Academic WritingGood Practice in Written Assignments for American Studies

•Presentation of Academic Work: The Basics

•Why Reference?

•Plagiarism

•How to Reference

•Assessment Criteria (and What They Mean)

•General Information on Assignments

•Any Questions?

Will Slocombe

Presentation of Academic Work: The Basics

• 12-point type throughout (all in black)• Double-spacing throughout• A clear, readable font throughout (like Arial, Times New

Roman, or Garamond)• Subheadings for each task; all tasks roughly equal in

length• Respect the word count (or penalties apply)• Don’t plagiarise (or SEVERE penalties apply)• Include a bibliography (ALWAYS in alphabetical order)• Proof-read before you submit• When you submit, ensure that you complete a cover

sheet (in the English department foyer; a sample is on p. 19 of your Undergraduate Handbook)

}(If you don’t know what these are, use the “Help” tab on Microsoft Word)

Why Reference?All academics are required to reference their work and, as you are in an academic environment, you have to as well.

Without referencing, your work may be open to accusations of plagiarism.

Because we tell you to…

Because if you don’t, then it’s your butt on the line

It allows tutors to see what research you have done and helps you to develop core skills (for university and beyond). It also improves your writing style and ability to think about texts and contexts. Because it is something that will help

you later

If you don’t reference work, then if you want to use a similar source later, you will have no idea where you got it from.

Because it helps you to organise your own research

What is Plagiarism?

[See also pp. 9-11 of your Undergraduate Handbook.]

Plagiarism is “the act of using someone else’s work with the intent to deceive” (Undergraduate Handbook, 9).“Plagiarism may take the form of repeating another’s sentences as your own, adopting a particularly apt phrase as your own, paraphrasing someone else’s argument as your own, or even presenting someone else’s line of thinking in the development of a thesis [argument] as though it were your own.” (Undergraduate Handbook, 10).Plagiarism is copying either the words or the ideas of someone else without showing that they are someone else’s. When referencing, you must always indicate the extent of your borrowing, by both quotation marks AND an appropriate and full reference.

A Test… (1)

Which of the following statements count as plagiarism of the above quotation?

“American anxiety and solicitude to establish a national literature made it impossible for […] critics to realise that the source from which the literature would emanate was that anxiety itself” (Rubin-Dorsky, 509).

1. American anxiety to create a national literature made it impossible for critics to accept that American literature was about anxiety.

2. Anxiety was the source of American literature in this period, and critics could not accept this.

3. Critics did not realise that in their “anxiety and solicitude” to create an American literature that “the source from which the literature would emanate was that anxiety itself”.

Plagiarism!

Plagiarism! (And a bad statement)

(Poor referencing)

How to Reference… (1)The easiest way to reference is to put a footnote at the end of the sentence in which a quotation appears:

“The reader, in order to avoid a long and dry detail of colonial affairs, is requested to dispense with an account of the train of circumstances, that had caused much temporary inflammation of the popular mind.”1

1. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, “My Kinsman, Major Molineux,” in The Norton Anthology of American Literature (7th Ed), ed. Nina Baum (New York: W. W. Norton, 2007), pp. 1276-1288 (p. 1276).

Hawthorne states that “Robin was a good youth, as well as a shrewd one” (“My Kinsman,” 1282).In “My Kinsman,” Hawthorne describes Robin as “a good youth, as well as a shrewd one” (1282).

Once you have done this for the first reference, you can add the phrase “Subsequent references to this text will be indicated in parentheses.” Then, you simply indicate it to the reader, always making sure the source is obvious:

How to Reference… (2)

When utilising critical resources, you follow the same pattern:

Again, once the source has been used once, you can use brackets to reference it later. Remember to always make the source clear:

“Poe’s work acquires a sociological meaning when it is linked with the culture of the plantation in its feudal pride and its forboding of doom.”1

1. Levin, Harry, The Power of Blackness: Hawthorne, Poe, Melville (New York: Vintage, 1960), p. 160.

• Levin discusses the “sociological meaning” of Poe’s work in relation to plantation culture (160), arguing that…

• Clearly, this means that Poe’s work acquires a “sociological meaning” only when linked to “the culture of the plantation in its feudal pride” (Levin, 160).

