This page provides details on the Final Term Paper, and the Paper Proposal and Annotated Bibliography. The AB and PP are scaffold assignments that aid you in the successful completion of your Term Paper. Effort at these stages will make it more likely that you write a strong essay.
Deadlines
Final Paper: 4/26 Due at 7:10pm in your Google Drive submission folder. Submit as Word or Google Doc. If you want written feedback from me, do not submit the essay as a PDF.
Annotated Bibliography & Abstract/Paper Proposal: Week Twelve. No later than Week Thirteen, the day of our class meeting. Due in your Google Drive Submission Folder. Once you upload it, send Dr. Konkol an email to let me know you’re ready for me to read and respond.
What is a Paper Proposal?
*Approximately 500 word overview of your topic, argument, and major texts you plan to examine. My feedback will offer recommendations for additional research material & framing strategies.
Paper Proposal for the final paper with preliminary bibliography 10% of grade
Karen Kelsey’s valuable blog “The Professor is In” describes the purpose and anatomy of a PP in the following way:
“Today we look at the paper/conference proposal abstract. This is a critical genre of writing for scholars in the humanities and social sciences. Usually between 200 and 500 words long, it is a short abstract that describes research/a talk/a journal article that you are GOING to write. This is in contrast to the abstract of the research/dissertation/article that you have already written.
Mastering the paper abstract is one of the most important skills you can acquire while still a graduate student. Learn the tricks of the paper abstract and you have the ticket in hand to a steady ride of conference and publishing opportunities. These are the conferences and publications that a few years down the line, set your c.v. apart from your peers, and land you that job.”
The paper abstract is highly formulaic. Let’s break it down. It needs to show the following:
1) big picture problem or topic widely debated in your field.
2) gap in the literature on this topic.
3) your project filling the gap.
4) the specific material that you examine in the paper.
5) your original argument.
6) a strong concluding sentence.
For elaboration see https://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/12/how-tosday-how-to-write-a-paper-abstract/
For this assignment, you should write a proposal and append to it an annotated bibliography. You are welcome to think of this AB as a “Works Consulted.” What I mean by this is that you might not end up directly quoting or referencing all the texts in your bibliography, but you want to keep a record of your reading in case, at a future time, you do decide to refer to something. Also, for this assignment I can better assist you with filling in gaps in your reading if I see what you are reading.
Works Consulted: This should be a list of books and articles you have read in full or partially and for which you can summarize its argument and purpose. The works consulted ought to include the 4 (MA students) or 8 (PhD students) peer-reviewed articles found on the MLA Bibliography and sourced from Jstor or Project Muse.
Examples of Abstracts and Paper proposals (See Google Drive/Materials for these examples. Please do not circulate these abstracts and proposals online or with anyone beyond this class.). Although a paper proposal describes an intended project and an abstract describes a fully-formed concept, both, in actuality, represent projected arguments. Notice that both speak in a formal tone. They do not say “I am interested in or I will look at X.” They both get to the point, more or less and inhabit a thesis.
*****
What is a Critical Annotated Bibliography?
Your annotated bibliography is the beginning point of your research paper. You will collect relevant sources, create citations for them, and comment on them through annotations. Remember that this assignment counts for 10% of your Research Paper grade, so it can be considered a project within itself. However, you will also find that writing your “Analysis of text x” is much easier after your A.B. is complete.
Begin with a broad search, then refine your results, then select and read your essays. Cite the sources in MLA format.
Write a Précis aka annotation (Entries should be of paragraph length, a minimum of four sentences each. Here’s what an annotation should tell the reader: summarize the main point(s) of the source, significant terms or points that connect with or contradict other sources, i.e. indicate the strengths and weaknesses you find in the source. Finally, discuss how this source can be used in your paper.
Example:
Garcia, Alma., ed. Chicana Feminist Thought. New York: Routledge, 1997.
This anthology tracks basic Chicana feminist writing from its beginnings in the late 1960s to the more recent thought of the 1990s. It includes manifestoes, journal articles, and conference speeches, some polished but many short, informal, and revolutionary. Significant ideas presented by these articles include the fact that while Chicana women wanted independent rights, they sought these in the context of the Chicano movement, “la familia,” instead of through the individuality and autonomy that white branches of the women’s liberation movement favored. Also, practical concerns like healthcare and welfare reform show a utilitarian sensibility; Chicana feminists were more concerned with basic rights that with “equality.” Overall, this book provides several ways to the split between white feminism and the sort of “freedom” that made more sense to Chicana feminists.
Helpful Resources:
Creating an Annotated Bibliography
How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography
What is a Final Term Paper?
This term paper is a draft journal article for submission (no more than 4000 words for MA students and 7000 words for PhD students) to a journal you’ve identified as appropriate (and for which I’ve okay[d). I am happy to set up with you an individual paper conference to talk about ways of crafting your essay.
Citation Style
Use Chicago: Notes & Bibliography style: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html
Evaluation Criteria
A suitable essays upon which to model your own essay: any article we have read for this class. Through consultation with Dr. Konkol, you may be permitted to shape your essay toward a different journal. Consider your audience the professional field. Your term paper aka draft journal article will be evaluated on its ability to advance an original, compelling, and plausible argument that is supported by reasons and evidence. Excellent essays will identify a gap in the criticism and advance an original argument.
| THESIS | Original. Logical interpretation and criticism to establish compelling perspective. Analytically superior to other interpretations. | Clearly stated. Establishes a perspective which accounts for its selection. Clear analysis. | Clearly organized and presented. Perfunctory. Some weaknesses. |
| RESEARCH | Works with key/canonical sources as well as current critical paradigms/lines of inquiry. Grasps complexity of debates. Critically synthesizes relevant materials and perspectives. | Contains appropriate & accurate evidence. Attempts to work with establishing and periphery of critical paradigms. Includes a range of sources but treated somewhat unevenly or problematically. | Appropriate texts. Limited range of research. Requires more contextualization. Some omissions or oversights. |
| ARGUMENT | Sufficient analysis and effective close-reading of evidence. Uses detailed sources, examples. Juxtaposes philosophies/theories. | Evidence used to reinforce points. Some nuance. Some attempt at close-reading and analysis. Uses some philosophy/theory. | Evidence used sparingly. Misunderstands or ignores techniques of close reading and analysis. Little nuance. Opinion replaces theory. |