CSC 300A - Term Paper Assignment - Spring 2005

Overview

The purpose of this assignment is to engage in research on and analysis of a topic pertaining to this course. You are expected to have opinions and a clear point of view on your topic and not just produce a review or summary of what others have already said. At the same time, this paper should not be composed of just your opinions and ideas but should consist of substantiated assertions.

The paper should have a thesis - that is, a main idea, claim or argument that you are stating and defending in the rest of the paper. The thesis should be clearly stated in the first two or three paragraphs of the paper and the rest of the paper should be focused on establishing that thesis in a coherent way.

Your arguments should be supported with facts and you must be sure to cite all source materials used. Include a bibliography at the end of your paper and citations within the text. You may use any standard format for citations and the bibliography, or you may format your entire paper according to the guidelines at this website:

Purdue OWL APA format guidelines

Details

• The topic of the paper may be any of your choosing, subject to instructor approval. For a sample list of topics, see this web page
   
• This assignment counts towards 30% of the course grade.
   
• Papers should be around 4000 words (approximately 10 pages), not including the bibliography and any figures or tables.
   
• Papers should be well-written with no spelling, grammatical, or stylistic errors. Poor quality papers will be penalized in grading.
   
• A rough draft of the paper is due two weeks prior to the final due date. Rough drafts will be reviewed for content and returned the following week with necessary comments. It may be a good idea to also have others read and comment on your paper before you turn it in. (Note, however, that all writing must be your own. Plagarism or other academic dishonesty will be rewarded with a failing grade in the assignment and/or the course.)
   

Dates and Deadlines

• Feb 3, 2005: Topic and main thesis due
• Mar 24, 2005: Rough draft due
• Apr 7, 2005: Final paper due
• Apr 7 and Apr 14: Paper presentations

Last modified: Mon Jan 17 20:34:55 EST 2005