Gibson Hall Room 400D

English 1010-19 Monday, Wednesday and Friday 4:00 – 4:50 Gibson Hall room 400D Instructor: Dr. Vikki Forsyth Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 2:00-3:00; Monday and Wednesday 6:00– 6:30 Office: Norman Mayer Hall room 202 Email: [email protected]

Imitation, adaptation and parody in literature and culture

This class will explore the most basic process of human culture and, as we’ll see in unit two, of human life itself: adaptation. Replicating, imitating, copying or adapting: call it what you will, it is central both to human life at the biological level and to all the culture(s) that humans have subsequently created. We will cover a wide range of topics within this theme, from DNA replication to cultural memes, fake news shows, imitations of and by Shakespeare, and a new religion that regards copying as an act of worship. Students will finally ponder the meaning of plagiarism in a digital age and in the light of the centrality of copying to human experience.

Set texts

Graff, Gerald, Birkenstein, Cathy and Durst, Russel. They Say/ I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing with Readings. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012 (second edition).

Other required reading for this class (outlined in the class schedule, below) will be available on the class’s Blackboard page.

Course Description

The purpose of English 1010 is to teach students to write clearly and to organize complex arguments that engage in a scholarly way with expert knowledge. Toward that end, students will learn to conduct independent bibliographic research and to incorporate that material appropriately into the sort of clear, complex, coherent arguments that characterize academic discourse. More specifically, in English 1010, students will learn that to write clearly means that they must take a piece of writing through multiple drafts in order to eliminate any grammatical errors or stylistic flaws that might undermine the author-audience relationship. They will also learn that, to write with meaningful complexity, they must learn to practice a variety of invention strategies, from the five classical appeals to freewriting to commonplaces to analytic reading strategies to library research – and to revise continuously the material generated by these methods. Students will also learn that, in order to make coherent arguments out of the material generated through these invention strategies without sacrificing complexity, their practice of revision must be guided by certain principles of style and arrangement -- for example, principles of emphasis, cohesion, parallelism, figuration, and syntactic variation, to name a few. Students must also grow adept in the genre of argument itself through work with models and templates of the sort outlined in the standard rhetorics of argument (for example, Williams, Heinrich, Toulmin, or Graff, Birkenstein and Durst). Students must learn, moreover, that in order to create effective arguments they must cultivate strategies for analyzing the texts of others – that is, they must grow adept at situating the texts of others in a context, looking at them through the lens of some other body of thought, to see how such a move heightens the significance of certain elements of the text under analysis. And they must learn strategies for active, critical reading, strategies for deciphering why a text might be arranged a certain way and what that arrangement might mean, and strategies for summarizing and paraphrasing and quoting. They must also learn to conduct research in the library, evaluating sources, incorporating the work of others into their texts and doing so while following the proper conventions of citation endorsed by the Modern Language Association. Finally, in order to maximize the students’ potential for developing these abilities, the method of instruction in English 1010, week by week, will be organized as a hybrid that combines four different instructional modes: 1) discussions as appropriate to a seminar; 2) hands-on, productive work as appropriate to a studio or lab; 3) brief lectures; 4) regular one-on-one conferencing with the teacher. Through all of these means, students in English 1010 will learn to produce clear, complex, coherent writing with meaningful academic content.

Statement of Outcomes and Policies

Outcomes: Students will learn how to write clearly and how to develop complex, coherent arguments that engage with expert knowledge through independent scholarly research and correct citation of sources.

Attendance: Students in English 1010 develop skills that will serve them for their rest of their academic and professional lives. What’s more, no matter how well a student writes, he or she can and should always cultivate these skills yet further. To do this, students must come to class, participate in class activities, and sustain positive, productive membership in the classroom community of student-writers. Thus, attendance, punctual arrival and participation are absolutely essential; moreover, cell phones must be silenced, and text-messaging and emailing are strictly forbidden, for these disruptions, as with tardiness, can be counted as absences. When a student absence results from serious illness, injury or a critical personal problem, that student must notify the instructor and arrange to complete any missed work in a timely fashion. Students are allowed, over the course of the semester, to miss the equivalent of one week of class without penalty. Thereafter, students will lose one third of their final grade for every unexcused absence from class. Once a student has accumulated the equivalent of three weeks of unexcused absences, he or she has automatically failed the class. In order to enforce the attendance policy, the instructor will document the dates of every student’s unexcused absences and file an “Absence Report Form” for any of their students who accumulate four unexcused absences. These forms are sent to the student and the student’s dean (the instructor retains the third copy). If the student’s attendance problem persists to a eighth unexcused absence, the instructor can file a second “Absence Report Form” recommending that the student be withdrawn from the course with an F.

