Research Paper

Austen Researched Literary Term Paper
Paper Assignment:
Your Researched Literary Term Paper assignment will consist of a longer research paper incorporating
secondary sources in accordance with the following requirements:
• ENGL 550 Undergraduate Students: 8 page minimum with at least 5 secondary sources
• ENGL 550 Undergraduate Honors Students: 10 pages minimum with at least 6 secondary sources.
• ENGL 550 Graduate Students: 10 pages minimum with at least 8 secondary sources
• ENGL 621 Graduate Students: 15 pages minimum with at least 9 secondary sources
This paper, building from your research and analysis, should thoughtfully examine one or more assigned
novels or novel/film pairings in light of several peer-reviewed, scholarly sources. Your thesis should consist of
a clear, assertive, narrow argument (position or stance), and the paper should explicate the primary literary
text carefully in order to forward and prove the validity of your thesis. Your secondary sources should be used
to elucidate and support your thesis, and should not dominate the argument of the paper. Prioritize sources
obtained from databases (MLA International Bibliography, etc.) or entries in the online catalog at Dacus. Your
goal in this assignment is to produce a polished, well-supported research essay that could be presented at an
academic conference or amplified for later publication.
Paper Topic:
You may generate any topic and thesis that interest you, and you may choose to write on any novel, any
novel/film pairing, or any two or more novels assigned during the course. You may choose to focus on any of
the following topics, or you may construct your own area of focus:
• Issues of adaptation, translation, commentary, or audience reception in a film/novel pairing.
• How the novel (or novel and film) addresses class, gender, education, cultural assumptions or
practices, marriage, money, etc.
• Streams of imagery, significant images, or motifs in the novels (or novels and films): sight, blindness,
deception, nature imagery, money, houses, food, freedom and confinement, etc.
• The role of reading, writing, literacy, or print culture in any of the novels or books.
• Family relationships – sisters, mothers and daughters, fathers and children, husbands and wives, etc.
• Significant scenes in novel/film pairings – marriage proposal scenes, letter reading scenes, scenes of
confrontation, ballroom scenes, etc.
• Manners versus morals – the nature of a true “gentleman” or “gentlewoman”; the difference between
true gentility or morality and social custom.
• Narration in the novels (or novels or films) – the detached, ironic narrator; the omniscient narrator; the
reader’s identification with the narrator.
• Proto-feminist elements of the novels and films.
• A topic arising from an application of a particular critical lens to a novel or novel/film pairing: ecocriticism, feminism, psycho-analytical, cognitive literary theory, etc.
• The role of setting, costuming, casting, or music in the films.
Try to identify those novels or films you particularly enjoyed reading or viewing or those with which you felt a
connection intellectually or emotionally. Think not only about the novels you liked, but the subjects, topics, or
interests you have in other academic or extra-curricular areas of your life (for instance, religion, music,
science, social history, military history, etc.). You may want to find ways to blend issues and topics that
interest you with literary works that explore or comment upon these issues. Or, you may want to delve more
deeply into a novel or classroom discussion topic that you particularly enjoyed, letting the work or your
research suggest a more specific avenue of exploration. Once you have chosen a novel or novel/film pairing
that interests or intrigues you, begin an exploratory research process to find articles or books addressing those
topics. Use your initial research as a way to narrow, hone, and sharpen your possible topic. I am available to
meet with you to help in the brainstorming process, and the Dacus databases and Online Catalog will be
invaluable in this exploratory process. Feel free to use the critical essays included in our Norton editions of
the novels to help you select and narrow a topic.
Paper Format: The Researched Literary Term Paper should adhere to MLA guidelines (8th or 9th edition
MLA) for paper format, headings, citations, etc. All sources in your paper must be credible, scholarly (peerreviewed), relevant, and reliable. Sources should be introduced, identified, and evaluated, and should be
correctly formatted according to current MLA documentation standards. Your paper must contain a Works
Cited list that includes all outside sources used, as well as any sources used from Norton anthologies other
course texts.
Paper Due Date:

Grading Criteria:
Papers will be graded based upon the criteria in the English Department’s Writing/English Rubric.
In addition to the Rubric, make sure that your paper adheres to the following criteria: Content: The response shows an
appropriate level of thought and sophistication (ideas are complex and fully amplified), and contains an assertive,
specific thesis. Organization The focus of interest is clear. The paper is arranged in organized paragraphs which contain
transitional sentences connecting them to the thesis and to surrounding body paragraphs. Evidence: The author uses
relevant and adequate evidence to support the points made in the paper. The author uses direct quotations or cited
paraphrases consistently to support key assertions, and these quotations or paraphrases are fully amplified and
explained within the context of the author’s argument. Style, Grammar, and Format: Sentences are varied in length
and are grammatically correct. Word choice is appropriate. Paper is punctuated correctly; spelling is correct. The paper
is neat and legible, and is within the length limits specified by the paper topic guidelines.