English 102 Research Paper: Detective Fiction

This is a research paper assignment for English 102, focusing on the detective fiction genre. Students are required to explore a specific subtopic within the genre, using academic research to develop a well-argued, evaluative paper of 10-12 pages. The assignment includes various perspectives, such as detective types, historical context, and the influence of film. Students must collect primary and secondary sources, submit a topic for approval, compose a preliminary thesis, and create an annotated bibliography. The final paper should be thesis-driven, offering a new perspective on the chosen topic, and should include 10-15 sources. The paper will be evaluated on presentation, research quality, incorporation of research, writing quality, and MLA format.

English 102/Hurley/The Detective
RESEARCH PAPER DIRECTIONS
Your research paper will explore—using academic research--a specific academic
subtopic within the detective fiction/film genre. You will write a well-developed,
argumentative, evaluative, research paper of 10-12 pages (not including works cited,
title, and notes).
You may begin with a general perspective:
 Detective Types: The Amateur Detective, the Private Investigator, the Police
 Historical Perspective:
 Formative Years (1840s –WWI): From Poe to Conan Doyle
 The British Puzzle (heyday between WWI and WWII): Queens of Crime (Agatha
Christie, Dorothy Sayers, etc.)
 The Hard-Boiled Sleuth (between WWI and WWII and beyond): Hammett,
Chandler, Spillane, Black Mask Magazine, etc.
 New Directions (1980s +):
 Feminization of the Private Investigator
 From PI to Police officer
 Globalization of the PI
 Emphasis on the criminal world
 The Detective in Film: Film Noir, British Whodunits, Police Procedurals, etc.
Or you may start with a more specific perspective:
 Detectives and moral order
 Detectives and the continuation of evil
 How ethnicity affects detective genre conventions
 The influence of film on detective literature
 Issues of class, gender, and race within the detective genre
 The evolution of film noir and the detective story
 Historical perspective on the private detective
 War and the private detective
 Sexism/racism within the genre
 The counter-culture private detective
Don’t feel compelled to choose a perspective from these lists. You are free to come up with
your own topic. Understand, however, that whatever topic you choose, the essay must
offer a compelling argument on the topic—not just a summary of information. Your paper
should be thesis driven and should offer something new about the topic.
Working it out:

1. The first step is to choose a perspective that you find interesting, and begin
researching. This preliminary research will help you initially focus your argument.
2. Collect at least three specific academic sources:one primary source (novel, short
story, film, biography), and two secondary sources (literary criticism, academic
essay, book or film review).
3. Submit topic for approval.
4. Compose a preliminary thesis/ argument that your paper will focus on.
5. Collect more primary and secondary sources using the library databases and library
holdings.
6. Compose a Proposal Paper that is informed by all this reading and research.
7. Create an Annotated Bibliography of the sources you will use in the paper.
Writing the paper:
1. Offer context for your paper in the introduction. Either employ one of the
suggestions from Lester (200-207), or choose one of your own.
2. Announce a clear thesis statement somewhere in the first page of text.
3. Organize your work using well developed paragraphs led by focused thesis
sentences that support the thesis directly.
4. Support your argument with references to at least ten total sources.
Once you have chosen a topic, and that topic is approved, you will be required to submit a
short proposal paper which will explain how you plan to approach your topic.
Understand that your paper should be thesis driven and should offer something new about
the subject. To that end your paper should analyze, evaluate, classify, review, defend, and
acknowledge opposing perspectives.
Sources:
You must include 10-15 sources in your research paper.You are to evaluate and use
material from quality and scholarly sources. Select a mix of primary and secondary sources
from which to quote.
EVALUATION: Research paper will be evaluated on five factors:
1. Presentation
2. Quality of Research
3. Incorporation of research material
4. Quality of writing
5. MLA form and language usage
DUE: Last week of class