Academic Dishonesty: This link will take you to the Newcomb-Tulane Code of Academic Conduct: http://college.tulane.edu/code.htm. All students must take responsibility for studying this code and adhering to it. Instructions for accessing the Writing to the Code quiz will be posted on the class Blackboard page. We will devote some time in class to it. Our purpose, in these discussions, will be not only to teach you how to avoid plagiarism and how to cite sources, but to initiate you into the contemporary discussion of intellectual property and the nuanced dynamics between individuality, authorship, and what’s sometimes called intertextuality, so that you can make informed and thoughtful choices about your writing for the rest of your university career and later in life.

Late work: I do accept essays up to six days after the due date, but late essays have 5% deducted from the final grade for every day that they are late. Late essays also receive fewer and more cursory comments than essays that were submitted on time. An extension can be arranged in advance of a due date if you can show that there is an excellent reason (generally a medical reason) why you will not be able to complete the work on time. Late short assignments will not be accepted.

The Grade of “Incomplete”: If a student has a legitimate excuse for being unable to complete all of the work for a course, the instructor can give that student an “I” (Incomplete) on the final grade sheet. If the student does not complete the work and the instructor does not change the grade, however, that grade will revert to an F. The deadline for addressing incompletes varies each semester but is usually about one month after the final exam period. Before a student is given an “I,” the instructor will confirm with the student – in writing – exactly what the student needs to finish and retain a dated copy of this correspondence in the event that the student misses the deadline and then expresses confusion about the new grade of “F.”

Students with Special Needs: Students who need special help with the course, such as note-taking, free tutoring, additional time and/or a distraction-reduced environment for tests and final exams, may contact the Goldman Office of Disability Services (ODS), located in the Center for Educational Resources & Counseling (ERC). It is the responsibility of the student to register a disability with ODS, to make a specific request for accommodations, and to submit all required documentation. On a case-by-case basis, ODS staff determines disability status, accommodation needs supported by the documentation, and accommodations reasonable for the University to provide. University faculty and staff, in collaboration with ODS, are then responsible for providing the approved accommodations. ODS is located in the ERC on the 1st floor of the Science and Engineering Lab Complex, Building (#14). Please visit the ODS website for more detailed information, including registration forms and disability documentation guidelines: http://tulane.edu/studentaffairs/erc/services/disabilityserviceshome.cfm .

Portfolio: All students should keep hard copies of all of their assessed written work for the class in a portfolio, at least until the semester is safely over. You should also keep returned work with my comments on it, for your reference. You are strongly advised to keep electronic copies of all of your work, too, not least because you may well want to revise some earlier assignments and incorporate them into later ones.

Assessments and Grading Scale

Graded work for this class The class is assessed through four major essays, seven short (usually one-page) assignments, and a presentation. The short assignments are designed to build up to each of the main essays: their purpose is to get you thinking about the essay topic well in advance of the due date. The short assignments will be posted on Blackboard (under the assignments tab); completed assignments must be submitted to Blackboard by 11:59 p.m. on the due date. Paper copies of the essay assignments will be distributed.

The due dates and grade-weights are: Analysis Essay (5 pages) 15% of final grade due Friday 8 February Argument Essay (5 pages) 20% of final grade due Monday 4 March Research Essay (6 pages) 20% of final grade due Monday 8 April Final Essay (6 pages) 25% of final grade due Monday 29 April

Seven short assignments, each 2% of the final grade (due dates shown below)

A presentation on some instance of creative adaptation in weeks thirteen or fourteen, worth 2% of the final grade.

The final 2% of the grade is for attending the library research sessions. I take a very dim view of students who fail to attend library sessions: after all, the librarians are giving up their time to work with us.

Grading Scale In my grading scale, 90% is an A, 80% is a B, 70% is a C, 60% is a D and 59% or lower is an F. Plus and minus grades are also possible: an A+ is 97% or over (B+ is 87% and C+ 77%) and an A- is 90-93% (B- is 80-83% and C- 70-73%). The essays are assessed using the rubrics shown in Appendix 1. A grade and a percentage figure for the essay as a whole will be assigned.

