ENGL 5653: Emily Dickinson   RESEARCH PAPER       Student: ____________________________         

 

MANUSCRIPT FORM                                                                                                           S          T

1. Is the entire essay double-spaced, left-justified (NOT right-justified), and printed in

Times New Roman 12, with one-inch margins on all four sides?                                                 __            

2. Does the standard four-line heading (your name, instructor=s name, course number,

and date) appear in correct MLA form in the upper left of the first page of the paper?                __       

3. Does your last name followed by one space and the page number appear as a Aheader@

in the upper right of each page, beginning with page 1?                                                              __            

4. Is the title of your paper a fragment rather than a complete sentence, and is it correctly

capitalized, punctuated, and centered at the top of the first page of the essay, with no

extra spaces before or after it?                                                                                                  __

               

CONTENT                                                                

5. Does the content of the paper do one of the following for your chosen poem:

a.  explicate the poem, integrating your own ideas with those of the secondary sources? __        __

b.  give your evaluation of different critical interpretations of the poem?                          __        __

c.  argue for your position on a critical controversy relating to the poem?                                                __

d.  take some other approach approved in advance by the instructor?                            __        __

6. If the paper is an explication, does it

a. explain the meaning of each line of the poem?                                                                        __        __

b. use poetic terminology to identify and explain figures of speech and sound devices?    __        __           

7. If/when the paper identifies critical controversies, do you

a. fairly acknowledge opposing views?                                                                                     __            

b. make appropriate concessions to and find common ground with the opposition?                                

c. effectively refute opposing views?     

8. Does the paper make sense by itself, so the reader doesn’t have to refer to the poem?           __        __       

9.  Is the paper clear and understandable for its audience (classmates and instructor),

avoiding critical jargon and other unclear language?                                                                                __            

10. Is the paper logical and convincing for its audience?                                                             __            

11. Does the paper demonstrate your understanding of the poem you discuss?                           __   

12. Does the essay demonstrate your understanding of the secondary sources you cite?             __

               

ORGANIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT

13. Does the title of the paper clearly reveal the content of the paper by

a.  identifying the name of the poet and the first line or number of the poem?                   __        __

b.  using key words from the thesis?      (Do NOT use a vague, unclear title.)                                         __   

14. Does the introductory paragraph

a. catch the audience's interest in the paper?                                                                              __                        

b. briefly explain necessary background information about the poem or topic?                           __            

c. avoid beginning too far away from the specific topic and thesis?                                                         __   

d. smoothly lead into the thesis?                                                                                                            __            

e. avoid excessive length, not exceeding one page at the very most?                                           __                        

15. Does the thesis

a. appear at the end of the introductory paragraph?                                                                               __         

b. reveal your own interpretation of the poem and/or critical controversy?                                  __        __

c. clearly and concisely state what the body of the paper actually supports?                                __        __            

d. [optional; not applicable to explications:] concisely list (in parallel structure and in the

same order as in the body) the main points covered in the body?                                                            __            

16. Do the body paragraphs avoid illogical overlapping?                                                                        __           

17. Are the body paragraphs arranged in the most effective order?                                                                   

18. Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence that

a. appears at the beginning of the paragraph and/or is easily recognizable?                                              __             

b. clearly supports the thesis?                                                                                                                           

c. covers the content of the entire paragraph?                                                                                        __   

19. Does each body paragraph

a. provide sufficient development from the poem and from secondary sources to support

the topic sentence of the paragraph?                                                                                          __        __

b. rely on specific evidence rather than mere generalizations?                                                     __            

c. avoid excessive length, usually not exceeding one page?                                                                     __ 

d. make clear how its discussion directly relates to the thesis?                                                    __        ­­­­­­­             

20. Does the body as a whole contain sufficient evidence to support the thesis?                          __           


21. Do you effectively use transitions

a. at the beginning (rather than the end) of body paragraphs?                                                     __           

b. as needed within paragraphs?                                                                                                            __            

