Project description
Final Paper (and the Art of Constructing It): Towards the end of the course you will be required to choose a topic from a list of 3 or 4, and develop it into a 4-5

pages (no more or less) CRITICAL paper presenting an ORIGINAL argument / thesis. The topics will be posted approximately a week before the essay is due.

The structure of your paper should be entirely functional to the EXPLANATION AND DEMONSTRATION OF YOUR ARGUMENT, and must not rely on a simple description of personal

feelings or emotions. Choose a different argument from the one you used in your presentation. Your argument must be based on the materials you discuss, and must be

DEMONSTRABLE through examples from those same materials. The argument of a strong paper is usually an idea that can be expressed in one or two sentences. To help you

select and define your argument, it is required that you actually underline it in your paper. Failure to do so (or lack of an argument) will cause your grade for the

assignment to be lowered.

Avoid repeating arguments that were discussed during presentations or class activities, and try to identify an original argument for your paper. If this is not

possible, then reworking a previously debated argument is acceptable, as long as your new elaboration is clearly distinct from its source. Your argument SHOULD NOT BE

OBVIOUS (“Batman is the protagonist of this Batman story” is not a good argument!) but on the other hand you should NOT DISTORT your materials just to be innovative

(“Frodo Baggins is Batman’s regular sidekick” is a very original argument, and yet a terrible one).

BE FAIR to your materials in the selection and demonstration of your argument! This means that your discourse should take all relevant elements from your materials

into account. Do not just give things “a spin”, overemphasizing the elements that support your thesis and downplaying or ignoring the things that may go against it.

Such an intellectually honest approach may force you to tweak or change your initial thesis, but this is a small price to pay to ensure that your argument is sound,

convincing, and respectful of the materials you are discussing.

DO NOT GENERALIZE. Talk about the specific texts or movies you are covering, and offer abundant and detailed examples. Avoid discussing characters and authors in

general. Feel free to contrast and compare materials, but do not mix them together without distinguishing among them. To give you an example of what I mean here,

please read the following sentence: “Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States, and a fierce hunter of vampires and zombies”. If you don’t see a

problem with this sentence, we need to talk!

Make sure that everything you say in your paper can be CHECKED AGAINST A RELIABLE SOURCE. Do not trust Wikipedia, or at least not Wikipedia alone. If you choose to use

Wikipedia, do it only to look for reliable bibliography, and read the referenced source materials instead of the wiki summary written by people who may not be experts

in the field. Remember: you are responsible for the accuracy of every statement you make in your paper.

Remember that your reader (the teacher) knows the materials you are discussing, so please LIMIT YOUR SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS to what is strictly necessary to prove

your thesis.
Extra research is allowed but not required to complete the paper. I am interested in learning your perspective, not that of the Wikipedia community!!

Please feel free to contact the teacher and/or the Writing Tutorial Services to discuss your argument in advance.

Your essay must be written in Word using Times New Roman, font 12, double spaced, normal margins, including page numbers at the bottom and a one-line header with your

name. The paper is to be submitted by the due date BOTH in a stapled hardcopy at the end of class AND via http://turnitin.com (see below for more info on this web

tool). Late papers will not be accepted and will result in an F grade for the assignment.