The short assignments are each worth 2% of the final grade for the course. They can receive 2, 1 or 0 points (satisfactory; deficient; not handed in at all). I will also make brief comments on them, designed to help you revise them for the essay assignment. The presentation is also worth 2% and will receive 2, 1 or 0 points like the assignments. Class schedule The readings will be discussed on the days that they are shown. (Readings that are not in the textbook will be posted on the class’s blackboard page.) Students should have read the assignment before the start of class, and should bring a copy of the text(s) to class (this might entail printing out texts that are posted on blackboard). Paper copies of essays are due at the start of class on the days indicated. Assignments should be posted on Blackboard on the due date (any time before 11:59 p.m.).

I have the right, and even the responsibility, to change the discussion topics and readings shown on this schedule as circumstances warrant. Students should therefore frequently check their Tulane email accounts and our class blackboard page for revisions to the printed schedule.

Unit One: Fake news (Analysis essay)

The Analysis Essay (5 pages; 15% of final grade) is due on 8 February (Friday of week four). For this essay, students will analyze an episode of The Colbert Report and consider why he chooses this particular method of creating comedy from the news. A more detailed essay question will be distributed in class (and posted on our Blackboard page). The other classwork in this unit is analytical in nature, and explores the impacts of seemingly small choices writers make, such as word choice, sentence structure, and organization.

Monday Wednesday Friday Week Introduction The Colbert Report The news and comedy One They Say/I Say pp.141-4 Week Martin Luther Assignment 1 due: why does Word choice Two King Day – no Colbert choose to parody the class news?

Paragraphs Week They Say/ I Say pp. Tone Assignment 2 due: Three 133-4 quote and analyze Colbert. The importance of titles Focus and flow Week They Say/ I Say They Say/ I Say pp.19-29 Analysis Essay due Four pp.121-8 They Say/ I Say pp.55- Liz Addison, “Two Years are 77 Academic writing Better than Four”, They Say/ I Fox, “Is the Alcohol Say pp. 211-14 Message All Wrong?”

Unit Two: Biological Imitation (Argument Essay) The Argument Essay (5 pages; 20% of final grade) is due on 4 March (Monday of week eight). In the argument essay, you will have to either defend or reject the statement that our ability to imitate exactly is what separates humans from other animals. (A more detailed essay question will be distributed nearer to the due date.) You will not need to do any additional research to complete this essay (the reading we do in class will be sufficient), although you can do additional research if you would like to. The two assignments are designed to help you move from the class readings to formulating your own considered response to the essay question.

Monday Wednesday Friday Week Five Mardi Gras – no Introducing the How apes and class argument essay humans learn by copying (readings to be posted on Blackboard) Week Six Assignment 3 due: They Say/ I Say Meltzoff et al., response to pp.30-41 “Foundations for a Friday’s discussion New Science of Extract from On the Learning” The Selfish Gene Origin of Species chapter two Week Seven No class Evaluating Blastland, “Go Individual meetings Arguments Figure: Would you Assignment 4 due: believe a man with a essay plan (please Sebastian Mallaby, beard, or a suit?” bring with you to “Progressive Wal- Ropeik, “So You our meeting) Mart. Really”, They Think You Can Say/ I Say pp.620- Think? Think 23 Again”

Unit Three: Technological Imitation (Research Essay)

The Research Essay (6 pages; 20% of the final grade) is due on 8 April (Monday of week thirteen). In the research essay, students will both undertake research on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) of 2011 and formulate a response to it (that is, an argument). Students will be able to choose their own theses within this general topic. For this essay, doing some research is compulsory. (A more detailed essay assignment will be distributed later in the semester.)

Monday Wednesday Friday Week Eight Argument Essay Student library Student library due research session: research session: Introducing SOPA SOPA SOPA Week Nine They Say/ I Say pp. Assignment 5 due: Kopimism (readings 78-91 annotated to be posted on bibliography Blackboard) Evaluating sources The Pirate Party (reading to be posted on Blackboard) Week Ten Examples Assignment 6 due: They Say/ I Say essay plan and pp.92-101 Robin Wilson, “A thesis statement Lifetime of Student Second Life Debt? Not Likely”, Bissell, “Extra (readings to be They Say/ I Say Lives: Why Video posted on pp.256-72 Games Matter”, Blackboard) They Say/ I Say pp.349-62

Unit Four: Imitation and Adaptation in Literature and Culture (Final essay)

The final essay (6 pages; 25% of final grade) is due on the last day of class, 29 April. The final essay question is whether we need “new rules” for plagiarism, and if we do, what these should be. The final essay must revise at least one piece of writing, either short or long, that the student has submitted earlier in the course. The topic is deliberately wide-ranging to allow students to bring in work from any of the three earlier essays.

