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RESEARCH PAPER CHECK LIST:

by Don L. F. Nilsen

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ENG 312 CARDS:Your name (first name first)ENG 312Current Semester and Year

Local address & zip

Permanent Address & zip

Non-ASU e-mails

Languages you’ve studied

1st Six Years of Life: State or Country

Tentative Title of Research paper (see next slide)

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Possible Research Paper Topics

African Humor

Asian Humor

Bilingual Humor

Caricature

Celtic Humor

Cultural Diversity

Double Entendre

Ethnic Humor

French Humor

Gender Issues

Humor & Anthropology

Humor & Computers

Humor & Education

Humor & Linguistics

Humor & Literature

Humor & Philosophy

Humor & Pop Culture

Humor & Psychology

Humor & Religion

Humor & Rhetoric

Humor & Sociology

Humor & Translation

Indian Humor

Irish Humor

Irony

Jokes

Language Play

Metaphor

Paradox

Parody

Practical Jokes

Puns & Ambiguity

Satire

Sarcasm

Jewish Humor

Polish Humor

Regional Dialects

Spanish Humor

Language Play

Intertextual Humor

Visual Humor

Wit or Humor of any Author or of any Piece of Literature

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DOCUMENTATION AND FORMAT:

BI: Basic Information on first page:

1). Your Name2). Instructor's Name 3). Course Identification 4). Semester and Year 5). Descriptive (not cutesy) Research-Paper Title

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Evaluation of Research Papers

1. Have you selected an appropriate topic (from the list of topics above)? Is your topic focused and unified?

2. Do you have at least three scholarly references in your Works Cited?

3. Did you read these references carefully and totally understand them?

4. Did you select significant and insightful parts of these references to quote and/or to paraphrase?

5. Did you cite the page numbers after all of your quotations and paraphrases?

6. Is your argument systematic and sustained?

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7. Is there good paragraph development and overall development of your argument?

8. Is your paper well organized, and are the transitions smooth? What would a three-level outline of your paper look like?

9. Do you make significant generalizations?

10. Do you support these generalizations with significant and insightful details?

11. Are your sources well integrated into the body of your paper?

NOTE: This is a research paper, so it should not be about what you think. It should be about what the experts think.

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Attribution and Documentation:

OPENING & CLOSING PARAGRAPHS: Your opening paragraph is for foreshadowing. Your closing paragraph is for concluding.

ALL OTHER PARAGRAPHS: All other paragraphs need to have attribution (names of authors from Works Cited) and documentation (specific page numbers)

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General requirements:

FONT: 12 point

MARGINS: one inch margins on top, bottom, left and right

PAGE NUMBERS: Each page should have a page number. In your Works Cited, each article in a journal, anthology, etc. should have inclusive page numbers.

QUOTATION MARKS: Everything quoted that’s not in block form must be surrounded by quotation marks. If not this is plagiarism and a grade of E will be awarded. Also put quotation marks around minor titles (like articles or poems)

UNDERLINING: Underline major titles (like books).

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MLA Documentation:

Your paper and Works cited should be in MLA Documentation: www.mlahandbook.org

In-text citation should be “…” (234).

Works Cited should be like the next slide.

The entries in Works Cited should be alphabetized by first authors last name, and should be in hanging indentation (Control T in Microsoft Word)

If a quotation is more than five lines in length, it should be indented ten spaces from the left. Do not use quotation marks with long quotes.

Make sure that every author mentioned in your text can be found alphabetically in your Works Cited.

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Works Cited:Boyle, Anthony T. “The Epistemological Evolution of Renaissance Utopian

Literature.” Diss. New York U, 1983.

Clark, Herbert H., and Thomas H. Carlson. “Etcetera.” Language 58.4 (1982): 332-373.

Clark, Kenneth. What is a Masterpiece? London, England: Thames, 1979.

Dostoevsky, Feodor. Crime and Punishment. Trans. Jessie Coulson. New York, NY: Norton, 1964.

Kakutani, Michiko. "`Now and Then': A Memoirist Who Disregards the Details." The New York Times On the Web. 22 February 1998. <http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/22/daily/keller-book-review.html> (24 February 1998).