NOTE: If there are two or more authors with the same surname, or multiple texts by one author, include the name of the source: (Hawthorne, “My Kinsman,” 1282).

How to Reference… (3)

Equally, if I want to show that I have read something without actually quoting from it, a reference does the job:

If I wanted to use a source, but not directly quote it, I must still reference the original:

Poe’s work, it might be argued, only clearly acquires a social meaning when linked with plantation culture (see Levin 160).

The relationship between plantation society and Poe’s works have been examined by a number of critics (see, for example, Levin 160 and Leverenz 218), although a more important element of the text is…

How to Reference… (4)

REMEMBER: The aim of a reference is to allow readers to find the quotation for themselves. To that end, the first footnote referencing a text always contains full bibliographic information. This information is also repeated in the bibliography, but does not include page numbers of quotations:

For more information on how to reference, see the Departmental Style Sheet (Appendix A in the Undergraduate Handbook, pp. 13-16)

Hawthorne, Nathaniel, “My Kinsman, Major Molineux,” in The Norton Anthology of American Literature (7th Ed), ed. Nina Baum (New York: W. W. Norton, 2007), pp. 1276-1288

Leverenz, David, “Poe and Gentry Virginia,” in The American Face of Edgar Allan Poe, eds. Shawn Rosenheim and Stephen Rachman (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), pp. 210-237

Levin, Harry, The Power of Blackness: Hawthorne, Poe, Melville (New York: Vintage, 1960)

How to Reference… (5)A book appears in the bibliography in this form:

An article from a journal appears in the bibliography in this form:

An internet source appears in the bibliography in this form:

Author’s Surname, Author’s First Name, Title of Book (Place of Publication: Name of Publisher, Year of Publication)

Author’s Surname, Author’s First Name. “Title of Article,” Title of Journal, Volume.Issue (Year), Start Page-End Page

Author. “Title of Website.” Website URL. Date Downloaded.

Levin, Harry, The Power of Blackness: Hawthorne, Poe, Melville (New York: Vintage, 1960)

Rubin-Dorsky, Jeffrey. “Sketches of Anxiety.” American Literature, 58.4 (1986), 499-522

USInfo.State.Gov. “Democratic Origins and Revolutionary Writers, 1776-1820 .” <http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/oal/lit2.htm>. Downloaded 17 October 2005.

A Test… (2)

On a piece of paper, write down the correct bibliographic entry for this book

Brogan, Hugh

The Penguin History of the United States of AmericaLondon

Penguin

1990

Brogan, Hugh, The Penguin History of the United States of America (London: Penguin, 1990)

•Language

•Observation

•Structure

•Analysis

Assessment Criteria (and What they Mean)

[See p. 15 of your departmental Part One Handbook]This criterion assesses how well you express your ideas (clarity of writing), the number of spelling and grammatical errors, and the appropriateness of the style used (register).

This criterion assesses how well you know the text and use it, showing your knowledge of elements such as content (what’s in the story), and structure and style (how the story is written).

This criterion assesses how well you structure the material you use in the portfolio, showing awareness of why certain elements appear in certain places of your portfolio.

This criterion assesses how much secondary reading and critical judgement went into the portfolio entry.

“Language” & “Observation”Language Observation

Read over your work and think about the following:

• Do all of my sentences make sense? Are they too long? Too short?

• Do my sentences and paragraphs link together?

• Have I proof-read the assignment? (DO NOT just trust Microsoft Word to do it.)

• Have I put the right tone in the assignment? Am I too formal? Too informal?

As you write your assignments, think about the following:

• Have I shown the marker that I understand what the text is about (content)?

• Have I demonstrated that I understand how the text is written (style)?

• Have I demonstrated my close reading skills, choosing appropriate textual examples?

• Have I shown the marker that I know relevant literary terms?

