ENGLISH 200C
Summer 2008

Research Paper Assignment

 

Your research paper assignment is to write a 6-8 page critical research paper (exclusive of Works Cited page) on a literary aspect of the Harry Potter novels. It counts as 20% of your final grade. You may choose to do one of the following:

If you wish to explore a topic that does not fall under one of these three general umbrellas, you must meet with Dr. K outside of class to present your idea and to explain why pursuing that topic will help you meet the goals on the class syllabus.

 

You must give us a note or send us an e-mail telling us your specific paper topic by June 23 at the beginning of class. You may not have a specific thesis by this point, but we want at least a focused question. “I’m going to write about girls in the Harry Potter novels” isn’t focused enough; “What can we learn from looking at the plucky heroines in the Harry Potter novels?” would be sufficient.

 

This should be a critical paper: that is, it must make an argument that is embodied in a clear thesis. You are expected to use at least three outside sources beyond the books in writing your paper; you may find these by looking at works on the Resources page, consulting the books on Course Reserve for the class, and using the suggestions provided by the Resource Mistress (Stephanie) to find appropriate scholarly resources for your paper.

 

The paper must be carefully written and edited, correctly documented in MLA style, and submitted to Dr. K in hard copy on Tuesday, July 8, at the beginning of class (no extensions possible). The paper must also be submitted to www.turnitin.com by that time. Our class ID# is 2299057 and our password is the name of Harry's owl (lower case). (I can't put the actual password on the web--look on your printout, please, or e-mail me.)

 

Some tips on writing a critical paper

 

  1. Don’t make it an information dump. Just saying “I found plucky heroines in four of the seven Harry Potter books´is not a critical thesis, nor is it an argument; it’s simply a catalog. Once you find those plucky heroines, you need to make an argument out of it—something that readers will care about. Turning that statement into a thesis like “Rowling uses the plucky heroine in increasingly complicated situations, but the heroine always turns out to be subordinate to the boys in the end, reinforcing Rowling’s traditional use of male and female stereotypes” gives you something to argue about, to support, to find examples from the text and your secondary scholarship and to make a case about.
     
  2. Think of a literary argument as making a case. You’re the prosecutor, and you’re trying to convince the jury of your readers that you are right. So you will make claims about your thesis to the jury, and for each claim you’ll need to state your point, elaborate on it and explain it, give examples from the novels and from your secondary research to back your claim up, and then tie it in to your overall thesis. If you use this four-part strategy, your points will be well developed. So, for example, you might back up your plucky heroine thesis like this:

    “In Chamber of Secrets, Hermione shows her spunk by doing independent research to solve the mystery of the hidden chamber. [Claim stated]. She researches and brews the Polyjuice Potion that will let Harry and Ron infiltrate Slytherin for information and she uses the library to find out information on the monster’s identity. [Elaborates on your claim]. However, in both cases, her independence goes horribly wrong; in the Polyjuice episode, “Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had gone yellow, and there were long pointed ears poking through her hair” (168) because she mistakenly used a cat hair to influence the potion. Then, when she thinks she has identified the monster, she is found (along with another student) lying petrified on the floor with a small mirror nearby (190) because she has seen the Basilisk. In both cases, she is confined to the Infirmary while the boys solve the mysteries her adventures have revealed. [Evidence]. So while Hermione seems plucky, she actually reinforces the stereotype that action should be left to the boys, because girls can’t carry it off. [Ties back to thesis]
     
  3. Remember who’s in control of the paper—you are. Don’t let your notecards take over—you should be making the case, and using the evidence to back you up. If your paper is just a string of “According to” and “So-and-so says” without your ideas giving it structure, it’s not going to be a successful paper.
     
  4. Office hours are for a reason! Please feel free to bring in your outlines, drafts, notes, and questions; Stephanie and I will be glad to help you. We will have formal required rough draft conferences on your papers the Thursday before your papers are due so that you can meet with us and get our feedback before you turn your papers in for a grade.