You final research paper should consist of an accurate, thorough summary of either the Paul Theroux, "Being a Man" or the Nicholas Carr, "Is Google Making us Stupid," a well-reasoned, well-developed counter argument, and the scholarly support of at least one outside source. Summaries should include: 1. the author's name and the title of his/her essay 2. the author's thesis, in your own words 3. the reasoning and evidence supporting the author's thesis, in your own words 4. some textual evidence supporting your interpretation of the author's work Counter arguments should include: 1. a clearly stated thesis 2. several supporting claims 3. supporting evidence, including a direct quote from a peer-reviewed, scholarly article or book 4. a well-reasoned, carefully thought out response Papers should closely follow MLA formatting guidelines, particularly regarding in-text citations and your Works Cited page. Please consult the MLA Handbook, the Owl Purdue website, the writing center, or your research librarian for further assistance, as wrongly formatted papers will automatically be docked 10%. Just as a reminder, when directly quoting from the text, try following this sequence: Introduce the quote>>>comma>>>quotation mark>>>copy the text you're quoting verbatim>>>quotation mark>>>page number in parentheses>>>period. If you deviate from this sequence, you're probably not formatting the direct quote correctly. A properly formatted direct quote will look something like the following: According to Sartre, we are all "lawmakers (1104). Notice that the period follows the parentheses, not the quote itself. Also notice that the page number is not preceded by "p." or "pp." This would be used for APA, not MLA. Direct quotes following this format should not extend past three lines. I'm sure many of you are familiar with long-quote format, but I don't want you quoting more than three lines at a time, so be selective. Also notice that the parentheses do not contain the author's last name--this is only necessary if the author has not yet been mentioned. Finally, be careful where you place commas and periods. A number of you are still making the following mistakes: Incorrect: We are all "lawmakers, according to Sartre (1104). Correct: We are all "lawmakers, according to Sartre (1104). Incorrect: According to Sartre, we are all "lawmakers. (1104) Correct: According to Sartre, we are all "lawmakers (1104). Organization, grammar, and craft will also weigh heavily in your grade, so take the time to draft, revise, rework, and polish your papers. Make an appointment with the writing center, and spend time reading your papers aloud. It's your final essay, so I will be grading tougher than I have on your previous work. Finally, you must directly quote an outside source in support of your argument, so choose a topic that's easier to research. For example, finding relevant work about veganism, animal cruelty, adoption, sexism, or heteronormativity might be more manageable than finding relevant work about grade distribution, moral philosophy, or other topics that are either too narrow or too broad. Here are instructions to find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. I will not accept work from a random website (including .coms, .orgs, .govs, etc.), no matter how qualified the writer appears to be. Aside from this method, Google Scholar will usually direct you to scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.

3 Page Essay //INSTRUCTIONS// You final research paper should consist of an accurate, thorough summary of either the Paul Theroux, "Being a Man" or the Nicholas Carr, "Is Google Making us Stupid," a well-reasoned, well-developed counter argument, and the scholarly support of at least one outside source.




Summaries should include:

1. the author's name and the title of his/her essay

2. the author's thesis, in your own words

3. the reasoning and evidence supporting the author's thesis, in your own words

4. some textual evidence supporting your interpretation of the author's work


Counter arguments should include:

1. a clearly stated thesis

2. several supporting claims

3. supporting evidence, including a direct quote from a peer-reviewed, scholarly article or book

4. a well-reasoned, carefully thought out response

Papers should closely follow MLA formatting guidelines, particularly regarding in-text citations and your Works Cited page. Please consult the MLA Handbook, the Owl Purdue website, the writing center, or your research librarian for further assistance, as wrongly formatted papers will automatically be docked 10%.

Just as a reminder, when directly quoting from the text, try following this sequence: Introduce the quote>>>comma>>>quotation mark>>>copy the text you're quoting verbatim>>>quotation mark>>>page number in parentheses>>>period. If you deviate from this sequence, you're probably not formatting the direct quote correctly. A properly formatted direct quote will look something like the following:

According to Sartre, we are all "lawmakers (1104).

Notice that the period follows the parentheses, not the quote itself. Also notice that the page number is not preceded by "p." or "pp." This would be used for APA, not MLA. Direct quotes following this format should not extend past three lines. I'm sure many of you are familiar with long-quote format, but I don't want you quoting more than three lines at a time, so be selective. Also notice that the parentheses do not contain the author's last name--this is only necessary if the author has not yet been mentioned. Finally, be careful where you place commas and periods. A number of you are still making the following mistakes:


Incorrect: We are all "lawmakers, according to Sartre (1104).

Correct: We are all "lawmakers, according to Sartre (1104).


Incorrect: According to Sartre, we are all "lawmakers. (1104)

Correct: According to Sartre, we are all "lawmakers (1104).


Organization, grammar, and craft will also weigh heavily in your grade, so take the time to draft, revise, rework, and polish your papers. Make an appointment with the writing center, and spend time reading your papers aloud. It's your final essay, so I will be grading tougher than I have on your previous work.

Finally, you must directly quote an outside source in support of your argument, so choose a topic that's easier to research. For example, finding relevant work about veganism, animal cruelty, adoption, sexism, or heteronormativity might be more manageable than finding relevant work about grade distribution, moral philosophy, or other topics that are either too narrow or too broad.

Here are instructions to find scholarly, peer-reviewed articles. I will not accept work from a random website (including .coms, .orgs, .govs, etc.), no matter how qualified the writer appears to be. Aside from this method, Google Scholar will usually direct you to scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.