DON’TS to avoid for better MythPaper scores

     This is like a FAQ; but it’s actually a list of frequent irritants written up while grading stacks of Reception Papers.

last updated 4/17/19 11:00 AM

 

Don’t go down to the wire.

            Late papers are not accepted. They score zeros. Since the electronic submission system is automated and ruthless, a paper submitted one second late is not accepted. It’s better to submit a slightly flawed paper at one second before the deadline than to eliminate that tiny flaw and miss the deadline. Right?

            Consider Macfarlane’s rule: submit a paper one week (or more) before the deadline and have it reviewed as a draft.

 

Don’t choose a weak, lame, overworked, too-easy topic
            TAs in the 241 course have grown weary of reading Reception Papers on the following topics — and that’s after only one semester of work! So, we recommend that you do not choose to work on Nike shoe company, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter (especially not Fluffy = Cerberus), Venus razors, the Hunger Games, Pandora Music, or Pandora the planet in Avatar.

            It’s not that these topics are bad; rather, we receive so many papers on these topics that your job as an author is much more difficult — occasionally exceptional papers on these topics make all the others look really weak.

            For what it’s worth… runners-up in this category include Pan’s Labyrinth (much harder to read as an adaptation than as a reception), all superhero movies (not every superhero is modeled upon a classical mythological figure). Going to the 1940s comic book (/graphic novel) might be OK… but determining the narrative gain in characterizations within Marvel/DC films is much harder than most students intially think.

   THE RECOMMENDATION we offer: CHOOSE TOPICS THAT REQUIRE MORE SCHOLARSHIP.

 

Don’t begin or end at the dawn of time.

Ever since students have been writing about things, they have begun their analysis at the Garden of Eden … or before. A two-pager doesn’t allow space for you to begin or end with wide-sweeping claims.

Better that your two-page has this first sentence —  “Garfinkel’s Performance contrasts classically iconographic Mercury against an up-to-date Mercedes drop-top.” —

            than to slog onto to land with only two-pages to spare, like this: “Ever since the dawn of time mankind has sought ways to accelerate travel over the dried lake beds and other flatlands.”

            Similarly, films that have Indy, Sallah, and Marcus Brody riding their horses into the sunset are filling time to run the credits. I say this facetiously, yes. But, remember that you are expected to give me the impression that you’re angry I gave you only two pages to fill. If your QED was to analyze Garfinkel’s usage of the Hermes myth, then leave it at that. Don’t pull the camera back slowly, please. End with something like this: “Garfinkel’s Performance exemplifies the use of mythological shorthand whereby he shows his product to outstrip all previous standards of excellence.”   

            Thus, a paper begins and ends at the same tightly focused spot, i.e. your topic.

            Isn’t this better than a laser-focused two-pager that encompasses the entirety of human history?

 

Don’t write a vague paper title.

If your paper is about Rick Riordan’s Aunty Em, then the title ought to be something like “Rick Riordan’s Aunty Em as modern Medusa” or something similar.

A vague title would be something like “Reflections in an iPhone”.

 

Don’t bury your lead.

Don’t write like a novelist; but do write like a journalist.

     This point relates to the one about a good paper title, the one about making the paper title state the real topic of the paper.
Novelists want to hold the reader’s interest over a long stretch of pages. You’ve only got two.

     Journalists state the topic of their article in their first sentence. It’s their lead.

   Never bury the lead.          

 

Don’t forget that J.K. Rowling invented Pomona Sprout. — This one’s trickier.

J.K. Rowling invented Pomona Sprout, professor and head of Herbology and head of Hufflepuff . Miriam Margolyes performed the role of Pomona Sprout in HP and the Chamber of Secrets, which Chris Columbus directed; but, J.K. Rowling invented Prof. Sprout for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first novel. From that auspicious beginning, Prof. Sprout’s presence in the Potterverse enlarged and morphed with several adaptations.

          A good paper discussing Pomona Sprout, looks to Rowling and cites the page numbers that pertain to stunning observations. For the complexities or pitfalls involved in straightforward analysis of characters in the Potterverse look at any article in the harrypotter.wikia.com.

          These papers aren’t as easy to write as people first think. Percy Jackson papers are similarly challenged. HP and PJ papers would best be limited to the first volume in each series… please. Recommend: talk to Macfarlane before taking the plunge.

 

Don’t disregard the template. — Yes, there is a “template paper” you can populate with your own words: http://cal.byu.edu/macfarlane/MythPaperTemplate.docx

            Don’t make your paper look unlike its peers.

            I want original content, not original formats.

            Quadripartite header on the first page. Tight writing. Fewer modifiers. Less fluff.

            I want footnotes done in Chicago style, because this style takes less space.