22. Does the concluding paragraph

a. restate the thesis (in different words)?                                                                                                __            

b. answer the question “So what?” or in some other way make the paper sound complete?        __        __                    23. Is the paper (excluding Works Cited) no shorter than six (6) full pages and no longer

than nine (9) pages?                                                                                                                  __        __             

 

RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION

24. Have you marked and integrated photocopies or printouts of five (5) pages of

secondary sources, at least two (2) of which you have quoted and two (2) of which you

have put in your own words?                                                                                                                             

25. Have you saved photocopies or printouts of all other secondary sources, in case there

is a question about them?                                                                                                                      __             

26. Have you avoided plagiarism by providing parenthetical documentation for

every quotation from the poem and every reference to a secondary source's words or

ideas (except for common knowledge)?                                                                                                __            

27. Are the parenthetical documentation and punctuation after it in correct MLA form?              __            

28. Are the parenthetical line numbers (for the poem) and page numbers (for secondary

sources)  

a. exactly accurate?                                                                                                                              __            

b. citable numbers rather than uncitable numbers from computer sources?                                              __             

29. Have you avoided plagiarism by placing in quotation marks all direct quotations

of phrases or sentences from the poem and from secondary sources? (Copying three [3]

or more words in order without using quotation marks may be considered plagiarism.)               __            

30. Have you put most ideas from secondary sources in your own words rather than

quoting excessively?                                                                                                                  __                       

31. Have you avoided plagiarism by putting paraphrases and summaries completely

a.  in your own words?                                                                                                             __

b.  in your own sentence structure?                                                                                            __        __

32. Have you understood and accurately represented the ideas of the poem and of

secondary sources?                                                                                                                  __        __   

33. When you quote two (2) or three (3) lines of poetry, do you correctly use a slash mark

with one space before and after it to show where one line ends and the next line begins? __        __            

34. Do you avoid long quotations—and use proper MLA form to indent poetic quotations

of four (4) or more lines and prose quotations of five (5) or more typed lines?                __        __                    35. Are all quotations exactly accurate, including capitalization and ellipsis marks?                                      

36. Do you correctly and smoothly introduce every quotation from the poem and from

secondary sources?                                                                                                                              __            

37. Do you make clear where your use of each summarized or paraphrased source

begins by introducing it if necessary?                                                                                                     __            

38. Do you avoid relying too much on one secondary source at a time, smoothly

integrating references to various sources?                                                                                  __                        

39. Does the Works Cited page

a. alphabetically list all sources documented in the body (and only those)?                                              __   

b. list at least eight (8) secondary sources and the primary source (from The Complete

Poems of Emily Dickinson)?                                                                                                                  __                

c. include a variety of different kinds of sources, including books and journal articles?                 __           

d. list reputable academic sources rather than sources of questionable credibility?                                   __           

e. use correct MLA form for each entry (including the library, location, access date,

and URL at the end of the entry for each source accessed by a library database)?                      __        __                   

STYLE

40. Have you read your entire essay aloud to edit it sentence by sentence?                                 __             

41. Have you edited the essay to achieve variety in sentence length and structure?                                  __           

42. Have you edited your essay to eliminate awkward, unclear sentences and to ensure

effective word choice?                                                                                                              __           

43. Have you edited your essay to eliminate wordiness?                                                                        __           

44. Have you edited your essay to substitute active-voice verbs for passive-voice verbs?                                  

GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS

45. Have you proofread to eliminate serious errors: sentence fragments, comma

splices, run-on sentences, agreement errors, and verb errors?                                                    __            

46. Have you proofread to correct details of spelling, grammar, and punctuation?                       __            

47. Have you used spell-check on the final document?                                                               __           

48. Do you consistently use verb tenses,

a. using present tense to refer to the poem, to the poet’s artistry in creating the poem,

and to secondary sources?                                                                                                        __        __

b. using past tense only for historical events?                                                                                          __           

49. Have you proofread the hard copy of the final document to eliminate all obvious

errors? (If you can’t reprint, make changes in black ink.)                                                                       __