During the last week of the seminar, we will have a formal presentation of all the papers. These
presentations will be modeled after conference presentations of papers. Students will have approximately 5-7 minutes to present their papers. I suggest that you time your presentation before coming to class; I will stop you if you exceed the allocated time. The presentation should − provide sufficient background on the text, and − outline the core argument made in the paper. The student should also provide evidence to support the main argument/s advanced in the paper. You are welcome to prepare power point slides but if you do so, please bring a flash drive with you. Fumbling around on the internet to find and download your presentation files takes away from your time. Helpful hints for presentation 1) Do NOT simply read your paper for your presentation. In any case, your paper will be too long for presentation. The presentation should be formal and professional, but not scripted. I suggest you speak from a detailed outline (remember to include quotations from the text in the outline to illustrate the points you want to make). DO practice the presentation to make sure your outline fits within the time limits. Time limits will be enforced. 2) Presume the audience is not familiar with your paper, but is educated about the class theme. Thus, your presentation should include a description of your topic and illustrative quotations/images/scenes from the artifact. You presentation should advance as a normal argument: you should state your claims clearly and support them with evidences from your analysis, the academic research and other sources (e.g. statistics or other types of facts). Your presentation does NOT need to include detailed definitions of theoretical terms but you should provide sufficient theoretical explanations of more complicated concepts so that the audience can follow your analysis.
below are instructions on the paper so you can see what is needed for it so they correlate.
Your final paper is a research essay that examines a major moral panic from any time period.
You are expected to analyze it and its long-term impact in relation to other moral panics (from the same or different time period) and their long-term impacts. Before you submit your paper at the end of the course, you will need to submit a one-page paper proposal and an annotated bibliography (Check the course homepage for the deadlines) The moral panic you choose to analyze must be different than the ones we have discussed during the semester. In your research and writing, try to find answers to the following questions: • Why is this a moral panic? • How did it start? Who were the instigators? Do you see any familiar figures/groups, media sources behind this panic (and the ones you are comparing it to)? • Who were the primary and secondary definers? • What was the media’s role (including the social media) in the development of the panic? • How did the authorities, and policy makers respond? • What was the public reaction? How do you know? • Was there a signification spiral? • How did it end? What was the outcome? • How was it similar to or different from other moral panics? • And very importantly: what kind of general social anxieties did it grow out of or merged into? In your research, try to find out if there are academic articles/research about this and the other moral panics you are discussing. Paper proposal and Annotated Bibliography Your arguments – based on empirical evidence – should be grounded in academic literature. When you do research, be aware that the literature may not necessarily focus on the moral panic aspect of the controversies which means that you will need to make the connection. Paper proposal Your paper proposal will be based on the research you have already done. Please take the paper proposal seriously. You cannot write a paper proposal without having done some research and have read external academic sources. The proposal should include: • An abstract or brief description of the paper. Also, be sure to include the paper title even if it is a tentative one.
