TERM PAPER DUE DATE:  Discuss with Dr. Baldwin.  NO LATE PAPERS ACCEPTED

Students who HAVE FAILED THE FIRST TWO EXAMS BUT PASS THE THIRD EXAM, with Dr. Baldwin's permission, may substitute a term paper for a second low test grade (remember, the lowest test grade is automatically dropped).

Research for a term paper should begin with an examination of the topic in general works.  The textbook should not be used as a reference, nor should general dictionaries or encyclopedias; however, these may be useful as a guide for becoming familiar with the topic.  Examples of some excellent resources include works such as Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean, Dictionary of Concepts in History, Dictionary of the Middle Ages, and Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.

Contemporary essays and articles may be found in newspapers, journals, and magazines.  The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is an old standard resource.  The sources should include at least one book.  The Internet has also become an excellent source of material.  For an example of a paper done in Chicago style, Click here. [You don't have to have the NOTES page that this paper does.]

Each paper should be stapled in the upper left-hand corner (no folders or other forms of binding are acceptable) and contain the following:

I. TITLE PAGE: The title page should be centered and capitalized and include the title of the paper, the student's name, the course, the instructor and the date.

II. THESIS STATEMENT AND OUTLINE PAGE: The thesis statement should be built on a positive statement rooted in a well-chosen active verb. An additional sentence can be used to provide an explanation of how the student will approach the subject or to outline the contents of the paper. For example, "Parmenides had an enormous effect on Plato's epistemology," or,"The Battle of Actium is an event of enormous significance in the history of Western civilization." When writing the outline of your paper, be sure to be consistent in your choice of form. If you choose to do a sentence outline, be sure all parts of your outline are complete sentences. If you choose the topical outline form, be sure the phrases are parallel. Remember, too, when writing your formal outline, any subheading implies a division; therefore, an "A" must have a "B," a "1" a "2," etc. Refer to Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, 4th ed., 10-12 for proper form of your thesis/outline page.

III. BODY OF THE PAPER: The text of the paper must be at least five pages in length, typed and double-spaced in standard 10-12 point type, 25 lines per page, with the page number in the upper right-hand corner (begin pagination with the first page and end with the last page of the body of the paper). The student should identify the internal logic of the subject and use this logic to structure the paper. (Is the logical approach to the subject a chronological development? A comparison or contrast? A list of most to least important? A biographical portrait of life, thought, and significance?) Once the best structure is chosen, the student should proceed to arrange research materials in a clear and persuasive manner. The paper should move beyond simply relating a list of facts or retelling a story. A detailed analysis of the subject matter is required. Superficiality is a crime. So is plagiarism. To avoid getting an automatic F, be sure to document any direct quotation, paraphrase, statistical data, facts that are not common knowledge, or any derived idea. Documentation should follow the in-text citation method rather than footnotes or end notes. The in-text citation method simply includes the author's name and the page number. This information is placed in parentheses following a quote or at the end of a paragraph. If two or more works are cited by the same author, include the title of the work in the reference. An example of the in-text citation would be: "Religion is the study of beliefs and practices which regulate one's moral system" (Smith 5).

NOTE:  Do not triple space between paragraphs.  Avoid contractions.  Look carefully at the in-text citation example above and follow it explicitly.  Use spell-check AND have someone else proofread your paper for errors you may have missed. 

IV. WORKS CITED: Refer to Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, 4th ed., 331f., for proper form of the works cited page. The works cited page comes at the end of a research paper and should have the title, WORKS CITED, typed in capitals, centered and triple-spaced before the entries. All works used and/or cited in researching and writing the paper should be listed in alphabetical order in the bibliography according to the author's last name. Book entries (books, not Web sites should be the essential part of your research) should include author, last name first, title, series or volume (if any), edition, publisher's name, date of publication. Article entries should include author, title of article, name of periodical, volume number, date, pages. Examples:

NOTE: The exact kind of information for periodicals differs according to type, but all references provide the periodical title, the date of publication, and the page numbers on which the article appeared. Continuously underline (italicize) the periodical title, and capitalize all major words in the title. Note that no punctuation follows the periodical title and that a colon introduces the inclusive page numbers. If the periodical provides both a volume number and a year, put the year in parentheses. Volume numbers are unnecessary when specific dates are given (as in the example above).

For Sirs and News Bank:

NOTE: Download from the Internet and turn in with your paper any material from which you quote!

NOTE: Students should proofread the paper to insure that the paper is free of errors. Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, 4th ed., will be the standard for grading the format of the paper as well as the punctuation and grammar. The following symbols will be used in marking errors in the papers:

REVISION SYMBOLS

ap Apostrophe (P5)

appr jargon, archaic or invented words, slang, nonstandard English (W4)

case error in case (G3-c, G3-d)

cap Capitals (S3)

cs Comma Splice (G6)

dm Dangling Modifier (E3-e)

doc Documentation (M)

exact Inexact words (W5)

frag Fragment of a sentence (G5)

ital Italics (underlining) (S6)

awk Awkward

lc Lower Case Letter (S3)

log Logic

mm Misplaced Modifier (E3-b)

pn agr Agreement of pronoun (G3-a)

shifts Shifts in person, number, tense, mood, voice, indirect to direct discourse (E4)

sp Misspelled Word (S1)

t Error in Verb Tense (G2-f)

x Obvious Error

: Colon (P4)

, Comma (P1)

-- Dash

... Ellipsis Points

// Faulty Parallelism (E1)

. Period

; Semicolon (P3)

[Numbers in parentheses correspond to sections in Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference, Fourth Edition]

The grading standards for the papers will be:

Title, Thesis and Outline: 10 points

Analysis of Topic: 50 points

Punctuation & Grammar: 30 points