In this unit, students will make five-minute presentations on some instance, of their choosing, of imitation or creative adaptation in fields such as music, art, movies, or other media. The course will end in considerations of Shakespeare both as an adaptor (some would say “plagiarizer”) and as the source of imitations and adaptations.

Monday Wednesday Friday Week Eleven Spring Break Spring Break Spring Break

Week Twelve Holiday – no class Defining plagiarism Can a computer create art? (readings to be posted on Blackboard) Week Thirteen Research Essay Student Student due presentations presentations The Selfish Gene chapter eleven

The Seven Basic Plots chapter two Week Fourteen Student Student Assignment 7 due: presentations presentations two-page formal write-up of your presentation

New rules for plagiarism? Week Fifteen Sources for Romeo Versions of Romeo Parodies and and Juliet and Juliet adaptations of Romeo and Juliet Week Sixteen Final Essay due Versions of Shakespeare Appendix 1: Grading Rubrics

These are the rubrics that I will use to grade your essays. A grade and a percentage figure for the essay as a whole will be assigned, based on the grades given in each of the five categories of the rubric. An essay that gets mostly As will get an A grade, mostly Bs will get a B grade, mostly Cs will get a C, and mostly Ds will get a D or an F.

G E N E R A L I Z E D R U B R I C ( F O R T H E F I N A L E S S A Y )

C O N T E N T : I D E A S A R E … many, complex, ambitious, surprising, carefully situated among readings A somewhat familiar, few in number, simpler, with limited relation to readings B only slight extensions of class discussion without real engagement readings C discernible only as repetition of class discussion without relevance to reading D

C O M P L E X I T Y : T H E P A P E R A S A W H O L E O F F E R S A … timely, passionate, uniquely voiced articulation of an intricately logical conflict A less urgently felt, more generalized articulation of a simpler issue B flat rehearsal of fairly obvious truisms C a complete absence of any engagement with the potentials of the assignment D

C O H E R E N C E / A R R A N G E M E N T : F O C U S I S … achieved through many subtle strategies of coherence, cohesion, and emphasis A sustained but a few, rather minor transitions could be improved B compromised by more than one very abrupt, graceless transition C not achieved because strategies of coherence, cohesion, and balance too seldom used D

C O H E R E N C E / S T Y L E : S E N T E N C E S A R E … varied in distinctive, consistent, original voice and memorable phrases A is less varied, voice less distinctive, occasional lapsing into the less-than-graceful B sentence-structure repetitive, dull, and often awkward C several sentences sufficiently ill-formed to distract reader from intended message D

C L A R I T Y : T H E P R O S E H A S … No errors A only a few, very minor errors B a few errors that significantly distract the reader C several errors that significantly distract the reader D R U B R I C F O R A N A L Y S I S P A P E R

C O N T E N T : I N S I G H T S A R E … many, complex, ambitious, surprising, and carefully situated among readings A somewhat familiar, few in number, simpler, and with limited relation to readings B only slight extensions of class discussion without real engagement with readings C discernible only as repetition of class discussion without relevance to reading D

C O M P L E X I T Y : T H E P A P E R A S A W H O L E O F F E R S . . . . several insights disrupt a common-sense, first-glance at what’s analyzed A a few insights that shift the reader’s experience of what’s analyzed B only one insight that offers little by way of new perspective on what’s analyzed C no new insights at all D

C O H E R E N C E / A R R A N G E M E N T : F O C U S I S . . . . an elegant juxtaposition of the entity under analysis with the context enabling the analysis A a more haphazard articulation of the dynamic between the analyzed text and context B an awkward, even jumbled rotating between text and context C no discernible relation between what’s analyzed and the context that would enable analysis D

