ENGL 631 American Postmodernism

Dr. Filas

Final Paper, due Monday, 12/8/08

Your final paper is a 15-page (3750-4500 word) research paper.

Please follow MLA format diligently for citations of sources within the paper, for format of paper and works cited page, and for any and all other conventions such as punctuation, margins, and page numbering.

Please also include with your first page information (your name, my name, course name, date) an additional line: “word count ####”

You are required to cite a minimum of four secondary sources and you are encouraged to work with the theory and criticism that you have been assigned in class.

A 10 minute oral presentation with PowerPoint slides is required and these will be delivered on Monday 12/1 and Monday 12/8, with order selected randomly, so the effective due date is 12/1. The PowerPoint must include one image and a minimum of 5 slides which outline your argument in high-level, topical headers, and otherwise feature key quotes to supplement your presentation.

DATES:

M 11/17 Thesis statement due

M 11/24 Individual conferences for final paper in Bates 07

M 12/1 10 minute oral presentation with PowerPoint slides due

M 12/8 Complete remaining oral presentations, final papers due

A successful paper will deploy the theory we have read onto a literary text and make an original and detailed argument as to how that text can be read as an example of postmodern literature. The theory and criticism we are reading this term is difficult material, and selecting effective citations from these readings, and then integrating them into a cohesive and focused examination of a literary text, is a challenging undertaking.

An above average paper will demonstrate initiative through deeper research. Deeper research, explicitly, requires one or two additional sources beyond what we have been required to read. Specifically, reading a critique on the literature you are writing about (not a review, but a scholarly examination of the book) will give you another source to draw upon. Also, reading an additional article or a section of a book by one of our critics, or something else by the literary writer you are critiquing, would fortify your authority on the topic.

One danger of expanding on the thus far wonderful generation of one and two page critiques and précis is that people will find that to get to 15 pages they tend to broaden their scope—and depending on the way this is done, it can be effective. However, more often it dilutes the authority and originality of the critique. Instead, try to go deeper into a text with your own unique argument and observation; get into the nuances and fixate on a singular dimension, as best you can, to sustain your original scope and unique perspective.

I will grade these papers based on a rubric that assesses the following five points: specificity, originality, impassioned engagement with the material, defense of your argument with evidence, and your execution of the paper (clear lively prose; perfect grammar, punctuation, and spelling; demonstrated mastery of MLA format).