Below are the qualities of a good research paper. These are what I use all semester to determine your grade, so please refer to it. For your “Bluebeard”/”“The Bloody Chamber” papers, please remember to attach your vocabulary differentiated by text, with linguistic derivations and definitions for each word.
1. A clearly articulated thesis and/or thesis sentence in the first paragraph.
2. A first or second paragraph that introduces the work(s) of literature with title, author, genre and a brief summary.
3. A first or second paragraph that contains a reference to an acceptable scholarly source.
4. An opinion that expresses the significance of the topic or thesis.
5. Is responsive to the assignment (sources, vocab attached, etc.)
6. Each paragraph is an expansion or illustration of the thesis sentence.
7. Has the required number of scholarly sources (2-3 plus texts).
8. Sources are introduced with a sentence describing what they are about.
9. Sources are properly cited using Chicago Manual of Style, or any other widely accepted style.
10. Quotations are followed by a properly formatted citation.
11. Quotations are contextualized.
12. Writer clearly states how the quotation relates to his/her thesis.
13. Quotations are followed by a conclusion.
14. Ideas or paraphrases drawn from sources are properly cited.
15. Paper reflects a cogent and thoughtful analysis.
16. Paper reflects corrections made to previous drafts.
17. Bibliography is properly formatted.
18. Paper incorporates lessons learned in grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, capitalization.