Some Important Notes about the Final Paper

Please read carefully the information below.

Please include a telephone number where you can be reached on the cover sheet of your final paper, in case I have questions. Be sure to include the area code.

Documentation.

(1)     You do not have to read secondary sources to write your paper, but you are welcome to do so. Please remember that you must document each instance when you use the words, ideas or information from any source, primary or secondary. Not to do so is a violation of the honor code. Paraphrasing or translating the words of others is using their ideas and so must be documented. A primary source is any of the works we have read for the class, and other original works of fiction; secondary sources are articles, books, etc. that discuss the primary sources: this would include, for example, class notes, articles you read on line or in a book or scholarly journal, and anything else that contributes to what you include in your paper. Even if you have used a source only for biographical information on an author, I ask that you document the source. (If you have several sentences of biographical information that come from a single source, you may cite the source just once, at the end of the references, rather than after each sentence. Of course, if you are quoting, all of the material would need to be inside quotation marks.) You may use either footnotes or endnotes to document your use of sources.

(2)     If you read secondary sources before writing your paper, and you use an idea or ideas from these sources in your paper, you must document this fact, even if you do not use any quotations from the source.

(4)     Material such as biographical background should not be included in the word count of your paper unless it is integrally related to the thesis you are establishing. The word count is designed to measure your contribution to the paper, not that of others.

(5)    Please include the following sentence at the end of your paper:

"In this paper, I have used neither phrases, ideas nor information from any undocumented source."

Sign your name.

Submitting papers and the use of e-mail submission.
 If you are on campus, please submit a hard copy to my mailbox (or slip it under my office door). This is the surest way to get your paper to me, short of stopping by to wish me a happy holiday and handing it to me personally. It is a good idea also to send me an e-mail with the paper attached, just in case (I have never lost a submitted paper, but taking such a simple and quick precaution can't hurt).

While I am not a big fan of electronically submitted final papers, as I have had a few problems with receiving them in the past, and the final examination time frame allows very little margin for correction in case of error, nonetheless I am willing to accept papers via e-mail. However, there are a few caveats for those who plan to submit their paper electronically from off campus.

(1)    You are responsible for the paper being in my hands by the deadline. You should include not only an e-mail address where you can be reached relatively quickly--an address you check at least once each day--but also a phone number where you can be reached, in case I have questions about the paper. You should also check with me in a separate e-mail message asking whether or not I have been able to print out your paper. There have been two separate instances when I have had to ask the Help Desk to retrieve a paper that came up on my screen as a series of indecipherable symbols, and the Help Desk personnel made it clear that giving such assistance is a low priority for them at a time when they are very busy with maintenance and preparing for the next semester. If this happens, the easiest fix is probably for me to send you an e-mail asking you to include the text of your paper as an e-mail message, not as an attachment. That way I can transfer it to a Word document, format it, and print it out.

(2)    If you put your paper in the drop box for the course, please send me an e-mail to let me know this.

(3)    If you submit your paper electronically, you should be ready to fax me a hard copy, in the unlikely event that that becomes necessary. If you must fax the paper, then it cannot be on the final Saturday of the exam period, as no one is at the fax machine that day, so you must have it here by 12:00 Eastern Time on Friday, in order for the Help Desk to have time to get it to me before they close up for the weekend. While this is the worst-case scenario, please plan accordingly.