• Outline the parts of the paper and a brief description of what each part will cover in your proposal. A sample outline might include a "Background" section about the topic, and a "Purpose" section which covers the questions to be answered by the term paper. A “Literature” section should explain the theoretical and methodological approaches (not just the titles of books or articles) you are going to use to discuss the topic. Include a "Research" section, describing what kind of evidences you expect to use for your claim(s) and where to find them. Write a "Significance" section describing what contribution your paper will make to knowledge about the topic. Finally, include a "Conclusion" section, providing a brief summary of the expected results. Be as brief and concise as possible because you are only providing an idea of what readers can expect to see in the final paper. IMPORTANT NOTE: Your paper proposal should not repeat the outline above almost verbatim (e.g. “In this section, I am going to discuss the background...”). Rather, in the background section, for example, you will need to give some background information about your specific research paper rather than repeating that in this section you will give background information. Annotated Bibliography An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents cited in APA, MLA or Chicago style (a style guide is on Canvas). Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 100-150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. You cannot just copy and paste abstracts or descriptions of your academic sources from online sources. If you just copy and paste an abstract in place of annotation, it will be considered plagiarism. The purpose of the annotation is to explain the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources you are going to use in relation to your own argument in your final paper. It means that you have already read these articles or chapters that you are going to use. Your annotated bibliography must include 8 articles or chapters and at least 4 of them must be additional academic sources you plan to cite in your final paper. You will need to attach an annotated copy (in pdf format) of the actual article or chapter to your bibliography where I can see that you did engage with the material before including it in your annotated bibliography. Please do not submit images of pages as single files. You may want to find out how to scan and combine the pages into a single pdf document. Multiple chapters of the same book do not count as multiple sources because each chapter is part of the author’s larger argument. Make sure that you know what an academic source is; blogs, newspapers, magazine articles, etc. do not count as academic sources even though you are expected to list them in your references, when you use them. It is therefore important that you cite the sources properly in your bibliography. Copying and pasting from other or online sources can lead to an impression of plagiarism and I want to reaffirm that I do not tolerate plagiarism, especially in the age of AI driven websites such as ChatGPT that can write paragraphs or papers for you. However, don’t be fooled: they cannot be specific enough to fulfill the requirement and it is easy to see that the student did not write it. I reported one such student to the honors board last year. He failed the class.
In any case, you must go beyond name-dropping of an author’s work. Your annotated bibliography should include a statement of how you aim to use this work in your final paper. It is not enough to summarize the author’s argument. Depending on your chosen topic, annotations should include some or all of the following information: • Main focus or purpose of the work • Usefulness or relevance to your research topic • Special features of the work that were unique or helpful • Conclusions or observations reached by the author • Conclusions or observations reached by you You can find examples of annotated bibliographies on Canvas as well as on the Internet to get an idea about the format. Final Paper (see the course homepage for the deadline) The final paper will be an 8-10 pages (double-spaced, standard margins, Times New Roman 12- pt. font) research paper that analyzes the moral panic of your choice in relation to other moral panics. The final paper gives you an opportunity to apply what you have learned during this course in terms of a concrete analysis of an issue. Make sure that you have a clear argument in your final paper. An argument is (1) your article's single significant idea (2) stated in one or two sentences early and clearly in your article and (3) around which your article is organized, (4) emerging from or linked to some scholarly conversation, and (5) supported with evidence to convince your reader of its validity Your paper has to demonstrate a strong grasp of topics and theories discussed throughout the semester and qualify your analysis by 1) referring to the texts that are in your bibliography; 2) relating your analysis to broader theoretical notions and topics that we have been discussing during the course. You need to use a minimum of 8 academic sources in your paper: at least 4 academic articles or chapters from the course readings and at least 4 external academic sources in your paper. It is not enough to cite or quote a reading without contextualizing it. You need to relate your quotations or references to the points that you are making in your paper. And you are expected to demonstrate the significance of your analysis in terms of the main theme of this seminar. A bibliography should be turned in with your paper. It will not count toward your page limit. The bibliography should be formatted in APA, MLA or Chicago style (please state which one you are using). At the level of your education, it is crucial that you know how to cite a text. You should also need to attach an appendix with the online sources you used for your research.
Follow the writing guidelines below. Clarity of writing is one of the most important aspects that will affect your grade. Read these guidelines very carefully. Your grade will depend on your fulfillment of the criteria outlined below. Key Things to Remember for Your Paper 8 -10 pages 12” font, Times New Roman Double Spaced Titled Page-numbered Clear and Well Supported Argument Conclusion Properly Cited Sources Bibliography Section Grading criteria • Clarity of writing (spelling and grammar; clear and correct use of language including the correct use of terms. Explain the terms and concepts.) • Clear structure and organization of the paper (coherence of the argument, and of the paper structure) • Adherence to the requirements of the assignment (including correct formatting of the paper, citations and bibliography) • Demonstration of thorough research into the topic • Clear argument with supporting evidence that comes from your research