Guideline of the Final Paper

The final paper is the last phase of your final project.  Like your final presentation it is based on your interpretation and analysis of the work(s) that you have studied in this course.

Your paper should consists of the following segments

I

The title:  It can be factual or imaginative but should be reflective of your subject

II

A brief introduction of your subject: what you are going to discuss, which aspects of the two or more works studied in this course that you are going to write about

III A statement of the thesis of your paper, the main point of argument of your paper stated in one complete sentence

Please underline your thesis statement (in one complete sentence)

IVDevelopment of your argument:

Introduce the textual evidence that support your point.  You need to refer to specific details and cite some revealing textual examples from the literary works under discussion. To back up your statement of main point, interpret your examples from the literary work(s). Explain how the cited details support your main point of argument.  You may bring in informationof the general, pertinent context (biographical, historical, etc.) if necessary.(See VI below for documenting the sources of your citations.)It is important that your paper should be an analytical discussion rather than a summary of the biography of the author or of the plot of a story.

V The conclusion of the paper:  It contains usually a paragraphthat sums up your development of the argument

VI Document your references

You need to acknowledge the literary and scholarly works in print or online which you have cited or consulted both with footnotes that give the author’s name and page number in your paper proper and with a list of works cited at the end of the paper.

If you use the words, sentences, paragraphs, ideas taken from other people’s writings in print or on-line, as a small number of the students did in their interpretive questions/comments or in their presentations, make sure you understand the original meaning of what you are borrowing. Please use the intellectually reliable internet sources if you have to use any for writing the final paper.

1. Footnotes in your text proper:

At the end of each sentence or paragraph that contains a borrowed element–a whole sentence, a term, a rephrased or a paraphrased statement you should immediately acknowledge your source of borrowings in the parenthesis: (Author’s name, page number).

If your quotation is direct,you should put in quotation marks the quoted sentences, phrases, terms, images: as in the form “the words you borrow directly and verbatim from the writings of other scholars” and then give the author’s name and page number in the brackets (e.g. Intel, p.101, or the website author and page information).  Indirect borrowing includes, but is not limited to, rephrasing or paraphrasingother people’s writings.  In the case of indirect borrowing, the rephrased or a paraphrased statement in your paper should also be immediately followed by a footnote in the same format: (Author, page number).

An Example of footnotes:

Much of ancient Chinese culture is based in some way on the philosophical writings of

Confucius. In The Analects, the compilation of all of Confucius’ most important lessons, heemphasizes the importance of acting virtuously towards others. In one instance, one of Confucius’students, Zi Gong, asked him “Is there any one word that can serve as a principle for the conduct of life?” Confucius responded, “Perhaps the word ‘reciprocity’: Do not do to others what youwould not want others to do to you” (Confucius, The Analects, XV:23).

1. The reference listat the end of the paper:

Give a list of the works referred to in your footnotes.  Provide information of each work including the name of authors of the works consulted, the title of the work, location of the publisher, the publishers of the books, the year of the publication.  If the source is in the internet, provide the information of authors/publishers of the article on the website as well as the website link.

An Example of Reference List at the end of the paper:

.Works Cited:

“論語Lun Yu – The Analects of Confucius.” The Analects of Confucius. Chinese Classics andTranslations. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Oxnam, Robert, and Irene Bloom. “Three Confucian Values.” Asia Society, ColumbiaUniversity. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Yu, Hua, and Michael Berry. To Live: A Novel. New York: Anchor, 2003.

Other requirements:

1 The length of the paper

The final paperis of 5-8 pages, double-spaced, in font size 12. Do not merely cite long quoted passages from the literary works to fill up the space.  (If a quotation is long, just cite the first and last sentences of the passage, with abbreviation mark……in between, and give the page numberof the work.)

2Submission of your final paper

Please upload an electronic copy of your paper on Canvas before or on the due date:December 11, 2020