C O H E R E N C E / S T Y L E : S A M E A S G E N E R A L I Z E D M O D E L

C L A R I T Y : S A M E A S G E N E R A L I Z E D M O D E L

R U B R I C F O R A R G U M E N T P A P E R

C O N T E N T : claim is important, delivered with sufficient warrants and evidence to be persuasive A claim is not as important, nor crafted well enough to be altogether persuasive B claim is delivered with an argument too flawed to be persuasive at all C claim is not discernible, nor is any argumentative craft D

C O M P L E X I T Y : argument is multi-dimensional, re: kinds of evidence, warrants, and counter-arguments A argument offers more limited evidence, warrants, counter-arguments B argument weakened by overmuch simplicity in evidence, warrants, counterarguments C argument is missing a key element, either evidence, warrants, or counterarguments D

C O H E R E N C E / A R R A N G E M E N T : argument follows the “they say, I say” template and larger craft with subtlety and elegance A argument follows the template and elements of craft more formulaically B argument follows the template and elements of craft almost not at all C argument is unformed D

C L A R I T Y : S A M E A S G E N E R A L I Z E D M O D E L T H E R E S E A R C H P A P E R ( 1 5 P O I N T S P O S S I B L E )

C O N T E N T : the topic has been articulated as important question that the research answers A the topic has either not yielded an important question or research that answers it B the topic has neither yielded an important question nor any research that answers it C the topic is never defined adequately nor linked to any relevant research D

C O M P L E X I T Y : the research question has multi-dimensional, contestable answers and implications A the research question has a simpler array of answers and few implications B the research question has only one, incontestable answer and one implication C the research question has no conclusive answer nor any clear implications D

C O H E R E N C E / A R R A N G E M E N T : the movement from important question to researched answers is subtle and engaging A the movement from important question to research answer is simpler, more abrupt B the movement from important question to researched answer breaks into two halves C the movement from important question to research answer is never made D

C L A R I T Y : S A M E A S G E N E R A L I Z E D M O D E L

Appendix 2: Grading Standards for English 1010

Here are general guidelines for what constitutes an A, B, C, D or F essay, using language borrowed from Douglas Hesse and William Irmscher. Please note that a paper does not have to fulfill all, or even most, of the criteria for a particular grade to earn that grade; rather, the paper’s most prominent features will locate it on one or another of these grade levels.

The A Paper ... is characterized by the freshness, ambition, maturity, coherence, and complexity of its content. Its claims are stated clearly and effectively, supported well, with relevant nuances interpreted and delineated in ways that go beyond the obvious. It manifests a distinctive voice that explicitly engages a meaningful rhetorical context and, in turn, an actual audience. It situates itself thoroughly among assigned readings, perhaps even key, related texts in public discourse. It effectively balances the specific and the general, the compelling detail and the larger point, personal experiences and direct observations of the outer world. It grows out of large-scale revisions (both in terms of content and structure). It not only fulfills the assignment, but inventively uses the assignment as an occasion to excel. Its only errors, if any, are purely typographical and quite rare. Finally, it manifests a certain stylistic flair – the bon mot, the well-turned phrase, the significant metaphor – that helps to make it, for the reader, memorable.

The B Paper ... is characterized by content that is a relatively familiar, less daring, less integrated or a little simpler than one might hope. Its claims could use more support or more exploration, or could perhaps be stated more directly. Its voice could be more distinct and it could situate itself more engagingly in the rhetorical context and go farther to reach its audience. It could do more with the assigned readings, create a better balance between specific and general, detail and idea, personal anecdote and larger point. It fulfills the assignment, but in a way slightly perfunctory. It makes very few errors and shows no systematic misunderstanding of the fundamentals of grammar, but its overall structure might appear somewhat uneven. Finally, it could benefit from more large-scale revision and from more careful attention to its style at the sentence-by-sentence level.

The C Paper ... is characterized by overmuch dependence on the self-evident, is dotted with cliché, and is inadequately informative. Its essential point is uninteresting or only hazily set forth or developed aimlessly. It has no particular voice, nor any significant sense of context or audience, nor any real engagement with other texts. In terms of the dynamics between detail and idea, it seems to lose the forest-for-the-trees or vice versa. It fulfills the assignment but does so in a way wholly perfunctory. It has grammatical errors that significantly disrupt the reading experience. It has not been sufficiently revised.

