I’m Not Racist/ Research Essay/ Pop Culture

Instructions:

Your research essay will be 6 – 8 pages not including the works cited page. You will need six reliable sources for your essay, which you MUST use somewhere in the body of your essay, and which must be properly cited using in-text citations. All of these citations must appear in your Works Cited page. Remember, research essays that do NOT include a Works Cited page, or do not make use of ALL of the sources in the Works Cited page somewhere in the essay, as indicated by in text citations WILL receive a zero. Additionally, failure to use quotation marks or to indicate sources for claims, facts, or ideas will also result in an automatic zero. NO EXCUSES!

Be sure to check that you have done the following BEFORE you submit your essay:

1) Created an interesting title that captures the interest of your reader and indicates the focus of your essay.

2) Included appropriate information in the top left-hand corner of your paper. It should look like this:

Hermione Granger

Professor Snape

ENG 112

31 October 1996

3) Inserted page numbers with your last name in front of them in the top right-hand corner of your paper, like this:

Granger 1

4) Written a strong, creative introduction that sustains the interest of your reader and clearly articulates what you hope to accomplish in your essay. Your introduction needs to introduce the pop culture text or artifact you are writing about, as well as the theoretical lens / lenses you are employing.

5) Produced a strong thesis statement that is making a clear argument. As Simon Lewsen explains, “A good thesis is a statement of roughly one to three sentences that says something intelligent about a literary work. It is not sufficient simply to identify a theme in your thesis. For instance, saying that a text deals with the theme of love or death or betrayal is not enough. (Instead, though, you might consider the ways in which love or death or betrayal come to be understood within the text.) A thesis must be complex enough that it would not be immediately obvious to a casual reader, but it must be simple enough that it can be stated in a relatively short amount of space.”

6) Developed interconnected paragraphs using sign-post sentences, with each paragraph dealing with one major idea.

7) Identified and used sources that meet academic standards for accuracy, integrity, reliability, and objectivity.

8) Appropriately quoted supporting material. Quoted material is in quotation marks and is cited using in text citations.

9) Written a strong conclusion that satisfies the reader and sums up what the reader should take away from the essay.

10) Created a writer’s voice that is both uniquely yours and also that is appropriate for academic writing.

11) Proofread and revised the essay for spelling, grammar and syntax mistakes.

12) Written a minimum of six pages of text NOT including the Works Cited page.

13) Created a Works Cited page that is formatted according to MLA Standards. All citations in the Works Cited page appear in the essay in the form of in-text citations.