Assignment 3
Assignment description
Assignment 3 is a collaborative assignment. Students will be divided into groups of 3–4 members and will complete all stages of the assignment as a group.
The assignment will be completed in two parts. Each group will submit an annotated bibliography of sources on a topic related to the theme of the course as well as a literary research paper on that topic. The paper should be thoroughly researched using a variety of research tools, including formal print sources like books, journals, and magazines, as well as carefully vetted and authoritative electronic resources, when appropriate. Each paper should have enough relevant and authoritative sources to support the claims made by its authors.
Topic selection. When choosing a topic for your paper, keep in mind (1) the recommended length of the final product as well as (2) its relation to the content of the course. For (1), be sure to select a topic that is neither so broad that it cannot be sufficiently researched and argued in an 8-page paper, nor one that is so narrow that it cannot support a 6-page paper. For (2), select a topic that is related to the questions about the representation of mathematics, particular mathematical problems, or mathematicians in literature. While your group can choose any topic that satisfies these criteria, you may find that it will be interesting to choose one that answers, challenges, or otherwise extends the themes and questions that your classmates or myself have introduced in the blog or class discussions.
Annotated bibliography. Your group’s annotated bibliography should contain at least ten sources, each of which will be formatted according to the MLA guidelines for source citation and be accompanied by a 250–400 word summary of that source.
Audience
The audience for this paper will be a general academic one. You can assume that this audience is somewhat familiar with the themes of the course, and is interested in the debates about the content of the course that have interested us throughout the semester.
The general academic audience is a difficult one for many undergraduates to write to, for it takes some time as a student to understand the demands and requirements that this audience places on writing. For that reason, you will probably want to adhere closely to the guidelines for organizing academic papers, as well as the descriptions of the norms of literary argument found in Writing about Literature. As always, it is safe to assume that the concerns and objections voiced by members of the class are examples of concerns and objections held by members of a general academic audience, so it will be useful for you to model your arguments for your topic (and against opposing viewpoints) so that they respond to the demands of the particular audience composed of your classmates and myself. Through the topic proposal and peer-review sessions, you will have an opportunity to evaluate the extent to which your arguments appeal to this audience, and you should revise your paper to bring it in line with the questions noted in these sessions.
Length and format
Your final submission of Assignment 3 should be 6–8 double-spaced pages in length and formatted according to MLA style. Consult the instructions on using MLA style in Gardner, pp. 113–133, to ensure that the headings, margins, citations, and other features of your paper are formatted in accordance with MLA guidelines.
Due dates
Your group’s topic proposal for this assignment is due on 3/27. The annotated bibliography will be due on 4/10, while the completed paper will be due on 4/24.
