English 102 Final Research Paper Your final research paper should show the final, polished version of your work in MLA format (including parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page)

English 102

Final Research Paper

Your final research paper should show the final, polished version of your work in MLA format (including parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page). See an example of an MLA-style paper in The Bedford Researcher.

The paper should be double-spaced with 1-inch margins and printed in a standard 12-point font. It should be 9 to 10 pages in length (not including the Works Cited page). No cover pages necessary. (Papers longer than ten pages are fine.)

Reminder of final paper criteria:

The final paper should:

Be based on an appropriate, manageable topic use at least nine credible, relevant, in-depth and current sources

Use a variety of sources appropriate to the topic, such as books, popular and scholarly periodical articles, websites, interviews, surveys, or audiovisual material (Note: of the final sources, you must have at least one scholarly source). 

Develop an analysis or persuasive argument related to the topic, rather than present a report on information about the topic

Be written to engage a college-level audience in an organized, coherent way

Include a focused, clear thesis statement, narrow in scope that reflects your purpose and guides the direction of your paper

         Support the thesis with clear assertions, explanations or well-reasoned arguments

Use evidence and research findings to support the analysis or argument thoroughly and accurately

Integrate source material effectively through the use of quotations, paraphrase or summary

Give credit to sources from which facts, ideas and quotations are taken using MLA in-text citations and a works cited page

Follow MLA documentation format (see guidelines and examples in Bedford or the Internet)

Show originality of thought

Be edited and proofread to strengthen sentence style and word choice and eliminate errors in grammar and mechanics