CHOOSE FROM THE TOPICS LISTED IN PAPER REQUIREMENTS

1.Choose one of the traditional arguments for the existence of God and explain its meaning and origin.

2. In what ways did the early Christian ecumenical councils develop the Church’s understanding of the nature of Jesus?

1) A research paper involves both the gathering of information and developing a student’s own interpretation of that information. The student must stay focused on his or her chosen topic and rely upon his or her sources for information about that topic. While a student’s own opinions about a topic are an important part of any research process, the student must be able to support his or her conclusions by direct reference to sources.

2) The writing must be clear and logical and as free of spelling and grammatical errors as possible. A student should never submit a paper without rereading and proofing it. It may even be necessary to get someone to assist in this process by having him or her read the paper and check for these mistakes. The student should not fail to run spell and grammar checks on his or her writing.

Please remember that easily correctable spelling and grammatical mistakes left uncorrected will result in significant loss of points.

3)This paper requires MLA formatting that includes:

a.Times New Roman 12-point font

b.Doubles spaced sentences, with a minimum of four (4) pages and no more than six (6) pages in length.

c.Title and personal identification

d.A separate Works-Cited page properly formatted

e.Specific bibliographical form for print and electronic sources(http address) in the Works-Cited

f. A specific form for parenthetical (in-text) citations of the sources listed in the Works-Cited (See Sample MLA paper provided.)

g.SPECIAL NOTEThe use of CE and BCE are not authorized for this course. Use A.D. and B.C. 1 Point will be deducted for each use of CE or BCE

The student will be graded on how well his or her style conforms to the above basic requirements in MLA.

4)The Works-Cited must include no less than four (4) sources. Those sources must be relevant to the topic and meet minimum academic qualifications. The acceptable types of sources include the following:

a.class text

b.print or electronic book

c.electronic peer-reviewed journal article (See Online Library and the EBSCO ATLA Database.)

d.website with a .edu address

5)Certain sources do not qualify for Works-Cited. You will penalized if you use them. These are:

a. Wikipedia

b. standard dictionary or encyclopedia (web or paper)

The student should remember that any source listed in your Works-Cited that does not meet the above criteria will not count towards the minimum number of required sources.

6) For every source listed in the Works-Cited a student must have at least one corresponding parenthetical (in-text) reference. This will demonstrate how a student has used the source.

The student should remember that any source not accompanied by at least one parenthetical reference (and any parenthetical reference not associated with a source in the Works-Cited) will not count towards the minimum number of required sources.