Problems with Paper 1

Summer 2010

Dr. Fike

Turnitin.com:

• Do not forget to submit an e-version to this system.
• The system is not here only so that I can catch your errors.  You can use it to check your work and to show me that you have used your source properly.

Format:

• Label your sections.
• Number your pars. and pages.
• Do not justify the right margin.
• A paragraph has only ONE topic sentence, and it comes at the beginning of the par.
• Use Courier New 12-point as your font.  Not 10 or 11.  TWELVE POINT.
• Do not write in second person ("you").
• 5 full pages is the minimum length.

The assignment:

• YES:  To write a classical argument about a focused topic from personal experience in connection with a text from the anthology.
• NO:  To write a classical argument about a text without reference to anything from personal experience.

Title:

• Give the reader an indication of the focused topic and textual connection.
• Do not put quotation marks around the title.
• Do not boldface the title.

Introduction:

• Introduce the focused topic and the textual connection before the thesis statement.
• Regarding focus:  Remember that you may not write about all persons in general.  Say more about less.  Unpack something small.  Do not shovel a whole pile of general stuff into the paper.  Do not say less about more.

Thesis:

• Put the focused topic in all three parts.  Do not bury it in the "because" clause as though it were an argument.  Focus is not = argument.
• Put the thesis on page 1.  Do not do background 1 in the introduction.
• The three parts of the thesis must be controversial, not factual.
• The textual connection belongs in the thesis.

Topic sentences:

• Do not start a par. with a fact about an event.  Use deduction, not induction.
• Introduction and conclusion do not have topic sentences.  Boldface should appear only in the body.

Background 1:

• The section should be about the textual connection ONLY.  Your experience does not belong here.
• Address the textual connection BEFORE explaining your focused topic in background 2.
• This section is not a summary of a text.  Instead it should unpack and amplify something from a text in preparation for the argument section.  Set up what you need in order to support the point the thesis makes about the focused topic.

Argument/objection/reply:

• Argue, object, and reply about the focused topic in connection with a text.  The focused topic must be in every par. except background 1.
• Topic sentences MUST echo the thesis:
  • Argument - "I will argue that" and "because" clauses.
  • Objection - "Although" clause.
• Be sure to SHOW, not merely TELL.  Something is not true just because you say it is.
• Give a real concession--not just a dependent clause in the topic sentence.

Conclusion:

• Explain what you learned about yourself as a result of writing this paper.

Works Cited list:

• Do not call it Bibliography.
• Do not triple space this page.  Do not cut and paste from the "MLA Format Slide Show."
• See "MLA Format Slide Show" for how to do a WC list when you have two texts from one anthology.
• Nothing should be listed that is not cited in the paper.  Nothing should be cited that is not listed in the Works Cited.