Persepolis Research Paper Issues

Issue #1 – No Proper Introduction Many papers are starting off with their research topic or the book Remember that you first need to grab the reader’s attention and then transition to your topic Many papers are not providing general background of their research topics and the graphic novel You must mention the T.A.G. in the introduction Don’t provide details you will repeat in the body of your paper

Issue #2 – Weak thesis At this point, your thesis needs to be specific You should state the exact effects you will be writing about in your paper

Issue #3 – Poor topic sentences Each body paragraph must begin with your own idea that you will prove in the paragraphs It should not start with a fact about your topic or anything else that involves research Examples: Alexander the Great destroyed Persepolis around 330 B.C. (bad example – fact) The destruction of Persepolis was a significant event in history (good and provable)

Issue #4: Incorrect facts You MUST understand the topic and the book and display your understanding in your paper Some things I’ve seen so far: Marji and her family DO NOT live in Persepolis – they live in Tehran Reza Shah and Muhammed Reza Shah are two different people, not the same person The Shah was NOT a communist The Shah did NOT force people to wear the veil

Issue #5: Poor organization Your paper must follow the order from the assignment sheet 1) Detailed information about the person/event 2) The impact that this person/event had on others/the world (NOT on Marji and her family) 3) A brief summary of the role this person/event plays in Persepolis. 4) How this person/event affected Marji and the country of Iran in the graphic novel This means you should not start writing about Persepolis until the third section of your paper!

Issue #6 – Lack of transitions You need transitions between ideas in your paragraphs You especially need to have a transition when you begin to write about the book in section 3 Example: Leon Trotsky also played a significant role in the graphic novel Persepolis.

Issue #7 – No support from Persepolis When writing about the graphic novel, you MUST use quotes. Each paragraph about Persepolis should have at least one direct quote from the book Places to use quotes: When showing your research topic’s involvement in the book When showing how your research topic affects Marji and/or her family When showing how your research topic affects Iran in the book

Issue #8 – Poor usage of signal phrases Signal phrases MUST name the author if there is an author If no author, they MUST name the article title Many people are naming web sites, databases, or encyclopedia titles, which is incorrect Examples: According to Brittannica School (incorrect – this is the database) History.com reports that… (bad – that is the web page) According to the article “Trotsky, Leon” from the Encyclopedia Brittannica (good – names the article title since there is no author) Ellen James, writer for the History Channel web site, reports that…(good – names the author)

Issue #9 – Unnecessary or Incorrect Parenthetical Citations When you use signal phrases, you only use parenthetical citations if there are page numbers You DO NOT put paragraph numbers in parentheses Some of you are putting a signal phrase and parenthetical citation that names the author or article title, which is wrong Some of you aren’t using signal phrases at all and are only using parenthetical citations If you don’t have signal phrases, you can’t get to the highest level of the rubric for citations