Write a thesis statement that mentions the work of literature, the issue, and your opinion, which will be the focus of the paper.

This assignment will result in a 4 page (MINIMUM) research paper that links an issue in a certain piece or pieces of literature to what is happening in our day. However, the issues dealt with in literature are both timeless and universal. Your job will be to focus on a certain issue. How was it addressed in the work(s) of literature? How is the same issue addressed today? What do the experts have to say about this issue?
THE LITERATURE YOU ARE USING IS “SADIE AND MUAD”
Write a thesis statement that mentions the work of literature, the issue, and your opinion, which will be the focus of the paper. In other words, what do you want to focus on in your paper? How will you direct your thoughts? What do you want to prove?
Write topic sentences that support your thesis statement. There is not a specific number of topic sentences.
Find 5 secondary sources. At least 4 of these sources will provide evidence to support what you’re saying about the ISSUE. One source must provide support for your discussion of the story or poem itself. You will not have to use direct quotes from the story or poem although you are free to do so in order to better support your discussion.
For at least 4 sources, you will rely on Rose State’s Online Databases. For the discussion of the poem or story, go to Ebscohost and click on Literature Resources. Start with MagillonLit, but go to the Academic Resources if you find nothing in Magill.
For your discussion of the issue, I would recommend using a variety of sources (at least 2 types of sources). Choose from the following types of sources:
o Ebsco
o SIRS
o Infobase
o CQ Researcher
o CREDO
o Academic Onefile
o Opposing Viewpoints
o E-books
o You can check Pew Research too. Here is a link to Pew ResearchLinks to an external site..
o Pro/Con.org is also a good, reliable resource. Here’s the link.Links to an external site.
Incorporate your sources using MLA style by a combination of paraphrasing, summarizing, and direct quoting.Make sure you are documenting your sources properly through parenthetical documentation.Write a Works Cited page for your paper following MLA guidelines.
and Thesis
6. _____My introduction includes a link to my personal experience or opinions using the first person pronouns, “I,” “me,” etc. I might have also started my essay with a rhetorical question or two such as “Have you ever thought about…?” It’s okay to use the first and second person in the intro and conclusion.
7. _____My thesis statement appears at the end of my intro and includes the story or poem title in quotation marks, the issue to be explored in the essay, and my opinion on the issue without the use of “I think,” “I believe,” “In my opinion,” or any use of the first person. It also avoids a forecast type of sentence such as “This essay will…”
Body Paragraphs
8. _____Now let’s look only at the four topic sentences. Does the first one include the title of the piece of literature and the issue?
9. _____Do the other topic sentences and body paragraphs provide support for your opinion on the issue that was stated in the thesis?
10. _____Does the first body paragraph ONLY discuss the treatment of or message about the issue in the piece of literature?
11. _____Does the first body paragraph include a secondary source that provides analysis on the poem or story?
12. _____Are transitional words used effectively in the topic sentences and within the body paragraphs?
13. _____Do the second, third, and fourth body paragraphs include a secondary source?
Conclusion
14. _____Does the conclusion employ an effective strategy such as linking back to the use of personal experience like the introduction did? Does it use a strong call for action or give advice to the reader? Does it forecast the future of the issue? Does it end with a rhetorical question? A combination of these strong techniques makes for the best kind of conclusion.
Research and Documentation
15. _____Is the Works Cited page titled Works Cited?
16. _____Does the Works Cited page use hanging indention, equal double-spacing, alphabetize sources, and provide the correct citation in MLA style?
17. _____Does the Works Cited page include at least five sources?
18. _____Did the sources you chose win the contest to get into your paper? In other words, did you choose the BEST sources to support the points you were making? Are they recent? If you used stats, is the source only a year or two old? Unless you were writing about your issue in another country, did you use sources that talk about the issue in American society? You shouldn’t have a source that talks about highways in Sweden, for example, if your essay was about travel in the United States.
19. _____Is one of your sources a literature source obtained from Ebscohost Literature Resources or another approved source?
20. _____Did you use more than one type of online database? For example, you might have used a source from Ebscohost and SIRS or Ebscohost and Statista. Keep in mind that the ONLY sources you are allowed to use this time are either online databases, Pew Research, or ProCon.org. If you used any other type of source, it should be source number 6.
21. _____EACH time you entered source information into your essay, did you make a sandwich? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the Let’s Make Sandwiches video in the MLA Module. You must start with a lead-in and end with ( ) every time. You have to show where the research info starts and stops.
22. ____Does the period only go after the ( ) every time? It should.
23. ____Do you ever have the case where the same info is in the lead-in and the ( )? You should not. For example, According to Bob Jones, “____” (Jones). is incorrect.
24. _____For a source with a pdf file, did you include the page number in parentheses? For a source without a pdf file, a page or paragraph number should NOT go in ( ).
25. _____If you did not have a pdf file, make sure that whatever sticks out for that citation on the Works Cited page is the information that goes in ( ). Lead in with the NEXT piece of information from that source (which is usually the title).
26. _____Speaking of titles, make sure that on the Works Cited page and anywhere in the essay, titles of articles are in quotation marks, and titles of journals, books, magazines, and newspapers go in italics. There is NEVER a case when a title would be in both italics and quotation marks at the same time.
27. _____Make sure that a p. or the word page is not in ( ).
28. Make sure that you never refer to an author by just the first name such as, In her article, Mary said that______.
29. _____Make sure that any time you add a sentence with a number in it or a statistic of any kind be sure that information is direct quoted.
30. _____Paraphrasing and summarizing are great ways to incorporate research. It’s best to save direct quoting for stats, numbers, and any time the wording is unique or especially profound or insightful. However, even if you put the source info in your own words, you STILL have to document the source.

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