BTAN10000BA ESSAY WRITING AND RESEARCH
Spring Semester, 2014/15
Seminar, 2hrs, graded, 2 credits
1st year BA, required-optional
Mon 8.00-9.40 Main Bldg 109
10.00-11.40 Main Bldg 55
Instructor: István Szabadi
Office hours: Mon 12.00-13.00
Main Bldg 105
E-mail:
Course Description
This seminar aims to introduce students into academic writing and research, especially in the field of literary studies. Students will get acquainted with the basics of research methodology (how to use the library, search engines and electronic databases effectively), and ideally will learn how to produce literary essays that will meet the requirements of the university (research papers with a clear thesis, a coherent, smoothly flowing argument that critically engages with scholarly secondary material). Students will also learn to quote and document their sources according to the MLA Style.
Requirements
1. In-class participation: Since most classes are planned to be interactive workshops, their success will largely depend on the students’ readiness to participate, to read the assigned material, to prepare the minor written works for the classes and to provide feedback on their peers’ work.
2. Minor written assignments: Most of the classes are planned to be based on the students’ preliminary written works, therefore it is absolutely essential that they should always be submitted to the instructor via e-mail by the indicated deadlinebefore the class, so that he could go to class having assessed the students’ work. Late submission will significantly lower the final grade (see below). Failure to complete more than two of these minor written works on time will result in failing the entire course.
3. Term essay: an essay of about 1800 words on Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), word processed (double-spaced) that meets the formal and academic requirements of a research paper. The use of secondary reading (at least two sources of academic standards – books, book chapters, and journal articles, either borrowed from the library or downloaded from online databases such as EBSCO, JSTOR and Project Muse) and scholarly documentation, conforming to the MLA Style is required. Quotes from sources not of academic standards, like Wikipedia, will not be accepted as secondary material. See below the list of suggested topics. Students are also welcome to devise their own topics, in which case the topic has to be approved by the instructor before the writing process begins. The final version of the essay is due by 8 a.m. 18 May. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty will be penalized as described in the Academic Handbook of the Institute.
The cover sheet of the essay must contain the title of the essay, the name of the student, the name and code of the course, the name of the instructor, the date of submission, and the following statement: “Hereby I certify that the essay conforms to the international copyright and plagiarism rules and regulations,” and also the signature of the student.
4. Class attendance: more than three absences will result in failing the entire course.
Plagiarism and its consequences
Students must be aware that plagiarism is a crime which has its due consequences.
The possible forms of plagiarism:
1. word by word quotes from a source used as if they were one’s own ideas, without quotation marks and without identifying the sources;
2. ideas taken from a source, paraphrased in the essay-writer’s own words and used as if they were his/her own ideas, without identifying and properly documenting the source.
Plagiarism, depending on its seriousness and frequency, will be penalised in the following ways:
1. The percentage of the submitted paper will be reduced.
2. The essay will have to be rewritten and resubmitted.
3. In a serious case, this kind of academic dishonesty will result in a failure.
4. In a recurring, and serious case, the student will be expelled from the English major programme.
Late Submission
1. Deadlines must be observed and taken seriously.
2. Minor written assignments submitted after the deadline will be penalised by a reduction in the percentage (1%/hour).
3. More than one week delay in submitting your term essay will result in a failure of that particular component of the grade. In exceptional and well-documented cases, the extension of deadlines can be negotiated with the course instructor well in advance (but not after, or on the day of the deadline).
Research paper evaluation
1. Statement of thesis 3
2. Quality of argument 8
3. Coherence of structure 8
4. Scholarly documentation 4
5. Level of language 7
Total: 30
Grading
The final grade will consist in the following:
1. In-class participation (including workshop activity) 20%
2. Minor written works (argumentative essay, comparative essay, summary, MLA test, etc.) 40%
3. Term essay 40%
SCHEDULE
1. / 16 Feb / OrientationAssignment for next class: read “About Essays in General” in Essay Writing and “Writing about Literature”
2. / 23 Feb /
The structure of the essay
(thesis statement, introductory paragraph, coherence, conclusion): practice on the basis of handouts
Assignment for next class: watch the film Coraline (2009, dir. Henry Selick) and write a page-long (ca 400 words) argumentative essay on some thematic aspect of the film (to be sent to the instructor via e-mail by 10 a.m, 27 Feb)3. / 2 Mar / The argumentative essay: evaluating and correcting the argumentative papers in class
Assignment for next class: read Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Anna Kérchy’s “Ambiguous Alice”
4. / 9 Mar / Library research: NB! for both groups: 10 a.m in the Institute Library (Rm 101) – getting introduced to the libraries of the university, learning how to use electronic databases (JSTOR, EBSCO, Project Muse)
Assignment for next class: write a page-long comparative paper on thematic aspects in Coraline and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (to be sent to the instructor by 10 a.m 13 Mar)
5. / 16 Mar / The Comparative essay + Making sense of literature: discussing Alice and evaluating the written assignment
Assignment for next class: read Jenny Karlsson's “Alice’s Vacillation between Childhood and Adolescence in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” + NB! Select one question from a list of questions (provided by the instructor) related to the article. Find the answer to the question in the article and paraphrase the author’s (Karlsson's) idea in your own words in class.
6. / 23 Mar / How to write a summary:
Discussing the article in class in the manner described above.
Assignment for next class: write a summary of the article (to be sent to the instructor by 10 a.m 7 April)
7. / 30 Mar / Discussing the summaries
Assignment for next class: read the selected parts of Colin Manlove’s From Alice to Harry Potter: Children's Fantasy in England
NB! Select one question from a list of questions (provided by the instructor) related to the text. Find the answer to the question in the article and paraphrase the author’s (Manlove’s) idea in your own words in class.
8. / 6 Apr / NO CLASS (EASTER MONDAY)
Assignment: write up to three paragraphs positioning yourself in relation to some critical observation by Kérchy, Karlsson or Manlove (to be sent to the instructor by 10 a.m 10 April)
9. / 13 Apr / NO CLASS (CONSULTATION WEEK)
Assignment: DECIDE ON THE TOPIC OF THE TERM ESSAY and SEND it to the instructor by 12 p.m 13 April. AFTER CONFIRMATION from the instructor, start working on the first draft of your research paper (to be sent to the instructor and a fellow student by 8 a.m 27 April)
10. / 20 Apr / Process Paper: How to incorporate others’ opinions into our own argument: discussing the assignment + practice and guidelines
11. / 27 Apr / Introduction to the MLA style (guidelines and practice on the basis of handouts)
12. / 4 May / MLA Test + Working on the first drafts of the research paper
Assignment for next class: prepare the second draft of your research paper (to be sent to the instructor and a fellow student by 10 a.m 8 May)
13. / 11 May / Working on the second drafts of the research paper
14. / 18 May / Final version of research essay deadline