Literary Research Paper ENC1102

ENC 1102: Writing About Literature

Literary Research Paper (1500 words – 2000 words)

OBJECTIVE: All assignments for this course have asked you to conduct analysis using only primary texts (i.e. – fictional short stories, poems, and dramas).  Using your sharpened analytical skills, you will now have to discuss at least two selected texts from different genres in a full length research paper (i.e. one poem, one drama or one fictional story, one poem or one drama and one fiction).  You will also incorporate secondary sources into your paper: at least two scholarly articles from academic journals. Your paper should be organized around a strong, specific thesis that makes an argumentative claim about the texts you are covering.

This assignment is unique because the paper will be on a topic of your own choosing.  Additionally, you will have to find literary materials regarding a particular author or work or genre by using electronic search techniques and browsing.  Try to find scholarly sources (critical articles) from peer reviewed sources.  You will have to organize a substantial amount of information, and integrate your ideas with your sources so that the paper has a clear and coherent structure.  Be sure to give appropriate credit to your sources by incorporating signal phrases and correctly paraphrasing and summarizing

A complete bibliography or work cited page MUST be included with at least 5 sources (2 primary texts, 2 scholarly articles, and another source – perhaps a book or website).  You should have a work cited page if you cite all the sources.  You should have a bibliography if you only cite some of the sources in your paper.  I recommend including a bibliography that includes EVERYTHING you researched.  A complete and thorough bibliography will indicate a good effort on your part. Papers missing this will be severely penalized.