English 4430 paper assignment, fall 2024

Write an analytical or argumentative essay on a topic of your own choosing, focusing narrowly on one or more of the major novels we've read: Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and Anna Karenina. If you would like to write on The Death of Ivan Ilych, you certainly may, with the stipulation that you focus also on at least one of the other three works. Vital to succeeding in the paper is your careful attention to each of the following elements:

7-9 pages in length, 2000 words minimum, 2700 words maximum (in the body of the essay, excluding headers, name, date, title, works cited entries, etc.).
Format the document carefully, following MLA guidelines outlined on my "simple stuff" page.
Include a minimum of ten quotations from the novel(s) you examine: consider ten an absolute minimum—you may certainly offer more to illustrate your primary claims thoroughly and effectively.
Document quotations and other source material according to MLA guidelines as explained on my quotations page. Definitely include a works cited page.
Incorporate some research into your paper, offering quotations from at least four secondary sources of legitimate scholarly criticism or commentary on the work(s) you examine or on some key element to your analysis (Russian history, for instance, or an article on epilepsy, or an article on the psychological process of facing death, etc.) Note that these quotations from four separate secondary sources are above and beyond the ten quotations from the novel[(s).

Understand that "legitimate scholarly sources" translates into truly scholarly research that you get from MGA library resources (GALILEO, e.g.). This means items from the popular press, encyclopedias, personal websites or blogs, and study aids such as SparkNotes, LitCharts, Master Plots, Gradesaver.com, or my favorite, Shmoop, and other such "helpful" websites do not qualify.

This may be a challenge for some of you guys, but avoid--emphatically avoid--consulting any world wide web pages outside of our course materials while composing your paper.

Of equal or perhaps even greater importance, please resist the thought of incorporating any material whatsoever produced by generative artificial intelligence. As a refresher, recall this item from our course syllabus:

Plagiarism includes allowing someone else to prepare work that you present as your own.

Note: "Someone else preparing your work" includes essay-writing services and generative artificial intelligence (AI) such as Chat-GPT, MS Copilot, Google Gemini, or any "writing assistance" programs such as Grammarly, paraphrasing tools, etc. All work in this class must be your own except where properly cited or disclosed. The use of artificial intelligence writing tools or generative AI tools is prohibited at any stage of the work process, including discussion posts, informal critical responses, midterm and final exams, and the formal paper. Stay far, far away from generative AI! If you have questions about specific online writing tools, talk with me before submitting any work that may include writing assistance you are not entirely certain about.

For access to many, many thousands of scholarly articles and eBooks in full-text electronic form, see the MGA Library website. I will provide further guidance and share materials our embedded librarian has prepared specifically for this class in the coming days.

Paper proposals: as the first (formal) part of the writing process, you are to compose a paper proposal in the form of a topic sentence outline beginning with the central question your essay will strive to answer, followed by each body paragraph's complete topic sentence as it might appear in the essay itself, and ending with a thesis statement that a) answers the question you are addressing, and b) ties together the primary points in your topic sentences.

The question you raise to begin this outline should be a literal question—an interrogative sentence ending in a question mark, not merely a statement of what the topic or subject is. For full explanation of topic sentence outlines, including examples that would be good models to follow, see the paper proposal assignment page.

Understand that what you propose will set nothing in stone! I know that in the process of drafting the paper itself, you will discover that some ideas don't pan out like you imagined, and other ideas, perhaps even greater ideas will suggest themselves as you dig more deeply into your topic. The aim with the proposal assignment is not that you commit absolutely and forever to your thinking at the outset, but rather to facilitate your serious thought about how you might go about answering that initial question--possibly something like "How historically accurate is Dostoevsky's portrayal of Russian nihilists in Crime and Punishment and The Idiot?" or "What does Tolstoy suggest is essential to a genuinely meaningful life in Ivan Ilych and Anna Karenina?" or "What can we glean of Tolstoy's views of Russian peasants from Anna Karenina?" And so forth.

Another important aim of the proposal assignment is giving me the chance to see what your thoughts are "in the rough," so that before you invest much time and effort into the actual writing, I can share my input on what's strong about your approach and what might be problematic in ways you may not see at first. The primary goal is that you get my feedback on your approach to your topic so that you do well on this major assignment.

So . . . before taking a single step on this proposal, if you haven't already, do now see (and read carefully) the paper proposal assignment page.

The real challenge here is arriving at a viable topic, one worthy of exploration in a senior-level college English course. I have been of two minds on whether I should assign specific options for you to address in this paper, but I think it's an important element of any literature class that you explore and establish angles of critical analysis in formal papers on your own. I know that assigning an open topic is potentially problematic because it permits more opportunities for plagiarism—I strenuously advise you to recall the definition of plagiarism acknowledgment form you signed at the start of the semester, and also the consequences of plagiarizing in this class indicated on the syllabus.

Feel free to take any matters from our discussions and critical responses as a starting point for greater development in this paper. You may also consider points of connection or comparison between different works we've read this semester.

Feel free, also, to email or call me if you want guidance in arriving at a topic suitable exploration. The starting point would be to set up a literal question such as you will need to begin the paper proposal. I am happy to do phone calls and/or Teams video-meetings with every one of you. Please do let me know if you struggle in thinking of a viable topic.

Reminders from "Matters of course: the bedrock basics" (from chipspage.com, "2000-4000 grades"):

In order to receive a passing grade:

An essay must first and foremost address a viable topic, meaning that if you are given a specific assignment for the essay, your paper must address the assigned topic squarely, directly, and fully. In the absence of a specific assigned topic, the essay must set up and address a topic genuinely worthy of exploration at the college level. . . . Here's one quick illustration: a beautifully written paper proving that Hester Prynne is treated harshly in The Scarlet Letter for her sin of adultery would fail because the point is too obvious to need elaboration: any reader of the novel would know simply from reading the book that Hester is treated harshly. Your essay should develop a thesis that enlightens your readers: you should present significant argument or analysis that goes beyond simply stating the obvious.

Secondly, every essay must meet all specified assignment requirements. For instance, if an assignment says to incorporate a personal anecdote from your own life and you do not include one, the essay will not pass even if it is brilliant in all other respects. Or if you are asked to incorporate four quotations from our readings and you include only three? No chance to pass.

An essay must be adequately developed in order to receive a passing grade. At the very least, essays must meet the minimum word count—in the text of the essay itself, excluding the title, header, works cited page, etc. . . . The word minimum means absolute minimum in this class.

Tips:

Offer concrete evidence (i.e. quotations) to support every one of your major assertions.
Make every body ¶'s topic sentence answer the paper proposal question directly.
Avoid plot summary: see nugget 1; introduce all quotes: see nugget 3.
Sweat the details: see the "Golden Rules," "Nuggets," "Simple Stuff," and "Quotations" pages and proofread carefully.
Email me if you have questions or problems.

Step up your game using the Writing Center! Tutoring, in person and online, is available in the Writing Center and in Student Success Centers (SSC) on all campuses. The Macon campus Writing Center is in TEB 226 and the SSC is in the lower level of the Library building. You can book tutoring sessions on the Macon or Cochran campus or fully online at mga.mywconline.com/. The SSC website also posts tutoring schedules for other centers across the five campuses, including the Writing Center (in Macon, TEB 226: 478-471-3542). All tutoring centers across the five campuses are free of charge.

Be sure to take a copy of this assignment with you to any tutoring session, or show your tutor this assignment page on the web.