its a research paper for a acting class
Each student will write a research paper to explore a theatre topic in depth to further learning beyond what we can cover in class.
Topic ideas include but are not limited to:
Analyzing/comparing/contrasting 2 great works from different eras that have similar themes (for example Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors and any of the “mistaken identity†farce comedies of the 20th century)
Studying individuals who have had a major impact on theatre over history and how their work also impacted society in general and vice versa (see attached list for ideas of names to choose from)
Studying the intersection of faith and values in light of significant theatrical works.
A subset of this could be examining how people of faith are portrayed in dramatic writing – would need to be narrowed down to a particular time period or genre
Studying other uses for theatre such as
Drama in education
Drama in therapy
Theatre for social change
STEP 1: (5 points)
Choose your topic and narrow it sufficiently for this paper. SUBMIT your topic choice via blackboard by the due date posted on the syllabus. You may be asked to further narrow/refine your topic. It is rare but in some cases topic choices are not approved and the student is asked to come up with another topic. Also, if too many people choose the exact same topic, it will be a first-come, first-served basis. Those who submit later will be asked to revise or find a new topic. No more than 2 people on a topic.
As you do research, you will come up with a thesis statement that you will demonstrate/show/prove in your paper.
STEP 2: (15 points)
Create a Works Cited page and Outline for the paper. The outline should include ideas for intro, main points and conclusion. This may evolve as you write the paper, but the outline gives you a road map to follow when writing. SUBMIT both of these items together via blackboard by the due date posted on the syllabus.
Paper will have a minimum of 4 sources
Wikipedia may be used as a source but does NOT count as one of the 4
The course textbook may be used as a source but also does not count as one of the 4 required sources.
STEP 3: (30 points)
Write a rough draft of the paper using MLA format and SUBMIT it via blackboard by the due date posted on the syllabus.
Try to make the rough draft as complete as possible, so that I can give you meaningful feedback on it
The rough draft of the paper MUST include in-text citations and also include the Works Cited page as part of the paper.
Rough Drafts will NOT be accepted – that is zero points will be awarded – if turned in without in-text citations and/or Works Cited page
- NOTE ABOUT CITATIONS: For ANY info that you did not already know or is reasonably public knowledge (e.g. Shakespeare was born in England), you need to cite the source that you looked at to get that info and put it in the body of the text as a citation in MLA format. If you got the majority of the info from the paragraph from one source, you can put the citation at the end of the paragraph, letting us know that everything you didn’t already know from that paragraph came from the same source. If you don’t include citations inside the paper, it is plagiarism, even if you have a works cited page. The works cited page does not let the reader know which info came from which source, so you need to cite the source inside the paper. This website is helpful: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01…
STEP 4: (80 points)
Revise/finish the final draft of the paper based on feedback from rough draft.
5 points extra credit will be given if proof shown that you went to the Writing Studio for assistance with this paper.
Length: Range of 1,400-1,800 words (Should end up around 5-6 pages)
I know all the tricks like writing extra words in white font, adding extra spaces that count as words, etc. so just write the legit word count and don’t waste your (or my) time trying to get around it. Also, the works cited page does not count as part of your word count.
There is no penalty for going slightly over so if you are at 2,000 or something, it is fine. Just don’t go significantly over or significantly under.
MLA format, double spaced, with proper citations and Works Cited page
- All quotes, whether direct or indirect, should be referenced using parenthetical citations. According to MLA, direct quotes over three lines in length should be indented.
- See note about Citations under Step 3. Final papers will not be accepted – that is zero points will be awarded – if citations and/or Works Cited page are missing because this is plagiarism.
- Submit online via Blackboard by the due date posted on the syllabus. This assignment will be screened using SafeAssign in an effort to deter plagiarism. The Campus Rubric for written communication will be used in the grading of this paper.
