Paper 4
Write an analytical or argumentative research paper on a topic of your own choosing focusing narrowly on Emily Brontë's novel, Wuthering Heights. Your paper must meet each of the requirements below. Read these requirements carefully.
750-1200
words in length.
On
the last day of class, you must turn in the central question your paper strives
to answer and a topic sentence outline with the complete topic sentence for
each body paragraph and the paper's thesis. The question you
raise for this outline should be a literal question—an
interrogative sentence ending in a question mark, not merely a statement of
what your topic is.
However,
as with paper 3, this essay should
not raise a literal question in the introduction, but instead the introduction
should culminate in a full and complete answer to the unstated question
your paper addresses—i.e.
a thesis statement. As an alternative to presenting a thesis in the
introduction, you may have the introduction culminate in a statement of purpose
(This paper will explore the issue of. . . .). If you begin the essay
with a statement of purpose, the full and direct answer to the unstated question
(thesis) should be presented in the conclusion.
You
must quote Wuthering Heights at least six times, following the MLA
guidelines set forth in the quotes
and documentation handout. Note: if the topic you choose involves
Wuthering Heights and another literary work, you must have a total
of six quotes from the primary sources (Wuthering Heights and the other
work or works). An additional primary source will not count towards
the requirement below for two secondary sources of scholarly criticism.
You
are required to do some research and incorporate quotations from at least
two sources of legitimate scholarly criticism into your discussion of the
novel. ("Legitimate" means truly scholarly sources, so items from the
popular press, encyclopedias, web pages that are not clearly authoritative,
and study aids such as Cliff's Notes, SparkNotes, Master
Plots, etc., are not acceptable.)
You
must turn in photocopies or printouts of each secondary source from which
you take quotes. Highlight the quoted passages (on the photocopy of
the criticism, not in your paper).
Vitally important note: Papers that do
not meet the research requirements—quotes
from at least two secondary sources of literary scholarship or criticism,
with photocopied pages attached—will
automatically receive failing grades.
As announced in class, I am not providing a list of suggestions for topics for this paper, so the greatest challenge with this assignment is arriving at an appropriate topic, one that is manageable and worthy of exploration in an academic essay. Basically, any significant theme, motif, issue, technique, or aspect of the novel is fair game. If you struggle arriving at a valid topic, see me for help.
Reminders:
Offer
concrete evidence to support each of your major assertions.
Every
body paragraph's topic sentence should answer the (unstated) intro question
directly.
Avoid
plot summary: see nugget 1; introduce all quotes: see nugget 3.
Sweat
the details: use the GR, N, SS, and QD "handouts" and proofread closely.