O’Connor, Flannery. “The Life You Save May Be Your Own.” The Realm of Fiction. Ed. James B. Hall. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977, 479-488.

(Eschholz, Rosa & Clark [2009]: 617-622)

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Development:

If you’re writing about an author, write about the style, giving salient and insightful examples. Don’t give biographical information that doesn’t relate to the writing style.

Don’t be superficial. If you use good sources, then you can make insightful comments.

Don’t rely on your own personal experiences, and don’t ramble. Have good resources, read them carefully, and refer to them in your paper.

If your paper needs to be well organized, but it also needs to make significant generalizations supported by insightful details. There should also be smooth transitions.

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Sentence Grammar:

Check on the grammar of your sentences making sure that subjects agree with verbs and pronouns agree with specific (not vague) antecedents.

Get rid of long and awkward sentences.

Get rid of fragments and comma splices.

If you use a semicolon, make sure that there is a sentence on both sides of the semicolon.

Make sure that all of your sentences have a subject and a finite verb (not an infinitive, a gerund, a present participle, or a past participle)

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Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Modification

The relative clause in the following sentence is a restrictive modifier:John gave As to the students who took the test.(NOTE: Only the students who took the test got As. The others did not)

The relative clause in the following sentences is a non-restrictive modifier:

John gave As to the students, who took the test.John gave As to the students—who took the test. John gave As to the students (who took the test).NOTE: All of the students got As, and all of the students also took the

test. A non-restrictive modifier is the same as a parenthetical expression)

The material following a colon (like that following a dash) is parenthetical:We brought the following items: comb, mirror, toothbrush, and fingernail

clippers.

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Punctuation:

If the person you are quoting made a grammatical or logical error, you should quote the original and then write [sic] (Latin for “thus”).

If you want leave out some of the material being quoted use three deletion periods: …

If you want to put something of your own into a quote, surround your own words with square brackerts [like this].

Distinguish between a dash (--) and a hyphen (-)

There are two ways to punctuate a series (depending on the style manual): A, B, and CA, B and C

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Word Grammar:

Make sure that your pronouns have antecedants.

Check your spelling and grammar.

Make sure that your words go together. If they don’t, then this is a predication error.

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Proofreading and Tone:

USE VS. MENTION: Your tone should be academic and formal; however it is appropriate to quote material that is colloquial. This material should be surrounded by quotation marks, because you are not using these words, you are referring to them.

Avoid colloquialisms like “I,” “you,” and the generic “they.” Avoid rhetorical questions and imperatives. Don’t insert your own voice.

STET: This means that I made a comment, but then changed my mind after receiving more evidence from your paper.

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!The best papers will contain

A good opening paragraph with good foreshadowing and a good closing paragraph

Good argumentation

Good overall organization and transitions

Good paragraph development and good overall development

Good comparisons and contrasts

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!The best papers will also

Make significant generalizations and support them with appropriate details

Make insightful points

Have a good review of the literature

Develop interesting ironies and paradoxes

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!And most important of all, the best papers will

support significant generalizations with insightful and effective details.

Eschholz, Rosa & Clark [2009]: 607-617)

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Figs.

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!!REFERENCE AND PARODY REFERENCE

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!!!Some Important Web Links

MLA STYLE SHEET:

www.mlahandbook.org

The The Impotence of Proofreading (Taylor Mali):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OonDPGwAyfQ&feature=search

Victor Borge Phonetic Punctuationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF4qii8S3gw&feature=search

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References:

Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. Language Awareness. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2009.

Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Sixth Edition. New York, NY: The Modern Language Association of America, 2003. http://www.mla.org/store/CID24/PID159

Parody, A. Parody, A. Eats, Shites & Leaves: Crap English and How to Use ItEats, Shites & Leaves: Crap English and How to Use It. . New York, NY: Metro Books, 2004.New York, NY: Metro Books, 2004.

Truss, Lynne. Truss, Lynne. Easts, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Easts, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to PunctuationApproach to Punctuation. New York, NY: Gotham Books, 2003 . New York, NY: Gotham Books, 2003 (paperback 2006).(paperback 2006).