Description
5 scholarly sources mandatory
Length: Your essay must be 2000-2500 words, double-spaced, and in Times New Roman 12point font. If you wish to write a longer essay, you will not be penalized. However, I strongly discourage submissions that exceed eight pages. Please note that the word and page count does not include the reference list (Works Cited) or any appendices that may be attached.
Style: Your format and references must follow either MLA or APA style.
EVALUATION CRITERIA Your grade will be based on a combination of the following factors:
• Comprehension of the assignment instructions and question
• Comprehension of key concepts, texts, and theorists
• Scope and originality of research and/or creative work
• Integration of secondary research – at least five scholarly sources (n.b., there is no maximum number of secondary sources; incorporate relevant and credible secondary sources as required; use your judgment). In addition to sources you discover through your own research, your paper should incorporate AT LEAST ONE of the essays studied in class this term: Noreen Nasir’s “Images of Violence Against Black People Spur Racial Trauma,” John Allemang’s “Can the Liberal Arts Cure Jihadists”, Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”, or John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid’s “The Social Life of Documents.”
• Analysis (e.g., avoidance of fallacies, such as hasty generalizations)
• Presentation and structure of argument, including:
Does the introduction move from a general topic, to a controversy, to the research question, to the thesis?
Does the thesis contain an interpretive claim?
Does the thesis contain a statement of significance?
Do the body paragraphs contain strong topic sentences that offer a claim?
Do the body paragraphs contain clear transitions that show their relationship to previous statements or anticipate future claims?
Do the body paragraphs provide textual support (evidence) for the interpretive claim?
Does the author explain the quotations, telling the reader not only what is said in the quotes, but also showing how the quotation works to support the claim of the paragraph?
Does the author provide interesting, engaging readings of the text?
Does the conclusion do more than summarize what the paper has already done?
Does the conclusion return to the controversy defined in the introduction in order to develop the implications of the essay?
Quality of writing (spelling, grammar, diction, style, etc.)
Referencing (consistent and proper use of parenthetical citations and reference notes in either APA or MLA style)
Formatting (page numbering, spacing, use of italics, etc.)