The Things They Carried By Tim Obrien
General Guidelines
For the research paper assignment, you will choose a piece of literature from our reading list as the focus
of your writing. By the conclusion of Module 4, you should email your instructor with the title of your
chosen piece and a statement of what particularly interests you about the piece. You may look ahead to
Modules 5 and 6 to determine if any assigned readings from those modules interest you as a paper topic.
You should begin your initial research about your chosen literature with some biographical information
about the author then begin to read as much analysis of your particular selection as possible. When you
are ready to begin writing your research paper, the biographical information should be very brief as an
introduction to your literature.
Keep in mind that the purpose of your paper is to critically analyze your chosen work, focusing on some
aspect of the overall work that helps to define and unify a central argument. Possible research questions
might include:
• What is unique about the work that makes it worthwhile?
• What technique(s) does the author use?
• What argument(s) are central to this piece?
• How effective are these argument(s)?
• What is unique about the way the writer presents these argument(s)?
• How do the writer’s techniques help define this piece as literature of importance?
These questions are not all inclusive but should serve as a guide as you are researching and reading.
Requirements
Your finished paper should adhere to the following requirements:
2000-word scope
One primary source (chosen piece of literature)
No less than three credible, academic secondary sources (research)
Correct use of in-text documentation and Works Cited page (MLA format)
Wikipedia and other WWW sources are not always reliable. You should be able to find biographical
information and some critical sources from the online library databases. Critical sources that you find
online should be from previously published articles in a reputable magazine, journal, or newspaper, and
can be found in an academic database.
The importance of a careful, methodical writing process should not be underestimated here. If your
research paper is not solidly grounded in each of these steps, your final product will be inadequate. Be
sure to use your instructor as a resource; contact him or her as needed during the formative stages of this
paper to insure that your work, albeit “rough,” is also efficient and substantial.
Submission
A first draft of the research is due by the conclusion of Module 7. You will submit the paper to the
Dropbox and Turnitin.com, and post it as an attachment to the Module 8 Discussion board.
In Module 8, each student will read another’s paper and complete a peer review by Thursday. Based on
this review, you should make revisions to your paper and submit the final draft to the Dropbox and
Turnitin.com by the conclusion of the module. More information about the peer review process is included
in Module 8.
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