The D Paper ... is characterized by minimal thought and effort, which shows through the absence of a meaningful, central idea or the lack of any controlled development of that idea. It fails to fulfill some key aspect of the assignment. It makes no meaningful use of other texts nor ever situates itself in any sort of context. It needlessly offends its audience. Its sentences and paragraphs are both built around rigidly repeated formula and soon become predictable. It is riddled with error. It has apparently never been revised. The F Paper ... is characterized by plagiarism or lateness or a total misunderstanding of the assignment or is simply incomprehensible owing to a plethora of error or desperately poor organization. It has not only not been revised – it really hasn’t been begun. Appendix 3: Descriptions of an Analysis, and Argument and a Research essay (N.B. These are only descriptions of the types of assignment students will undertake in this class. Paper copies of the actual essay questions and topics will be distributed separately as the class progresses.)

The Analysis Paper In the simplest sense, an analysis paper is a paper that discusses some text through the lens of some other text; it asks, in this new, explicit context, what special features of the text under consideration become more important or more ambiguous or more controversial or more meaningful than they otherwise might seem? What are the points of tension between the text and its context? Also, what does the text seem to foreground or repeat or emphasize or draw into stark opposition? What aspects of the text ought one to quote in order to support the analysis under development? What aspects ought one to paraphrase? Teaching students to write an analysis paper this way, always considering one text through the lens of another, will enable them to control increasingly complex relationships with multiple texts and, in turn, to manifest that complexity in the texts they themselves create with greater and greater control and coherence; moreover, this dynamic (looking at one text in terms of another) will enable them to handle increasingly sophisticated academic content in their own papers, for this simple structural dynamic governs what can otherwise be a very confusing jumble of viewpoints. Finally, students will see that in developing analysis papers in particular, the process of revision follows straightforwardly as a matter of adjusting the context through which they consider the text under analysis to see what new features thereby emerge as important and worth further comment and deeper analysis. To “adjust the context” means to adopt a different “lens” (a different text) through which to consider the text one is analyzing. One can accumulate multiple lenses, and thereby extend the analysis farther and farther. This is how one revises an analysis-paper, as distinct from other kinds of papers. Example: to analyze The Great Gatsby through the lens of an essay about the history of the Jazz Age will lead certain parts of that novel to seem more important than others; but if one wants to revise this analysis significantly, one can study the novel in the context of an essay on gender-roles in the early twentieth-century, and this will lead one’s analysis in a new direction.

The Argument Paper In the simplest sense, an argument paper is a paper that stakes out a position that opposes a position staked out in some other piece of writing. It coheres around a basic structure, in which the paper first summarizes some particular position attributed to others and then delineates its own position as a departure from that other position. This approach to writing argument papers according to the “they say / I say template” (as Gerald Graff and Kathy Birkenstein have dubbed it) can be found in any number of books on the craft of argument. As students grow more adept at using this formula, they must then cultivate other dimensions of the craft of argument: how to articulate claims, how to use warrants, what counts as strong evidence, what kinds of logic to use, and how to avoid fallacies. By cultivating these elements of craft, students will be able to write more coherently and, in turn, grow adept at managing more and more complex ideas and relationships between thoughts; the content of their work will grow more sophisticated. And this trajectory, in turn, should shape how revisions proceed with argument papers: a more and more nuanced and judicious exploration of what “they say,” and, in turn, a similar development of what “I say,” as students grow increasingly adept at articulating claims and warrants, marshalling evidence and using logic.

The Research Paper In the simplest sense, a research paper is a paper that uses the writings of others, discovered independently through research, in order to advance its claims and that documents correctly the presence of the writings of others in the paper. Students must learn how to move from a general area of interest to an actual topic; and they must learn to turn that topic into a question that, in turn, can lead them to a set of sources where its answer can be found. Moreover, they need to learn how to frame research-questions in a way that identifies the costs of failing to arrive at good answers to the research questions – that is, they need to grapple with what is sometimes called the ‘so what’ question with respect to their project. The process of revising a research project as the research proceeds will lead students to produce papers that are increasingly coherent and increasingly complex, and it will lead them to sift through an array of sources as they arrive at those that will give their paper sophisticated academic content. Revision figures in the process of writing research papers precisely as this adjusting of focus as different discoveries are made in the scholarly enterprise, as students learn to keep a lively dynamic in play between the question they want to answer and the kinds of potential answers that they begin to discover. Through this dynamic, students can ultimately arrive at complex, coherent papers that deliver information as a solution to some problem in the world that, without that information, would persist at some cost.