Senior Papaer Guidlines / Rubric
Senior Paper Due Date |
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Papers are due on or before Monday, January 30th. (That is the Monday of the 21st week of school). |
Clicke here to see late penalties. | ||
Minimum Requirements |
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| Note: Papers that do not meet these minimum requirements will be returned, ungraded, at the next class meeting. Papers that are returned because they do not meet the minimum requirements are considered "unreceived." | |||
| 1 | Your paper should be at least 1500 words. | Word Count | |
| 2 | Your paper should include at least two statistics, properly formatted in MLA style. | Citing Statistics | |
| 3 | Your paper should include at least two in-line quotes, properly formatted in MLA style. | In-line Quotes | |
| 4 | Your paper should include at least two block quotes, properly formatted in MLA style. | Block Quotes | |
| 5 | Your paper should include a Works Cited page with at least 5 different sources, properly formatted in MLA style. | Works Cited Page | |
| Remove all hyperlinks from your Works Cited page. | |||
Topic |
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| Your paper must be on an international issue. | |||
Thesis |
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| By the time I finish reading your introduction, I should easily be able to complete the following sentence: This writer is trying to convince me that __________. (In other words, I should easily be able to identify your thesis). | Thesis | ||
| Your thesis should be debatable. | Thesis | ||
Cover Page |
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| Your paper should have a cover page. Your cover page should be formatted according to MLA guidelines. | Cover Page | ||
| Your title should identify your topic and give some hint about your thesis. | Titles | ||
Structure and Headings |
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| Your paper should be divided into sections. Use headings to introduce each section. | Headings | ||
| Your introduction should start with a hook. | Hooks | ||
| Your background section should be a neutral explantion of things that your reader needs to know in order to properly understand the issue. | Background | ||
| At some point in the "arguments" section of your paper, you need to address an opposing argument, and rebut it. | Rebuttal | ||
| You should never appear to be arguing against your own thesis. | Rebuttal | ||
| At some point in your conclusion, you should restate your thesis and remind the reader of some of your main points. | |||
Writing |
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| Do not use the personal pronoun "I." | |||
| Do not use the phrase "I think . . . ." | |||
| I personally do not mind if you occasionaly use the pronouns "you" or "we," as long as you don't use them too often. But please be aware that many college professors frown on the use of these pronouns in an academic paper. | |||
| No paragraph should take up more than 6 lines of text. Paragraphs that are more than 6 lines will be counted as a mistake. Execptions will be tolerated only if expertly written. | |||
| Narratives should be in strict chronological order. Exceptions will be tolerated only if expertly written. | Paragraphs | ||
| When writing a topic sentence paragraph, each sentence in the paragraph should be very closely related to the topic sentence, or very closely related to the preceding sentence. Ideally, every sentence in a topic sentence paragraph provides evidence that the topic sentence is true. | Paragraphs | ||
| Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are all important. Mistakes are counted separately. | |||
Citations |
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| Names of articles should always be put in quotation marks. Names of websites and names of books should always be italicized. | |||
| All direct quotes must be introduced by a signal phrase. (Never drop your quotes). Exceptions to this rule will only be tolerated if done with exquisite skill. | |||
| Writing that is in narrative form must always be in strict chronological order. Exceptions to this rule will only be tolerated if done with exquisite skill. | |||
| People should always be introduced by their full name and an appositive. After you have introduced someone, refer to that person by their last name only. | |||
Your paper should be typed on standard, white 8.5 x 11-inch paper. |
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| Your entire paper should be double-spaced, except for block quotes. Block quotes should be single-spaced. | Headers | ||
Your entire paper, including the title and headings, should be typed in a 12 pt. font (either Times New Roman or Calibri). Your font should be consistent througout. |
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| Your margins should be set at one inch on all sides. | |||
Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. |
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| Do not insert an extra space between paragraphs (and don't let your word processor insert extra spacing automatically). Get rid of all extra spaces. | |||
| Don't leave a header alone at the bottom of a page. Force the header to stay with the next line of text. This is the only good excuse for having extra spaces in your document. | |||
| Every page except for your cover page should include a header with your last name and page number. Format the header properly (top-right corner, flush with the right margin, no comma between the name and page number). The first page of text should be page 1. | |||
Each distinct paranthetical citation should have a corresponding entry on your Works Cited page. |
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| If you haven't cited a particular source in the body of your paper, it doesn't belong on your Works Cited page. (A Works Cited Page is not the same thing as a bibliography). | |||
| Parenthetical citations come before the final period, except in the case of block quotes. For block quotes, the parenthetical citation comes after the final period. | |||
| Make sure you understand what goes inside a parenthetical citation. Only the author's last name goes inside a parenthetical citation (unless you are citing a book, in which case you will also include the page number). If the author is unknown, the title of the article goes inside the parenthetical citation. If following these rules results in ambiguity, you must include additional information. Add information in the same order as the information on your Works Cited page. Remember, titles of articles are always put in quotation marks; websites are always italicized. If you put the name of an article in a parenthetical citation, you are allowed to shorten it. Use enough words from the title to avoid ambiguity. | |||