For your final research paper (worth 20 percent of your grade in the course), you will complete a 2300-2800 word (not including the Works Cited) comparison essay discussing cultural aspects or issues of your chosen novel in relation to the real culture portrayed. You may choose to highlight particular aspects of culture that are important to the novel’s themes, or you may choose to explain how the novel accurately depicts (or fails to accurately depict) its cultural setting. You can’t discuss all aspects of a culture within the given essay length, so choose three or four aspects of the culture to research. Some points that you should remember:Keep the essay focused on your novel.
Do not compare the culture portrayed in the novel to American culture!
Write for an intended audience who is about to read the novel you are analyzing and who would better understand the novel after reading your cultural analysis.
Use scholarly sources (obtained through the library databases) to support your cultural claims about the novel.
Use attribution tags to introduce academic secondary sources the first time you cite them in the essay.
In addition to the novel you are analyzing, your research may include biographical sources about the author, critical analyses of the novel and its cultural setting, and sources about the city and country during the specific time period in which the novel takes place These must be peer-reviewed secondary sources found in TCTC’s library books or databases. Do NOT use websites! All sources quoted and cited within the essay (including the novel itself) must be listed on the Works Cited page, and all sources listed on the Works Cited must be quoted and cited within the essay.
When discussing the novel, use literary present tense. This tense might prove difficult because when you discuss historical aspects these points will be made in past tense.Literary = Present tense
Historical = Past tense
Write in third person point of view.
Proofread carefully. This is the final major assignment, worth 20 percent of your grade, so MLA documentation errors and major grammar errors must be avoided at all costs. In accordance with the syllabus, formatting errors which result in confusing about your sources (such as missing or incorrect citations, in-text citations that cannot be matched to the Works Cited page, or sources that are never referenced in-text) will automatically result in a grade no higher than a D. Please review the materials in the “MLA Style Instructions” folder on the “Getting Started” page as needed, and don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Follow the essay formatting guidelines given in the course to avoid losing unnecessary points for document formatting errors.
You may NOT re-use an essay you have written for any previous class. Recycled essays will not be considered and will receive grades of zero.
Do not plagiarize.
A rough draft of this paper with Works Cited will need to be submitted next week (Week 10) in order for you to participate in the peer review.