Final Paper: These are the evaluation criteria for the final paper.

WARNING:  I will not accept electronic versions of your paper. You must turn in a hard copy of your paper with copies of all your source material, and you must provide a SASE (self-addressed-stamped-envelope) to receive my comments.  If you do not want your sources back, then provide postage and an envelope for your paper only.  I will recycle your sources.  Turn in your paper on 6/16 by Noon.  I will be in my office or you can leave the paper with Debra Robinson in CCW 225.

Complete the following checklist before you turn in your final paper. This checklist must be included with your paper.

 The paper must match these criteria:

____1)Must be an argument concerning a current controversial issue, 

____2)Must use MLA parenthetical documentation. (See section 58 of the LBH)

____3)Must integrate quotes and summations according to MLA quotation conventions (See Section 58a of the LBH)

____4)Must contain a narrow and focused thesis statement appropriate for a 10-15 page paper.

____5)Must reach at least 10 pages and maximum of 15 pages, following proper MLA manuscript form (58d of LBH), outline must be included with paper.

____6)Must use 10 academic sources as support. These sources must include a range of scholarly and professional journals and a mixture of primary and secondary support appropriate for the thesis. Sources must be an appropriate mix of on-line and print sources. Sources must be presented as a Works Cited page using MLA bibliographic format.  (See page 504 of LBH for an example)

____7)Must address the audience in formal, academic language (third person), avoiding logical fallacies and plagiarism* (See Section 11 of LBH)

____8)Must be unified and coherent as dictated by the thesis and chosen organizational pattern.

____9)Must provide sufficient evidence for each main idea presented in the body of the paper: examples, testimony, statistics, facts, and illustrations.

____10)Must have sentences that are clear and concise, using active voice.** (See page part 3 of LBH)

____11)Must have correct grammar and mechanics**

* As stated in the syllabus, any instance of "inadvertent plagiarism" will result in 5% reduction of the paper's final grade. Inadvertent plagiarism means that either documentation or attribution are missing. Blatant plagiarism means that the student has purposefully presented the source information as their own: paraphrase without documentation/attribution and any source material that is word-for-word without quotation marks constitutes blatant plagiarism.  The paper will be given a failing grade for blatant plagiarism. See plagiarism self-test for week 10.

**Competence in grammar/mechanics--average paper-- means the errors do not interfere with intended meaning; proficiency in grammar/mechanic--an excellent paper--means the paper contains no errors.  An incompetent paper--below average--means the errors hinder the intended meaning.

Completing all the steps for the research paper including the logic quiz, the self-assessment checklist, and presenting a final copy of an argumentative paper matches the following Clark College abilities: Information/Technology Level 1, 2 and 3, Critical Thinking Level 1, 2 and 3, and Communication Level 2 and 3.