The Two Class Papers

To help clarify some questions about the two short research papers that are required this term, as noted in the syllabus: "Guidelines/stylesheet will be supplied on how to incorporate the words, work or ideas of other authors into your two papers."

"D. TWO SHORT PAPERS:
(1) The first short paper (3 pages) will evaluate two or more websites/programs/articles on archaeology. A well-organized critique and comparison covering the intended audience, and research goals and theoretical perspectives, and relating the reviewed materials to information given in the course. This paper is due on FEB. 20 [ERRATA: SHOULD BE FEB. 14]."

For Paper #1, there was an error in the first part of the syllabus saying the due date was Feb. 20,...as stated in class during this week's Tuesday class the due date is FEB. 14as you can see in the daily schedule portion of the syllabus. The paper is to be a minimum of three typed or computer-printed pages on an archaeological topic of you choice, something you have an interest in or wonder about. You need at least three properly cited and quoted sources (see FORMAT below).

At least one source has to be from a library, such as a journal article. The Internet is great, but you need to be comfortable with research in a library as well, for success in academic studies. Besides the school library, you can use the public library downtown. When you do your paper, please hold down your citations to a sentence or a paragraph for each; don't submit a paper made up of nothing but great blocks of cut-and-paste citations, and little of your own thoughts. I want to see YOU and YOUR thoughts and opinions in the paper, SUPPORTED by the citations (the citations should not take the place of your own thoughts and opinions).

"(2) A second short paper (5 pages) will be an essay by the student reacting to the book "Collapse" by Jared Diamond, relating it to what has been learned about archaeology in the course, and using at least three other sources from the library or the Internet, properly cited, and original in thought. This paper is due on APRIL 30."

For Paper #2, "three other sources," mean other than, but in addition to, Diamond's "Collapse," so that there will be 4 sources.

RESEARCH PAPER FORMAT

Both papers should be 2-3 pages, double-spaced, typed, and in a professional format (Society for American Archaeology (SAA); handed out separately). LATE PAPERS WILL BE DROPPED ONE FULL GRADE FOR EVERY DAY THEY ARE LATE (A paper that would have been graded a B, will get a C if it is turned in one day late, etc.). Hardcopies are required; E-mailed papers are not accepted.

The format to be used is that by the American Anthropological Association, and the style sheet (very similar to MLA style) is at:
http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.pdf

In brief, no footnotes are used. Instead, inline citations are used:

Dr. Puffbottom excavated a troglodyte vase of the 13th Dynasty at the Toucan site (Puffbottom 1932: 45), for a nonquoted citation.
"The troglodyte vase was the ugliest ceramic I found there" (Puffbottom 1932: 85), for a quoted citation.

And if you have a paragraph of cited text, indent the entire paragraph, and then add the citation at the end:

yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah. yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah. yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah. yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah. yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah yada blah (Puffbottom 1932: 56-57).

And the cited sources belong at the end of the paper:

Puffbottom, Emil
1932 "13th Dynasty Troglodyte Vases at the Toucan Site, Pajarito Province, Maladonia." Journal of Troglodyte Studies 28 (5): 20-90.

See examples of how you cite magazines, journals, books (sole author or edited collections of articles), movies, websites/internet documents, etc. on the AAA stylesheet.


SPECIAL BONUS HINT AND FREE GIFT: THE TRADEMARKED "LANCE FOSTER SYSTEM OF DOING TERM PAPERS" ;-)

When I was doing my undergrad papers long, long ago, I used a structure/system for short papers based on the following, and generally got good grades doing it this way:

1. Name of paper, my name, date, class
2. Intro paragraph: what I'm going to talk about, the subject of the paper
3. Point 1 with citation 1
4. Point 2 with citation 2
5. Point 3 with citation 3
6. Tie together all three points; how do all three points relate to each other, in your thoughts...what do you think; has it confirmed or changed your opinion, added to it...?
7. Summary paragraph: what I talked about, what my conclusion is, and any last thoughts or brief citation that seems to wrap it all up nicely
8. CITED SOURCES

...ONE LAST REMINDER ON UNIVERSITY POLICY

"Academic Integrity
The University of Montana-Helena adheres to high standards of academic integrity. A single instance of the following violations will result in an F grade for that assignment; a subsequent violation will result in an FX grade for the course (see Catalog), and in both cases I will report the violation to the academic dean:

• Plagiarism: submitting the words, work or ideas of others without properly crediting them; this includes tracing/copying the artistic work of others, including sources from the Internet
• Using work generated in another class, by you or someone else, for credit in this class without permission from the instructor."