Borough of Manhattan Community College City University of New York Department of English

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1 Professor Cunningham 1 Borough of Manhattan Community College City University of New York Department of English Doubt, a Parable By John Patrick Shanley Final Research Essay Assignment Introduction to English Literature, ENG 201 Directions: Select ONE THEME and write a 7-8 page research paper using MLA format on Doubt, a Parable. THEMES Skepticism versus faith Abuses of power Religious repression The importance of questioning reality and the real The consolations of certainty and the unsettling nature of doubt Thought hinders action Irish and Italian immigration in the middle of the twentieth century Integration in the school system Rebellion versus obedience ENG 201 RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES The research paper is due on the due date (the last day of class). Late papers will NOT be accepted. There is no revision on the research paper. If you want to submit a draft to me before the due date during writer s workshop, I will look at it and provide input. The research paper follows formatting guidelines for take-home essays. It must be typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins and Times New Roman font, size 11 or 12. The paper should be in MLA format with proper heading. You need an original title for your paper. You are required to write about John Patrick Shanley s play, Doubt (drama). One of the texts ( the play) must be from our class text: Compact Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing. 9th edition. Eds. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Cengage, 2016 You are required to have at least three outside reference sources.

2 Professor Cunningham 2 The first source comes from the course textbook which is the actual play. A reference source is an outside source of information, such as a book, journal article, magazine or newspaper article, or website. At least one of your reference sources cannot be a website; it has to be a source that exists in print form (online journals, books, newspapers, and magazines are acceptable as long as they also have a print equivalent). NO WIKIPEDIA!!!!! Your reference sources as well as the texts you are writing about need to be listed in a separate Works Cited page at the end of your paper. Your Works Cited page needs to be in MLA format with proper hanging indentation. Your texts and reference sources should be listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the author. Tips for determining your research paper topic: Part of the final paper assignment is for you to select one of the major themes listed above under the directions. Remember that in this class we have been talking about different methods of critique Various ways of looking at and talking about what we read. You should apply a method of literary critique to the play with one of the themes you choose. Some of the methods of literary critique we ve discussed include: Historicist Critique: discussing how works of literature relate to actual historical events. Gender/Feminist Critique: discussing how works of literature portray gender (male and female characters). Psychoanalytic Critique: discussing how works of literature portray human nature and psychology. Religious/Mythological Critique: discussing how works of literature relate to particular religious beliefs and/or mythological systems. Biographical Critique: discussing works of literature in terms of their author. Cultural Critique: discussing works of literature in terms of the culture they discuss. Racial Critique: discussing how works of literature portray race. Socio-economic Critique: discussing what works of literature have to say about social class. The draft is due on December 13, 2016 and the final research paper is due on the last day of class!!! No exceptions!!!!

3 Professor Cunningham 3 MLA CITATION FORMAT Whenever you write a research paper in MLA format (for English and humanities classes), you will need to include quotes (called parenthetical references) in the body of your paper, and a bibliography of research sources (called a Works Cited page). MLA format provides specific guidelines for each of these things. REFER TO THE LIBRARY FOR A FULL DESCRIPTION OF MLA FORMAT. THIS IS ONLY A BRIEF OVERVIEW. Parenthetical references include providing not only the exact words you wish to quote, but as much information about the source in the text of your research paper (as opposed to using footnotes). This information includes the book/story/article/poem/etc. from which you are quoting, the author, and the page number(s). You should try to work the name of the book and the author s name into the text before the quote. If you cannot, it should be included in parentheses after the quote. Page numbers always go in parentheses after the quote. Below are various examples of how you would use parenthetical references in your paper: - In her article The Vampire in Myth and Psychology, Julia McAfee writes, The vampire myth describes, above all, an aberrant transfer of energy, of vitality, of soul (140). - Julia McAfee writes, The vampire myth describes, above all, an aberrant transfer of energy, of vitality, of soul ( The Vampire in Myth and Psychology, 140). - One could say that The vampire myth describes, above all, an aberrant transfer of energy, of vitality, of soul (Julia McAfee, The Vampire in Myth and Psychology, 140). If possible, it is preferable to follow the first example, where the name of the text and the name of the author are given before the quote. Another example: - In The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman writes, This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had! (73). - Charlotte Perkins Gilman writes, This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had! ( The Yellow Wallpaper, 73). - The narrator says, This paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had! (Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper, 73). The Works Cited pages is a list of all the references you used to write your paper, listed in alphabetical order by the author s last name. This includes books, stories, poems, plays, articles, websites, etc. MLA format provides specific rules for how the information about these sources should be listed. A few examples follow below. Refer to your book for full details. A book: 2.) Title of the book (in italics and followed by a period) 3.) Name of the editor, translator, or compiler (followed by a period) 4.) Edition used (followed by a period) 5.) Number of the volume(s) used (followed by a period) 6.) Name of the series (followed by a period) 7.) Place of publication (followed by a semi-colon), name of publisher (followed by a comma), and date of publication (followed by a period) 8.) The word Print if it is a print book, followed by a period.

