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Capstone Project Essay Requirements
The Basics
- Brief Description: Write an essay that provides an extended, original, thesis-driven analysis of the chosen topic. Support your thesis with research from primary texts (where appropriate) as well as secondary texts
- Research: Include at least 12 peer-reviewed scholarly secondary sources &emdash; primarily articles, but books and book chapters are also acceptable.
- Format: Follow MLA Style for document formatting, citations, and the Works Cited page.
- Length: 4,500 to 7,500 words (not counting Works Cited page)
- Associated Handouts:
- Associated Assignments:
The Details
This research paper demonstrates your ability to develop a sustained argument in the field of English studies. The topics for final papers will be defined by your own choice of specialization and revised through discussions between you and me and between you and your outside reader. Your specialization should be a field in which you would like to delve much further than you ever have before or an area you wish you had been able to pursue but have not yet had the opportunity. These papers will demonstrate not only a careful reading of one or more texts, but an awareness of the critical context concerning that text or texts, author or authors, including existing criticism, history, and biography. At their best, these final projects are original contributions to literary studies.
Structure of Capstone Essay
Introduction
The Introduction should identify the text and topic, the specific concerns of your essay, a sense of the relevant historical and cultural context, and the author(s) and text(s) on which you will focus. Your central argument should be stated clearly, your critical position within the field should be apparent, and the introduction should forecast the structure of the rest of the paper. As your readers may not be familiar with your text or texts, you should enough summary and sufficient textual evidence to allow readers a ground from which to judge the value of your analysis and argument. Do not summarize the plot of a text unless you are uncovering or recovering unknown or lost texts, and then keep all summary to a minimum. Your introduction of the text(s) should clearly focus on the overall approach and argument of your paper.
Critical Positioning
In the Critical Positioning section you will providce a condensed version of your "Critical Positioning" essay. Provide the reader with an understanding of what recent and current scholars have had to say about your topic, and then explain what your position is relative to those scholars.
Your Argument
Your argument will take up the rest of your paper, in which you should develop your argument and demonstrate your evidence, emphasizing close reading, prior critical texts, a theoretical framework for your argument, and the language of the primary work(s). You must make use of at least 10 to 15 current secondary sources, including literary criticism about your text(s), author(s), literary period, cultural context, underlying theoretical methods, and/or the topic of your argument.
Conclusion
Finally, the Conclusion should not summarize your argument—that’s what introductions are for—but should clarify the consequences of your argument: Now that we have read your roughly 15 to 25 pages of work, how is English studies a better place to live and work? What did you contribute to the field?
The Rubric
- 30% Clarity of Purpose and Quality of Thought
- Insufficient (0-9%): Lacks clear thesis or purpose, and presents a superficial argument.
- Adequate (10-19%): Discernible thesis with coherent argument, but may lack depth.
- Good (20-26%): Clear and specific thesis, well-developed argument, some insight.
- Outstanding (27-30%): Clear, insightful thesis; content and ideas well-controlled and unified.
- 20% Organization of Content
- Insufficient (0-6%): Ideas are poorly connected; the structure is unclear or disjointed.
- Adequate (7-12%): Ideas are mostly connected, but transitions or structure may be lacking in places.
- Good (13-16%): Good use of transitions and structure; some minor issues may be present.
- Outstanding (17-20%): Structural and linguistic transitions connect ideas; structure complements and completes content by using signposts. topic sentences and transitions.
- 20% Language, Style, and Mechanics
- Insufficient (0-6%): Limited vocabulary, poor sentence structures, numerous grammatical errors.
- Adequate (7-12%): Adequate vocabulary and sentence structures; some grammatical errors.
- Good (13-16%): Good vocabulary and sentence structures; few grammatical errors.
- Outstanding (17-20%): Confident, skillful use of language; varied vocabulary; purposeful sentences; no grammatical errors.
- 15% Information Literacy
- Insufficient (0-4%): Limited or inappropriate use of sources; poor integration and evaluation of evidence.
- Adequate (5-9%): Adequate use of sources; some evaluation and integration of evidence.
- Good (10-12%): Good use of sources; evidence is well integrated and evaluated, but may lack some depth.
- Outstanding (13-15%): Employs high quality, credible, and appropriate source materials. Evaluates sources critically, synthesizes evidence thoughtfully, integrates diverse viewpoints smoothly, and uses others’ ideas effectively and ethically.
- 15% Documentation of Research
- Insufficient (0-4%): Many errors in citation and formatting; insufficient number of sources.
- Adequate (5-9%): Some errors in citation and formatting; meets the minimum requirement for the number of sources.
- Good (10-12%): Minor errors in citation and formatting; good variety and number of sources.
- Outstanding (13-15%): Clearly identifies and introduces sources correctly. In-text citations and Works Cited page are formatted correctly. Works Cited contains required number of sources.