War and Human Experience

The basics are that the term paper will be your documented study of the depiction of at least one war topic in at least one humanities primary source (such as a play, poem, novel, song, artwork) with peer-reviewed research integrated to build your argument. The paper will be double-spaced, 12 font, at least 7 pages of your prose and 1-page list of Works Cited.   Example: analyze a  painting,  a play, musical composition, or a fiction movie that depicts war PTSD  and discuss what the symptoms, experience, and treatment of the condition are like from the character’s point of view, and compare or contrast that with scientific perspectives on the symptoms and treatment from the practitioner’s or scientist’s perspective.  What differences does the humanities perspective bring to our understanding of the condition?     It is an evidence-based persuasive paper, integrating primary material and secondary peer-reviewed material. Take a position and defend it with evidence.    The paper must include at least one humanities primary source (that means, an original creative work, e.g., a play, musical composition, artwork, or dance), which has not been assigned in class; this source cannot be a Youtube video, a news video, a documentary, or a cartoon; if you seek to use audio-visual material as a primary source only a full-length feature fiction film is acceptable and it should be engaged critically, not accepted as necessarily accurate) and at least three peer-reviewed sources integrated as suits your argument.   The focus should be on the humanities material rather than material from other fields.  You should identify the humanities primary source(s) in the introduction and integrate its main ideas into your thesis. You should plan to search, analyze, and integrate the humanities primary source directly, yourself; relying on someone else’s summary or an extract is not suitable.     For the organization of the paper, please see the guidelines below.    Discussion Board is designed to transition you into the term paper in a logical, organized, and timely way. However, you cannot resubmit work already submitted for a course, so plan to research material independently.     You are expected to engage critically with the material and to integrate only peer-reviewed secondary sources into your argument. Non-peer-reviewed secondary sources are not acceptable.    Summarize or paraphrase any sources and document them; do not use much quotation. You need to learn to use your own words and to summarize sources accurately in your own words. Points will be deducted for excessive quotation.  A paper of this length should quote no more than one hundred (100) words. Term paper guidelines: Formulate a research question that you wish to pursue. You are responsible for demonstrating you are aware of published materials relevant to the topic.  You will need to consult, summarize, and assess some of these sources.  What are their strengths, their weaknesses? Is there a neglected angle, subtopic, method that should be pursued?  Is there inaccuracy in the published work on the topic, or omissions, bias?  Work through this body of publications and develop a dialogue with it.  Where do you stand with respect to these sources? What is your argument about this topic? Develop a two-sided argument that integrates references to published works about the topic. Think this through in outline form before you continue.  Always outline before you start a paper. After you have considered the various sides or positions in print about the topic of your paper, formulate your own position.  This is your thesis. Your thesis should be an educated response to the current publications on your topic, advancing the subject or issue in a new direction.   State your thesis in the introduction to your paper. What is the title of your paper?  Make it predict your thesis.  Present it on the first page of the paper (see sample MLA format paper on Content). Introduce the topic of your paper clearly, defining key terms (with documentation).   Raise a research question—your thesis will be your answer to this question.  At the end of the introduction, briefly preview the main topics or points, in order, that you will be discussing.  This can take the form of–the first section of this paper discusses X.  Or, in the first section of this paper I raise……In the second section, I will ……. This will be followed by………In the fourth section I will ………..and so forth.  Then you are ready to develop the body section of the paper, after the introductory preview. The body of the paper will defend the thesis. Outline before you start.  Make sure you have collected sufficient details through analysis of your materials in order to substantiate the thesis. Break the defense down into sections, sub topics.  You can continue to dialogue with the published material throughout the body, but the focus is on your argument. A paper of this length should quote no more than one hundred (100) words. Follow MLA form precisely.  Points will be deducted if MLA is not followed precisely.   No cover page.  Document all sources fully.  Anytime one quotes or summarizes someone else’s work, document the source.   Over-documentation is better than under-documentation.  If you have to document each line, do so.  Above all, digest sources in your own words [and document if the idea is not yours], rather than quoting directly.  The list of works cited should be a complete list of all sources you have used. Wikipedia and comparable on-line sources are not acceptable.  Use peer-reviewed periodicals and books by academic experts.  Check the electronic indexes through the library for your keyword.  If necessary, use Interlibrary Loan. Conclude by synthesizing your main points and clinching your argument.  Finish with a list of all the works cited, using MLA format. Revise and polish, repeatedly.   Always set your work aside and come back to it with a fresh outlook, then revise.  Become your own, rigorous critic.     The following website has useful information that can help you learn how to avoid plagiarism:  The art will be the image attached