Overview: 1. Write a research paper about Fences. The focus is up to you. However, the last two slides of our Fences PPT lecture provide possible topics. 2. Use five secondary sources in your paper; at least three should be from our library (book, online video, or database article) 3. Be sure to include a Works Cited page that includes all resources used, including our textbook (Fences). 4. This paper should be at least FOUR pages without the Works Cited page. 5. After you have completed the paper, create an outline to ensure that your structure and organization are sound. Steps for this Assignment 1. Make sure that your focus is 1) to prove a point that reasonable people could disagree with or 2) to share an insight that other readers of Fences might not realize without reading your paper. There should be a payoff to the reader for investing time and attention in your paper. If you need help finding a topic, here are a few possibilities: a. Is Troy a true hero? b. What are the symbols in this play and how do they contribute to the theme? c. What does this play teach the reader about life in the 1950s in an urban setting in the northern United States? 2. Find five secondary sources that relate to your focus and support your argument; three must come from our library. Be sure you keep track of which quotations/paraphrases come from each source! 3. Write the body of your paper first. Do not write the multi-part thesis that serves as a table of contents for the body of a paper. 4. You may want to bring in your own experience or concepts from other disciplines, such as psychology, history, philosophy, sociology, or biology, which support your argument. Examining a work through one of these lenses can yield thoughtful insights. However, the main focus of the paper must be Fences. 5. If you find that you’ve actually written something you didn’t intend, but you like it, find new secondary resources to support your paper, and expand/alter your thesis. This is not uncommon; we think as we write, and writing is discovery, so having new ideas and finding new directions as you write is a good thing! You are still somewhat in the creative, generative stage of the writing process at this point. 6. Once the body is thorough and logically arranged, write your introduction, with a thesis, and conclusion. Do not use the three-part thesis structure! See #3 above. 7. Revise this paper. After you write it, set it aside for a day. Go back and read it again, thinking about • what else you could add to fortify your argument, • how a different organization might strengthen it, or • what unnecessary words you can cut out. • Rinse and repeat! 8. Create your Works Cited page. a. Note that when you cite a play, like Fences, in your text, you do NOT provide page numbers. Instead, you provide Act, Scene, and line numbers (if you have the line numbers—we do not). So a citation for Fences would be (Fences, ) for Act 1, Scene 3. Be sure to check the OWL site at orks_cited_page_basic_ for help with your Works Cited page. b. Papers without Works Cited pages or in-text documentation will not pas
