Modern Literature Research Project
When Huxley wrote the novel Brave New World in 1931, he made predictions about how the world would be in the future. While his novel is set hundreds of years in the future, some of the predictions he made were true, some are partly true, some are completely untrue, and some are on their way to being true in our world. Below are some features of Huxley’s society. This is only a partial list; there are many more.
Your assignment: Choose a feature of Huxley’s society that exists in our world today. You will do research on that feature in our world today, and write an essay (using quotes and paraphrases from your research) in which you will compare our society and the world state. I’ll give you an outline to follow at a later date, but essentially, you’ll write about the different aspects of your topic in our world and the World State, including how and why it’s so prominent, examples of its prominence, and what its prominence says about our society.
You will have time in both the library and the computer lab to do research, but any research you do not complete in that time will be your responsibility to complete on your own time. Remember, you’re not doing research on the book—at all. You will do research on the feature you chose, and how it exists in our world.
Features
in-vitro fertilization / religion / promiscuity / sciencematerialism / consumerism / entertainment / social classes
drug use / mass production / the family / propaganda
over-population / Infantalization / obsession with youth / prejudice
economic stability / synthetics (fabric, food, music, film) / processed food
**This is only a partial list (what I could think of as I was typing this). There are many more options in the book. If you have an idea, come talk to me and we’ll see if it will work. If you choose to do a topic not on this list, you must get it approved by me.
**Some of these categories are really broad, and can be broken down into a more specific focus, which is fine.
On a specified date (below) you will sign up for your topic. There will be a limit to how many people may sign up for a given topic, so have a backup idea in case the topic you want gets chosen by someone before you. The choosing process will be random—something along the lines of drawing numbers out of a hat…
You will write a 5 – 6 page paper. You will locate at least 7 sources on the characteristic you chose, take at least five notes per source, and quote at least four of those sources in your final paper using the MLA format of documentation. The paper must be your original work, have a works cited page, and correctly document quotes within the paper from the novel and your research. You will be expected to complete prewriting, a detailed outline, a rough draft, a peer edit, and a final draft of your research paper. You must submit your paper to turnitin.com as well as provide a paper copy to me.
Important dates:
Step of the Process / Due DateComputer Lab / March 1 and 2
Library Research (20)
Research Notes due (40) / 3/10
Works Cited Due (40) / 3/15
Outline of paper due (30) / 3/18
Rough draft due (50) / 3/23
Final draft due (250) by 2:00 pm
***Not eligible for NQA / 3/26
***points (in parentheses) are assigned for each step of the process
Guidelines on Sources:
Of your seven sources (four of which you will quote in your paper) you must have at least four sources from the library online databases. The library website has several really good databases to which the school subscribes you may use for this project. The worst thing you can do is go to Google or Yahoo or Ask.com and type in your topic, then use the first seven sources you find. Why? First, you’ll lose major points for not having the right sources. Second, anybody and their crazy Uncle Ed can publish anything they want on the internet. Some of it is valid, but a lot of it isn’t. If you’re going to use internet resources, make sure they’re trustworthy—we’ll talk about that later.
Other stuff you should know:
1. Final copies are due on the date I give you, no excuses, no exceptions. This also means that NQA cards are not valid on the final draft portion. I will only accept projects that are turned in to me AND submitted to turnitin.com before 2:00 pm on the date due. I will not accept copies emailed to me. Since you would certainly never leave this for the last minute, you should have plenty of time to fix any problems that arise with your computer/printer/paper/car/etc.
2. Failure to complete this project will negatively affect your semester grade, and possibly your ability to graduate.
3. Class time will be provided to do research, but any research you do not get during that time must be completed during your personal study time.
4. Any paper with more than 10% originality report (excluding quoted material) on turnitin.com will receive an automatic zero ON THE ENTIRE PROJECT.
5. The 5 – 6 pages does not include your works cited page. The works cited page is kind of like a bonus!
6. Do not include a title page—type your name, class period and the date in the upper left hand corner of your paper. This must be typed or your paper will not be accepted.
7. Your paper must have 1-inch margins and be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font. NO OTHER TYPES OF PAPERS WILL BE ACCPTED. I’ll just hand it back and give you a zero in the gradebook.
8. Your paper must be at least 5 pages long. Anything shorter than 5 pages will not get graded.
9. Wikipedia, Sparknotes, Cliffsnotes, Pink Monkey Notes, etc are not acceptable sources, and will not be allowed in your works cited. If you decide to use them anyway and do not cite them, they will come up in turnitin.com as plagiarism.
A word about plagiarism:
Plagiarism can be defined as the reproduction in one’s own words of another person’s thoughts, words, concepts, research, conclusions, ideas, phrases, creations, or other efforts without clear and appropriate attribution.
Q: Is it plagiarism if I go to the source (like a website), read what they have to say, then put their ideas into my own words on my paper?
A: Yes. It is plagiarism if you did not directly state (in a works cited list, internal citation, footnote, or other) that you got your ideas from somewhere else.
Q: Is it plagiarism if I just use the same words as my friend did in her paper? What if I use the same ideas but not the same words?
A: Yes. It doesn’t matter whether you copy from your friend or from a website. Whether you copy ideas or words, its plagiarism.
Q: What if I’m not sure whether or not I should cite something?
A: When it doubt, cite. Or just ask me. I’ll know.
Q: What if I forget to provide internal citation and/or a works cited list?
A: Don’t forget. It could cost you your grade and your diploma.