Term Paper
Eastern Philosophies & Religions
Western Religions
Requirements: (There will be automatic point deductions for any missing requirements). All required parts of the paper should appear in a single document. In other words, you should post only one (.doc or .docx) attachment to the term paper submission link. (Be forewarned: only 1 attachment will be downloaded. Other parts of the paper appended separately will be regarded as missing.)
1. Thesis and Support (TS) Cluster
Exactly as formatted in sample and as discussed
If you did the TS Cluster preview assignment, paste in preview with feedback as page one
If there was a TS Cluster revision, that revision appears as page two
2. Paper Length (3000-5000 words) for the body of the term paper
Word count should appear at end of prose
(Word count should precede References/Annotated Bibliography)
3. In-paper citations: Minimum of 3, citing academic books or journals
Citations from textbooks and general resources are discouraged and do not count
At least two citations must be from resources more recent than 1999
Page number(s) MUST be included for the citation to count.
4. Annotated Bibliography & References
Minimum of 4 academic (NOT website or blog) sources with following characteristics:
All 4 must be procured through the Consortium Library holdings/databases or ILL
2 must be journal articles with publication dates more recent than 1999.
No textbook or general resource counts as one of the required 4
All works cited in the paper should appear in the References/Annotated Bibliography
All references should be complete:
Author, Title, [book/journal], publisher, place and date of publication
Preferred Reference Form: Hanging indent and alphabetical by author
Author’s A. Last Name, Author’s initial. Date. Book Title. Place: Publisher.
Author’s B. Last Name, Author’s initial. Date. “Article Title.” Journal Title.
Vol # (Number if given): pages.
At least 4 references must be annotated. Annotations include:
At least 3 explanatory sentences indicating:
basic thrust of the work AND
how this resource contributed to your paper
Cautions on Resources:
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and “General References” are not appropriate reference materials for 300-level courses. Therefore, general references (including course textbooks) will not count toward the 4 required academic sources. To help clarify, the following are considered general references and will NOT qualify for the 4 required academic resources:
Wikipedia, World Book, Encyclopedia Britannica and similar
Most websites and all blogs
Bibles, Qur’ans, church/mosque/synagogue publications
Dictionaries
Acceptable Topics for the Term Paper:
Choose a topic relevant to one of the systems studied and equally relevant to your interests and life goals. Your actual thesis (different than topic!) should emerge from your research on the topic. (This means that to do a meaningful peer-reviewed TS cluster assignment, you will need to choose a topic and start researching early in the semester!)
If you are having trouble choosing a topic (or finding a thesis), make an appointment with me. As we converse, I can usually help you identify an appropriate focus that would make the term paper meaningful for you and of reasonable scope to be successful.
Change and Help:
I will see (and comment) on your thesis and general direction via the peer-reviewed TS cluster preview assignment. Some changes in both thesis and supports may occur as you think about my feedback or as you research and ponder more. If this happens, submit both your original TS (with my feedback) and your final revised TS cluster (clearly labeled) with your term paper.
I do not pre-read entire term papers. However, I am happy to give more limited advice on term paper and TS clusters up to 3 days BEFORE the due date. I am not available for help at all times, but I definitely cannot guarantee assistance if I am asked less than 72 hours before the assignment is due.
Additional Reminders:
Start early!! Successful papers require more than one draft!
Review the writing guidelines posted and on Reserve. DO NOT SUBMIT A REPORT!!
A paper that logically supports a debatable thesis is your goal!
A report is the fast track to a terrible point score.
Take great care to cite appropriately. It is better to over-cite than to not acknowledge a “borrow.”
(Even seeming academic violation is miserable for us both.)
Give page number(s)!
Spell-check and proof-read your final draft (Reading the final draft aloud is a great method to do check that final draft.)
Strenuous, “College-Complete” grading will be used on this assignment.