“Structure” & “Analysis”Structure Analysis

Look at the tasks you are required to complete for the particular portfolio element (tasks 1-3 for the first piece; 1, 2, 4, & 5 for the second):

• Is everything I include clearly part of that heading?

• Have I given equal weighting to each discussion?

• Have I covered everything required of me in that task?

This is primarily a feature of the second assignment, although it does have a part to play in the first:

Have I shown that I have thought about the text, bringing my own reading to it?

• Have I related my understanding of the American social and literary context to the text?

• Have I shown evidence of external reading that informs my own reading?

Some Rules to RememberAlways:

Never:

• Remember to stay focused on the text, using direct quotations where necessary to help you make your argument.

• Remember to present your work in a professional manner, with as few spelling and grammatical mistakes as possible.

• Double-check that you have covered everything the assignment requires of you.

• Cite accurately when you refer to the text or a secondary source.

• Include an alphabetical bibliography.• Submit two copies of your assignment if you wish to get

a copy back.• Put your name or login anywhere on your work except on

the cover sheet (all submissions must be anonymous).• Copy anyone else’s work, either accidentally or

deliberately.• Miss a deadline unless it is absolutely unavoidable; work

will be penalised unless you have a good reason for late submission.

Assessment One (Tasks 1, 2, & 3)

Assessment Two (Tasks 1, 2, 4, & 5)

•1,500 words in length.

•On one text from seminars in weeks 1-5.

•Due in by 2pm on Monday 5 November 2006.

•Worth 40% of the final module mark.

•2,500 words in length.

•On one text from seminars in weeks 6-10.

•Due in by 2pm on Monday 10 December 2006.

•Worth 60% of the final module mark.

General Information on Assignments

Any Questions?1. What is a “text” for the purposes of the assignments? Could I

write an assignment on Poe, or would I only pick one of Poe’s stories to write on?A “text” here is one piece of writing by one author. That is, you should focus on “Ligeia” OR “The Fall of the House of Usher” OR “Rip Van Winkle” OR “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, but certainly not all, and not two by the same author. That said, you may wish to refer to another story by the same author, but the purpose of the exercise is demonstrate your skill at close-reading and analysis, not to “compare & contrast” between two stories. If you feel that your argument can be better expressed by referring to a second text, then do so, but remember that it shouldn’t be the main focus of the assignment.2. Should I use criticism in the first portfolio assignment?Whilst you are not being assessed on your ability to use critical resources in the first assignment, reading criticism can help to improve your argument and, if you do the reading, you should refer to it. As with the question above, it is a useful way of improving your assignment, but the focus of the first assignment must be on the text, rather than critical reading around it (think of this as a practice run for when you are actually assessed on your ability to use critical sources). As “structure” implies, doing too much critical reading would show a lack of structure to an assignment that is only meant to deal with the text itself.

Any Questions? cont’d

4. Who, specifically, is the “author” of a website?The “author” of a website is the person who presents the information contained within it. In the example given in this presentation, it is “authored” by USInfo.State.Gov, rather than an individual. The best way to do this is to use your best judgement: if it is an online essay, use the author of the essay; if it is an information site (such as the one above), use the organisation name as author. In a bibliography, these just slot into the alphabetical order as if they were an author’s surname.

Footnotes usually use 10-point type and single spacing. This is large enough for the marker to read, but not so large as to take up half a page. This also allows markers to see how accurately you have cited the source.

3. Are there any typographical standards for footnotes (for example, size, spacing, etc.)?

5. Do we need to write a bibliography for each task or at the end of the submission?The bibliography always appears at the end of the assignment. Each task is just one component of the assignment and so you would put the bibliography at the very end, rather than doing one for each task.

Any Questions? cont’d

Neither footnotes nor the bibliography count towards the word count for the assignments. However, if you use “discursive footnotes” (where you extend your argument to discuss other elements that you find interesting) these DO count. It is normally best to just use footnotes for references.

6. Do footnotes and bibliography count towards the word count?