4 Professor Cunningham 4 9.) Any supplementary bibliographic information Alexovich, Aaron. Serenity Rose: Working Through the Negativity. San Jose: Slave Labor Graphics Publishing, Print. A short story or poem in an anthology (like our textbook): 2.) Title of the poem or story (in quotation marks and followed by a period) 3.) Title of the book in which the poem or story appears (in italics and followed by a period) 4.) Name of the editor, translator, or compiler (followed by a period) 5.) Edition used (followed by a period) 6.) Number of the volume(s) used (followed by a period) 7.) Name of the series (followed by a period) 8.) Place of publication (followed by a semi-colon), name of publisher (followed by a comma), and date of publication (followed by a period) 9.) Page numbers (followed by a period) 10.) The word Print if it is a print book, followed by a period. 11.) Any supplementary bibliographic information Perkins, Charlotte Gilman. The Yellow Wallpaper. Literature: A Portable Anthology. Ed. Janet E. Gardener et. al. 2 nd Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin s, Print. An article in a journal: 2.) Title of the article (in quotation marks and followed by a period) 3.) Title of the journal (in italics and followed by a period) 4.) Volume number 5.) Issue number (if given) 6.) Year of publication (in parentheses followed by a semi-colon) 7.) Page numbers (followed by a period) 8.) The word Print if it is a print journal, followed by a period. 9.) Any supplementary bibliographic information McAfee, Julia. The Vampire in Myth and Psychology. Spring: A Journal of Archetype and Culture. 53 (1992): Print. A website: 1.) Title of the webpage (in italics) 2.) Name of the editor or author of the webpage (followed by a period) 3.) Version number if relevant and if not part of the title (followed by a period) 4.) Date of publication or of the latest update (day, month, and year) 5.) Name of any sponsoring institution or organization (followed by a period) 6.) Date of access (day, month, and year) 7.) The word Web followed by a period. 8.) DO NOT EVER PUT WWW. OR ADDRESS CNN Interactive. Ed. Bob Smith. 19 June Cable News Network. 19 June Web. MINIMUM website entry: My Wacky Literature Page. n.p. n.d. 28 June Web. How to designate titles of stories, articles, poems, journals, books, websites, and plays 1.) Titles of short stories are always put in quotation marks ( The Yellow Wallpaper )

5 Professor Cunningham 5 2.) Titles of articles are always put in quotation marks ( The Vampire in Myth and Psychology ) 3.) Titles of poems are always put in quotation marks ( Death Be Not Proud ) 4.) Titles of journals/magazines/newspapers are always in italics. (Newsweek) 5.) Titles of books are always in italics (War and Peace) 6.) Names of websites are always in italics(cnn Interactive) 7.) Titles of plays are always in italics (Othello) Using authors names When mentioning the name of an author in your paper, the entire name or last name only should be used. Use ENTIRE NAME the first time you mention the author. Do not just use the author s first name. Correct: Langston Hughes wrote poems about the African-American identity. Correct: Hughes wrote poems about the African-American identity. Incorrect: Langston wrote poems about the African-American identity.