Final Paper


[Haruki Murakami wrote a memoir equally about writing and running.]


Like most graduate seminars, this course builds to a final paper project. In this course, however, the final paper is not necessarily a paper written specifically for this class. Instead, the final paper project offers you the opportunity to use the techniques we have learned in this course to draft, edit, and improve a significant paper you’re writing in another context.

Before Week 5, please pick the final writing project you would like to concentrate on in this course. This could be:
1) a paper you’re writing (this semester) for another seminar;
2) a major revision of a paper you previously wrote for another course;
3) a dissertation chapter;
4) an MA thesis;
5) a dissertation proposal or prospectus;
6) a specific grant application;
7) an article you’re drafting for publication.

Pick the project you want to work on, realizing that a number of the weekly projects and your daily writing will be targeted toward this project. You’re also always welcome to sign up for my office hours. In Week 5, I ask you to turn in a writing plan for the semester, including concrete deadlines for drafts you will turn in to me. Although I hope this course will teach you techniques helpful for many writing projects, for this assignment you need to pick just one specific project that you’ll target.