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English 11: American Literature
Research Paper—Spring 2022
Overview of Elements
Academic Writing Prompts
An Overview:
This semester, your main writing assignment is major research paper (15+ pages in length). To
accomplish this large task, the paper will be broken down into distinct elements and you will guided
through each one over the course of multiple months. Below is a list of elements and assignments that
are relevant to this major writing assignment.
Elements/Assignments that Are a Part of this Paper:
• Topics Sheet
o Five Possible Topics (descriptions of each and reasons for selection)
• Idea Sheet
o Three Topics and Corresponding Research Questions (further description and three
research questions per topic)
• Paper Proposal
o One-page document (what you selected to write about, the importance and significance
of your work to the field, why you, personally, are writing about this topic)
• First Annotated Bibliography
o 3 sources and annotations (at least one book, one scholarly article, and one website)
• Second Annotated Bibliography
o 3 sources and annotations (at least one book, one scholarly article, and one website)
• Project Narrative
o Written after research has been conducted; one-page document that provides a large-scale
sketch of the research project, its context in the larger scope of the field, and its
significance to the scholarly discussion relevant to the domain of research.
• Drafts of Distinct Elements:
o Overview and Literature Review
▪ Scholarly context of the project
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o Methodology
▪ An explicit statement of the method and lens through which the research will be
viewed and put together.
o Body
▪ Main part of the paper
o Conclusion
▪ Summarizes paper; points to other research questions/topics that the current
research might be relevant to or generate.
• First Complete Draft
• Revision of First Draft
• Second Draft
• Final Assembly, Formatting, and Printing
Notes:
