Helpful hints for Writing a Research Paper: See Topics See page discussing MLA Format (i.e. using proper header, etc. ) See page listing more general hints for a Critical Response
Paper
Again, remember that this is a critical response
paper, not a personal response paper.
It is also an argument paper, not a report paper.
Do not provide a history of the War of the Roses or a biography
of William Shakespeare . You may, however, analyze
specific works by Shakespeare and explain the
ways in which they demonstrate characteristics associated with
period.
Please!! Avoid making comparisons
to Present Day Society !!! Such comparisons almost never
have a basis in actual textual analysis !!
Avoid plot summary! Use quotes from only those
sections of the text immediately relevant to your discussion!
Use past tense to discuss historical or biographical
events, but present tense when discussing literature.
Be very careful when making references to the class
textbook. For example, Christopher Marlowe is the author
of Faustus. Stephen Greenblatt is the general
editor of the text in which Faustus appears.
Sample Entry:
Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragical History of
Doctor Faustus. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The
Major Authors, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, et
al., 10th ed., vol. 1, W.W. Norton, 2019, pp.
514-49.
(Note: Obviously, the various bullet points would not
be included in the Works Cited page.)
Do Not Number the Entries in a Works Cited.
When citing verse, use slashes to show line breaks and cite
by line (or act.scene.line for plays).
Avoid plagiarism !! See Policy
On a related note, please be very selective about the
sources you utilize from the internet. The ideal sources are
those found on jstor.org or the Literature Resource Center or
MLA Bibliography--essays that have been previously published
in journals or books and are now available online.
Avoid the Following Sites!! These are not
acceptable sources (and this is not a complete list,
but you should get the idea) !!!
www.wikipedia.org
www.bookrags.com
www.bookwolf.com
www.courseworkbank.co.uk
www.directessays.com
www.english-literature.org
www.enotes.com
www.exampleessays.com
www.free-cliffnotes.com
www.gradesaver.com
www.literatureclassics.com
www.needfreeessays.com
www.netessays.net
www.novelguide.com
www.pinkmonkey.com
www.planetpapers.com
www.sparknotes.com
Use Spell Check!
Other Mechanical Issues:
Do not use a cover page!
Use only one edition of your primary
source. If you wish to refer to an editor's introduction
to another edition, cite by the editor's name.
Be sure to use quotation marks for titles of shorter
works, such as poems and short stories, and italics for
titles of longer works, such as plays, epic poems and
novels.
Do not rely too heavily on secondary sources. The
number of citations to your primary source should be roughly
equivalent to the total number of references to all of
your secondary sources combined.
Do not use secondary source material to
summarize plot or quote from the primary source.
Make sure it is clear whose ideas you are
presenting. If Critic A is quoting Critic B, and you use the
quote, your citation should say (qtd. in Critic A #). The #,
of course, refers to the page number in Critic A's text.
Avoid unnecessary changes to quotes. Instead of
saying, "Wollstonecraft describes, '[She] felt hopeless'
(24)," say, "Wollstonecraft describes that she 'felt hopeless'
(24)."
Avoid using direct quotes in either your introduction or
conclusion. Discussion in these two paragraphs should be
more general.
Do not use quotes as the subjects of sentences: The
quote "---------" (29) shows that. . . or
"-----------" (87) means that . . .
Don't use "in which" when you mean "that."
Don't use "that" when you mean "who" (i.e. when referring
to people)
Use present tense to discuss literature!
Possible Research Paper
Topics:
Character Analyses of Main Characters in one of the works
Portrayal of the Heroic Code in Beowulf and/or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Allegory in The
Faerie Queene
Religion in The Faerie Queene
Dialogue between Marlowe and Ralegh
Knowledge
in Faustus
Temptation in Faustus
The Character of Satan in Paradise Lost
Conventions of Epic Poetry in
Paradise Lost
Portrayal of Godin Paradise
Lost
Satire in "Mac Flecknoe"
Satire in Gulliver's Travels
Race and Colonialism in Oroonoko
Gender in Oroonoko
Religion and Morality in Oroonoko
Portrayal of Women in The
Rape of the Lock
The Rape of the Lock
as Mock-Epic
Characteristics of the
Graveyard School in Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country
Churchyard" and "On the Death of a Favorite Cat"
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauduh Equiano
and the Slave Narrative Genre
Identity in The Interesting Narrative of the
Life of Olauduh Equiano
