Writing in the Disciplines: English

Faculty Feedback Writer's Web
Special thanks to Professors Elisabeth Gruner, Monika Siebert, and Daryl Dance of the English department for their helpful contributions.
(printable version here)

Below are the reflections of a few faculty members from the English department on specific issues regarding the English research paper. Each teacher typically possesses a more refined set of expectations which a student can gather from the points he or she stresses within the classroom setting or even by explicitly questioning a teacher both in and outside of the classroom. The faculty advice listed below provides a helpful guide of common mistakes, professor pet peeves, and advice for novice writers. It may be additionally beneficial to approach your teacher in order to gain a clearer understanding of what his or her unique expectations may be for a specific assignment.

Mistakes commonly made by novices when writing English research papers:

Assuming that if one critic has said something it can be taken as given (trusting the criticism too much).
Assuming that if one critic has said something the student can't make a similar argument (trying too hard to be original).
Not being fully aware of the criticism and thus painstakingly "proving" something that is already well established (not trying hard enough to be original).
Not fully understanding that in writing a research paper one is entering a conversation--this leads to a lack of subtlety in how criticism is deployed.
Failing to draw up a clear and focused thesis.
Providing plot summaries rather than posing an argument about an aspect of the text.
Identifying and writing about the protagonist of a literary text as if he or she is a real person rather than a fictitious character invented to serve a narrative purpose.
Offering opinions and beliefs rather than reasoned arguments.

Professor pet peeves particular to research paper writing for the English discipline:

Being overly schematic: Trying too hard to make everything "fit" one limited thesis.
Lacking a central claim: Too often novice research papers take an idea found in one article and apply it rather schematically to a different text with little sense of the original author's true intentions.
Resistance to doing the necessary amount of research required and basing research off "encyclopedia-type" articles (i.e. using inappropriate sources).
Failure to extrapolate on introductory claims in the concluding paragraph.

Recommendations to students writing an English research paper:

Start early.
Read lots of criticism to get a sense of the kinds of interpretations out there (i.e. specific interpretations and topics frequently considered by other scholars).
Be willing to change your thesis several times before you finish the paper.
Read the directions carefully.
Do the necessary reading and research.
Write and rewrite until you have received that satisfied feeling of having done a good job.
Put the paper aside for a day and then come back to review it.
Read a lot of good literary scholarship to become familiar with the research paper form; if you encounter an academic argument that appeals to you and convinces you, utilize it as a study model. In simpler terms, in order to become a good writer yourself, read and study the form and how other writers accomplish good writing.
Assume that writers write books and artists create art in order to change the world. Focus on figuring out the literary means by which they attempt to do so.
Remain mindful that it is always much easier and more interesting to study and write about literature and art when you believe that they truly matter.
After you believe you have finished your paper, ask yourself "so what?", or why should anyone care about the claims I just made in this paper; why is this knowledge important? Then, in response to this question, write yet another concluding paragraph.