IAH$204$$Spring$2014$TA$Armstrong$$1$Literature Paper Number One Guidelines Due Date: February 20th, 2014 You will submit your papers to the TurnItIn Dropbox titled “Paper #1” on the Angel site for this course. Late submissions will have 50% automatically deducted from your grade (10 points), so be sure to turn your paper into the Dropbox before your section meeting time on Thursday. No exceptions without prior correspondence with me. Grading: Your paper is out of a total of 20 points and amounts to 20% of your final grade for this course. The rubric can be seen on the TurnItIn Dropbox on the Angel site. In sum, 3 points are for comprehension of the material, 5 points are for organization, 2 points are for grammar/mechanics and spelling, and the final 10 points are for your analysis and interpretation. Plagiarism Policy: ANY instances of plagiarism, intentional or otherwise, will result in automatic failure of the assignment or course and notification sent to the dean of your college. Plagiarism is defined as the direct or indirect incorporation of ideas other than your own into your work without proper academic citation. If you aren’t sure whether or not something is plagiarism, the best thing to do is to cite it anyway. If you are not sure about how to cite information properly, you need to come and talk to me, or professor Wang immediately in our office hours. Guidelines: • Do not put your name, PID, or any other identifying information on your paper. (Your paper will be identified on Angel) • Your paper needs to be argumentative, which means that it has to contain a strong, clear, and comprehensive thesis followed by an organized presentation of the evidence in favor of your argument from the text(s). In other words, the purpose of your paper is to prove your analytical argument. • Papers need to be between 4 and 5 pages, double-spaced, in size 12 Times New Roman font. The margins of your paper should all be 1”. Any deviation from these norms will result in a lower grade and will prevent you from developing your argument properly. • Make certain that your paper is written in a proper academic register. Phrases like “I think,” “I believe,” and “so-and-so resonates with me” need to be avoided. Be assertive and confident in your writing. Also, you must avoid the use of contractions and colloquialisms such as “isn’t” and “don’t” (contractions), and “just my two cents,” “dude,” “cool,” (colloquialisms) etc. • Be sure that you focus on addressing the issue in the topic you choose. Your goal is not simply to list the questions for consideration provided and answer them in order. Rather, you need to form a cohesive and organized argumentative paper using the questions as a guide. • You do not need to answer every question listed in the topic of your choice. The questions are only a guide to your thinking of how you might outline your paper. Asking questions is part of the writing process, especially when one writes about literature. This is why the questions are there, so do not ignore them either.IAH$204$$Spring$2014$TA$Armstrong$$2$• It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that your paper contain a thesis statement. I will briefly explain thesis statements in recitation, but if you are still unsure, then see me during my office hours. If you do not have a thesis statement, you cannot pass this assignment. • If you are choosing a compare/contrast paper topic, then do not simply list similarities and differences. You need to go beyond this superficial layer into the realm of analytical thought. Ask yourself: what do these similarities and difference signify and why are they important? • Your paper must be mostly analytical in nature. In other words, do not simply summarize the story of the text(s) that you are focusing on. You must go beyond simply retelling the story. You need to make an argument that goes beyond the text to deal with complicated issues and answer questions raised by the text(s). An “A” paper is one that deals with these difficult questions, probes deeply, maintains their complexity, and handles the issues well in an organized and sustained manner. A superficial interpretation of the text will not earn the highest points possible for the analysis. • Make sure that you define your terms. This should be done early on in your paper in your introduction or shortly thereafter. For instance, if you are throwing around words like “culture”, “society”, and “nature”, then you need to explain what it is that you mean when you use them. • If you are going to use sources outside of the course pack, then you must cite the ideas or information that you took from said sources in a bibliography at the end of your paper (the bibliography does not count towards the page requirements). If you are only going to cite the course pack, then you do not need a bibliography, but you should still use in text citations in the following format: (CP course pack page/original page). • Wikipedia is not a suitable source of information for your paper. • Make sure that you properly proofread your paper. Grammar and spelling are a part of your grade; do not ignore this facet of the rubric. Finally, make sure to see me or send me an e-mail if you are stuck, confused, lost, or have any questions about preparing for or completing this assignment. Having said that, DO NOT wait until the last minute to begin asking for help, or I may not have time because there are so many students. USE YOUR TIME WISELY.IAH$204$$Spring$2014$TA$Armstrong$$3$Topics for Paper # 1 (1)$Daoism$and$Confucianism$in$Writing$$$At$first$glance,$Daoism$and$Confucianism$appear$to$be$quite$different.$Despite$this,$are$there$any$ways$in$which$they$are$similar?$Develop$and$expand$on$these$ideas$by$analyzing$how$the$different$writing$styles$associated$with$Confucian$and$Daoist$texts$reflect $t