the quote
proves
elates to the topic sentence.
● Research Quotes
○ Like the quotes from the story/poem/play, the research quotes need solid intros and
explanations
○ Make sure your research quote helps explain/inform the quote from the story that
precedes it.
○ Make sure your research is secondary to the story/poem/play. Don’t turn this into a
paper about the topic. The paper is about what the story is telling/teaching us.
CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH
○ Don’t simply repeat what you’ve already said in the paper.
○ Help readers better understand why all the analysis they’ve read might be helpful to
them.
○ Make the paper relevant to your readers.
1
From Letters From an American Farme
Excerpt of Letter III: “What Is an American”
y J. Hector St. John De Crevecoeu
Taken from http:
avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/letter_03.asp
I wish I could be acquainted with the feelings and thoughts which must agitate the heart and
present themselves to the mind of an enlightened Englishman, when he first lands on this
continent. He must greatly rejoice that he lived at a time to see this fair country discovered and
settled; he must necessarily feel a share of national pride, when he views the chain of
settlements which embellishes these extended