This assignment is a blended paper. It is both a research paper and a position paper in one. A position paper is just like it sounds. You are to take a position regarding a particular piece of literature. The idea is that most art has something to say. Your job is to figure out what YOU think the piece is attempting to say. You are looking for themes/ideas, symbolism, stereotyping, social commentary, or something else that runs through the piece of your choosing. There should be something interesting, compelling, fascinating, or thematic about the piece you have chosen to discuss. The primary source (the thing you are reading/interpreting) can be just about anything. It can be music, a movie, and album, an artist (either musical or paint/sculpture/etc), a Ted Talk, a YouTube video or YouTuber, an article, a video game, a movementyou get the idea (I hope).
The next step after figuring out your thesis/topic/position is to find examples within your chosen piece that reinforce your thesisfind the threads that weave through your piece that ties your topic in. After that you will need to go online to EBSCOHost, JSTOR, or others to see what theorists and critics have said about your topic in conjunction with your piece (if they have at all). It may be easier to locate articles that support or reject your position/your thesis and then you can tie that reading/article to your particular primary source (the book, the movie, the tv show, the song(s), etc). These pieces of theory are to be used to SUPPORT your thesis. They are NOT to be used as the main argument nor are they to be the only critical voice in your paper. This is YOUR paper, not a regurgitation of what others have said. Therefore you should NOT have long quotes or summaries of the critics in the field. This is an opportunity to flex your new critical voices. The majority of your paper should be YOUR thoughts with proof from the primary source with critics added to help support your own thesis. This means that, just like if your previous assignment, you should be using the research you collected for your annotated bibliography to insert into your paper. The biggest difference in this paper is that you are using a primary from which to make your argument. The secondary sources that you gathered for this paper (which were presented in your annotated bib) are there to support your premise/argument/thesis.
Your paper should be well-organized with the most persuasive and important secondary sources included in your argument. Please remember that your argument should be well balanced as well as organized. This means that you should at least acknowledge that there is an opposing viewpoint to your argument, even if this opposing argument is only acknowledged for its flaws or lack.
Your main goal is to be able to persuade your audience (myself and your classmates) to recognize and understand the validity of your position while using a primary source as the main source of information to show/make your argument. Your argument should introduce and integrate your primary source throughout the paper. Remember to base your argument in your primary source. This source can be anything you chose that you believe best exemplifies the argument you attempt to make for this paper.
For your secondary sources, you should be able to not only quote your secondary sources but to also paraphrase and summarize where necessary. In other words, make sure that you do not spend the paper regurgitating or quoting at length what others have said with only a cursory paragraph or two inserted with your own opinion or argument.
Make sure that the others students and your instructor fully understand the complexity of your argument. This may mean that you will have to spend some time in your paper giving background information regarding the argument/conversation into which you are entering.
Remember to use the rubric provided on Canvas to further ensure a grade on the paper that you want to earn. Also, remember to refer back to the text They Say, I Say if you need to add specific nuance to your quoting and using of sources.
You are welcome and encouraged to run your topic by me and to also bring in a draft of your paper to me to ensure that you are doing the task correctly. If you get stuck and do not feel comfortable bringing your paper to me, may I suggest you utilize the Writing Center? Remember this service is part of your student fees, so there is no charge to visit them. Those there are always happy to help you at ANY and ALL stages of your writing process.
One final note: Remember proper MLA format is expected and required for all papers. This includes proper heading, spacing, internal citing and work cited pages. All of this paper should be double-spaced. This includes the works cited page (which should no longer be in bold print for this assignment).
Breakdown
*1700 words
*MLA format
*Primary source/analysis is crucial to passing the paper
*The primary source must be the center of the papers attention
*All secondary sources should support or in some cases refute the way you chose to read your primary source
