Essay Writing and Research BTAN10000BA Spring

Transcription

1 Essay Writing and Research BTAN10000BA Spring Seminar, 2hrs, graded Instructor: Hudácskó Brigitta 1st year BA Office hours: Wednesday, , Room 104 Friday, , Room BTAN10000BA-03 Friday, Studio 111 Course Description: Primarily the course aims at assisting students with research methodology and improving on writing skills with special focus on academic writing i. e. the production of essays and/or research papers. Students will get acquainted with the basic research skills such as the efficient utilisation of library facilities, search engines, electronic databases, error-free employment of the MLA style. The seminar also targets at getting students familiar and secure with the employment of the appropriate structure of an essay: how to formulate your thesis statement, the coherence of argumentation, the proper manner of citing your primary and secondary sources, how to integrate quotes into the body of your text, the essence of a good conclusion, and finally the common (thematic and stylistic) blunders one should avoid. Course Requirements COURSE MATERIALS: Class attendance: more than three absences will result in failing the entire seminar. Participation: Students are expected to prepare for each and every class with special attention to the written assignments and keeping deadlines. Since the course is structured in a consecutive manner i. e. one class is built upon the other, the success of the seminar and also one s potential sense of achievement highly depend on students work ethics. Minor written assignments: Closely related to the aforementioned duties. Each written assignment such as a reader s journal (app words), an introductory paragraph (including the thesis statement), a summary (app. 300 words), two short response papers on criticism, a short essay (app. 800 words), MLA test, plot test on the novel adds to the final grade. For detailed description of the grade components check Grading Policy. Naturally, late submission of the assignments will lower the final grade. Term essay: an essay of approximately 1800 words that meets the formal and academic standards of a research paper on Nick Hornby s High Fidelity. Secondary materials (the use of at least TWO academic sources proper, preferably printed or in case of a lack of the relevant printed secondary sources digital databases can also be used such as JSTOR, EBSCOHost, or ProQuest) and scholarly documentation, conforming to the requirements of the MLA Style Sheet, are required. Sources not meeting the academic standards (e. g. Wikipedia, Gradesaver, Sparknotes etc.) on no condition can be used in the essays. Detection in the library: this game is devised to test your knowledge on using the tools provided by the institute library. It does not constitute part of your grade but you can get extra points, depending on your performance in the game. As the detection game is part of the course, attendance is mandatory, and missing the game will count as one absence.

2 Please note that each and every course component above is obligatory: the failure to meet any of these requirements (class attendance, small tests, reader s journal, response papers, short essay, term essay, MLA test) will jeopardise the completion of the course. Out of three course components small tests, essay submission, MLA test only one re-sit or resubmission will be granted; failure to meet more than one requirement will automatically result in overall failure. Please also note that there is no make-up for insufficient class attendance or in case you fail to submit your research paper (term essay) by the defined deadline. Students need to reach at least 50 % in order to get a pass mark for the course. Plagiarism and academic dishonesty will be penalised as described in the Academic Handbook of the Institute (excerpts see below). The essay is to be submitted by the defined deadline (26 May, 2017), otherwise the grade will be lowered (see below). The essay will only be accepted in a word processed (typed) format. 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 tutor, the date of submission, and the following statement: Hereby I certify that the essay conforms to the international copyright and plagiarism rules and regulations. Students must also sign the statement. 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 Policy 1. Deadlines must be observed and taken seriously. 2. Essays and written assignments submitted after the deadline will be penalised by a reduction in the percentage (see reduction policy chart below). 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 tutor well in advance (but not after, or on the day of the deadline). Research paper evaluation Statement of 4 thesis/introductory paragraph Quality of argument 15

3 Course components Minor assignments 40% Short essay 15% Term essay 45% Total 100% Coherence of structure 13 Scholarly documentation 6 Level of language 7 Total 45 Late submission reduction for the introductory paragraph Delay (days) Reduction Minor assignments 40% Plot test 5 Reader s journal 5 Introduction paragraph 5 Response papers on criticism 5 Summary 15 MLA test 5

4 Week Date Assignment 1 24/02 Orientation Discussing course requirements specified in the syllabus and outlining the assignment for next week Tim Urban: Inside The Mind of A Master Procrastinator ocrastinator HW: Read About Essays in General and Writing about Literature. 2 03/03 The Structure of the Essay (thesis statement, introductory paragraph, coherence, conclusion) About Essays in General in Essay Writing pp Writing about Literature in Strategies for Successful Writing pp 271, (both texts are available on Google Drive) HW #1: Read Nick Hornby s High Fidelity. HW #2: Write a reader s journal (app words) about the novel. NB.! The journal is not to be a summary of the story but a collection of your own thoughts about what you have read. The purpose of the assignment is twofold: to help you find a hold on the reading experience, and also to facilitate classroom discussion. Therefore students are expected to bring their journals to the discussion class (10 March), refer to them and hand them in at the end of the class. As the journals are necessary for the discussion class, no late submission is accepted! 3 10/03 Reading Literature Critically Nick Hornby, High Fidelity Plot test on the novel! HW: Read Barry Faulk s article on High Fidelity and fill out the response paper regarding the text. (Both the article and the response sheet are available on Google Drive.) Students are expected to have both the article and the response paper at hand for the discussion class (31 March)! 4 17/03 Library research Visiting the departmental library in Room 101 (getting familiar with the utilization of the library catalogues, databases, and search engines e.g. JSTOR, EBSCOhost). 5 24/03 Detection in the Library. (Room 101) Academic treasure hunt for extra %. HW: Write an introductory paragraph with a proper thesis statement based on Hornby s High Fidelity. Students are expected to send their introductions to the instructor in by 26 March. 6 31/03 Reading Theory I

5 Faulk, Barry. Love, Lists and Class in Nick Hornby s High Fidelity. Cultural Critique 66 (Spring 2007): (Available on Google Drive.) HW: Write a short summary (app. 300 words) of Faulk s article based on your response paper and classroom discussion. Students are expected to send their summaries to the instructor in by 5 April. (No hard copy necessary.) 7 07/04 Discussing your summaries and introductions Brainstorming the short essays This week the class does not meet together; you will be meeting me individually. Signing up for individual sessions will be conducted online. HW: Write a short essay (app words) on Hornby s High Fidelity based on the topics previously discussed. Students are expected to send their short essays to the instructor in by 17 April. (No hard copy necessary.) 8 14/04 CONSULTATION WEEK. No class. 9 21/04 Discussing your short essays. This week the class does not meet together; you will be meeting me individually. Signing up for individual sessions will be conducted online. HW: Read Mikko Keskinen s article about High Fidelity. Fill out the response sheet about the article (both are to be uploaded to Google Drive) and bring it to class along with the article /04 Reading Theory II. Keskinen, Mikko. Single, Long-Playing, and Compilation: The Formats of Audio and Amorousness in Nick Hornby s High Fidelity. Critique (Fall 2005), 47.1, HW: Choose the ideas of the critical material that are most relevant to your thesis and try to incorporate them into your essay /05 Introducing MLA. Discussing the idea of plagiarism 12 12/05 MLA in Practice HW: Write the term essay (for details check the introductory part of the syllabus) and send it to the instructor in by 15 May. Consult the Essay Writing Checklist available on Google Drive.

6 13 19/05 Discussing your essays This week the class does not meet together; you will be meeting me individually. Signing up for individual sessions will be conducted online /05 HW: Revise your essays and re-write it if necessary MLA test! Essay deadline: 26 May. Evaluation: in any of my subsequent office hours.