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AS SOON AS THE PAPER IS ASSIGNED:
Choose a topic. If I have assigned a kind of paper of an
area within which the essay must fall, be sure your topic falls within that area. If in
doubt, ASK ME.
Go to the library to see how much information is available
on that topic. Check the LINCC catalog, the reference section, and the
online resources. Go and browse in the stacks around the call number of your topic --
look in indexes and tables of contents. ASK THE LIBRARIANS TO HELP YOU FIND MATERIAL --
that's why they're in the library. ASK ME if you need more help.
Read and take notes on your primary sources -- the poem(s),
play(s), story (ies), novel(s), artworks -- you will be analyzing in your essay. Write summaries,
reactions, etc -- whatever pops into your head about the pieces. If the pieces are short,
read them at least once a day for a week or two. If they are very short or
visual, tape them to your
bathroom mirror, copy them out longhand, memorize them.
Preview the secondary information available. Xerox, take
notes, check out books, READ, READ, READ. Let the information cook in your head -- follow
up on things that intrigue or interest you.
Check the Internet for information. BE WARY. Be
sure the information comes from a reliable source: a recognizable publisher, a faculty
member at a university, a nationally known newspaper, an authoritative research
institution.
Be sure to collect citation
information for anything you're reading, xeroxing or taking notes on. This includes: authors, titles, titles of articles, titles of
books, editors, volume numbers (for both magazines and reference works), page number,
publishers, places of publication, dates of publications (both the original date of
publication and the date of the reprint you're using), distributors (for AV material), URL
addresses, organizations posting the webpages, dates posted and accessed (for internet sources), etc. Check the MLA
Handbook for the kind of material you're using to see what kind of citation is
necessary.
TWO TO THREE WEEKS BEFORE
THE ROUGH DRAFT IS DUE:
Narrow the topic down to something manageable within the
page limitations of the essay. If you need help to begin to focus the topic, make an
appointment and SEE ME.
Create a Preliminary Bibliography following the models in
your handbook and the MLA Handbook.
Formulate a working thesis sentence and indicate in the
thesis paragraph what topics you are going to develop, explain or analyze in your essay.
Outline the points you need to cover in your essay to
illustrate or prove your thesis.
Look for appropriate quotes and specific illustrations in
the primary work(s) you are analyzing. Think about how they might be used to illustrate
your thesis.
Gather ideas and quotes from secondary sources to back up
your thesis. In your notes be sure to put quotation marks around direct quotes and
indicate where you are summarizing or paraphrasing. Be sure to have all citation
information at hand.
A WEEK BEFORE THE ROUGH
DRAFT IS DUE:
Begin to compose a draft. Be sure to cite all your sources
as you are drafting. This should be easy to do if you have a complete Preliminary
Bibliography: just include (Author page#), i.e. (Jones 62), after every quote, idea, or
fact you borrow. Better yet, introduce your source [Jones says, "+++++" (62). Or
According to Jones, paraphrased material (62). If you have more than
one work by the same author, you need to include the title in your
citation. If the work has no named author, use the title of the
article or webpage.
Be sure to put any phrase (two words
or more) that you borrow directly in quotation marks. Be sure to give a citation for any
idea you borrow even if you summarize or paraphrase what the author has said.
Remember, the name or title in your
parenthetical citation MUST MATCH the first
word(s) in your Works Cited citation.
When quoting more than two lines of a poem, lineate the
poem as the poet has. If you have not indented and lineated the poem, indicate a line
break with a /.
When completed, set the paper aside for at least a day.
Go back, read it out loud, start to revise. Look for clear
thesis, good backing of thesis, clear organization, understandable sentences, clear
integration of quotes.
REVISE, REVISE, revise. Draw arrows, cross out lines, cross
out extra words, rearrange paragraphs, insert paragraphs, delete unnecessary paragraphs.
TWO OR THREE DAYS BEFORE
THE FINAL DRAFT IS DUE:
Read and consider the evaluations from your peer
group or another reader. Be
sure everything in your essay was comprehensible to the reader(s).
Set up your final draft. Use double spacing with one inch
margins on either side. Be sure to number the pages with your last name in the upper right
hand corner.
All citations in the text of your essay must match the
first word (usually the author's last name) in the citation in your Works Cited List. Be
sure all citations in your Works Cited List are cited in your essay. Be sure to cite your
primary source(s) as well.
The cover page should include: the title of your essay,
your name, the date due, the course number.
THE DAY BEFORE THE ESSAY
IS DUE:
Proofread it. Read it through once from beginning to end to
make sure everything makes sense -- do this reading aloud.
Read it through, sentence by sentence, from the end to the
beginning to check for spelling, punctuation, subject/verb agreement, noun/pronoun
agreement, etc. Correct any errors
Print out 2 copies of the final draft. If at the last
minute you find an error, CORRECT it -- I much prefer a crossed out misspelled word with a
correction than a neat misspelled word!
Staple your essay.
Put the second copy in a SAFE place.
Return your books to the library.
THE DAY THE ESSAY IS DUE:
Turn it in and heave a sigh of relief.
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