CHS H202 Paper information

The higher grades will go to papers that exhibit logical thinking, an analytical framework, specific evidence, the ability to inform and communicate, sound organization, and a concise and coherent argument.  Your argument must be backed up with specific factual information from your research, not just based on your own impressions.   I expect you to come to your own conclusions (and so you are certainly allowed to use "I").   In this paper the premium will go to those that make a persuasive argument.  Late papers will be penalized one point for each calendar day late (they may be handed in on non-class days by sending them in Microsoft Word form as an attachment to an e-mail sent to pammack@clemson.edu ).  Very late papers will be penalized no lower than a 65 if the paper merits at  least a 75.

You may do your research on the web; please see http://people.clemson.edu/~pammack/research.htm for information. You must provide footnotes or references to your sources (not just for quotes but also for specific information and arguments) in the text of the paper and provide at the end an overall list of the sources you used to write your paper (not just the ones you cited but all sources that you read that you found useful). You may use any standard format (that is, one that is published or available from a reputable page on the web--see for example  http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.html ).  Be very careful that if you take text from a source you give that source in a reference or footnote--borrowing text without crediting the source is plagiarism and you will be reported for cheating.

Checklist for a good paper:

1. Have you narrowed you subject enough that you will be able to give specifics, not just a series of generalizations?
2. Does your introduction focus on a controversy and give an overview of how you will address it?
3. Is your paper organized around an argument, rather than simply telling a story?
4. Is your specific evidence selected to fit your particular argument rather than telling random facts?
5. Have you found specific examples or statistics to prove your points rather than simply asserting them?
6. Are the sources of specific points acknowledged with references or end notes, even if paraphrased rather than quoted?
7. Have you considered both sides?  I do not expect your paper to be unbiased but you must present good arguments for the side you disagree with (you can then refute them).
8. Do you have a bibliography set up in a correct form that lists all sources that were useful, not just the ones you quoted?
9. Have you proofread, looking particularly for those mistakes that a spell-checker doesn't catch?  Remember also that the best grammar checkers are right only 80% of the time.