Core
4 (2009)
Paper Topic #2 and Writing Guidelines
Paper
Topic:
You are to write a "modern" take on the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer.
Envision a situation set in the last 20 years (no earlier than 1989) in
which a minimum of 5 people would be forced to gather together for some
amount of time. You are to explain the exact place, time, and
setting of their meeting clearly (see what Chaucer did in the Prologue
to the Tales) and then
introduce a minimum of 5 fully-formed unique characters, and then you
are going to write about the story each would tell to the group if
there were the chance. They don't have to be a character in their
own story, but they can be. You, as narrator, could be one of the
five characters, but you don't have to be. You could do more than
7 characters, but don't short change the full development of the
primary 5 characters.
You are free to write the paper in prose form, but if you feel like
trying to do it in poetic meter, like Chaucer, feel free to do so, so
long as it makes sense.
Avoid dialogue as it chews up space in the paper.
Writing Guidelines:
- The paper is to be minimumally a
full 5 pages in length, maximum of 7 pages. Going a little over
that by a page or so
is okay, but I do not want a 10 page paper. Part of the
assignment, including the length assigned is to teach you how to be
concise and clear and organized in the presentation of the material and
not to have the opportunity to ramble.
- Double-space; font is size 10 or
12; 1 inch margins on all sides, top and bottom
- Include page numbers
- Either include a title page
(which does not count towards the 5 pages required) or put the
appropriate class information in the top right-hand corner, a title in
the middle of the next line, and then
immediately begin your paper. Don't waste space.
- Treat titles of any work you
refer to appropriately.
- Proper standard 21st-century
English grammar and spelling are to be used.
- The final paper is to be either
stapled or submitted in a binder or folder.