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Durst-2025

Writing Prompt

Paper 3 (the light research paper)

Deadlines

  • Fri 28 Mar: Annotated bibliography (two secondary sources) and project proposal due (Paper 3-AB).
  • Fri 04 Apr: Rough draft due (Paper 3-RD). This does not need to be a complete rough draft, but it should be as close to complete as possible.
  • Fri 11 Apr: Final draft due (Paper 3-FD). The final draft must be 1300-2000 words. See specific requirements below depending on the option you chose.

Required readings (4 sources total):

  • Beauty and the Beast, dir. Trousdale and Wise (1991); Required text

  • “Beauty and the Beast”, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve; Required text

  • Any TWO articles, either from the following books or other scholarly articles found via the Rutgers University library databases:

    • The Hard Facts of the Grimms' Fairy Tales: Expanded Edition by Maria Tatar (access through JSTOR)

    • Off with Their Heads!: Fairy Tales and the Culture of Childhood by Maria Tatar (access through JSTOR)

Prompts

The purpose of this research paper is to gain a deeper understanding of the fairytale “Beauty and the Beast”. You will be doing this by referring to outside sources, learning to incorporate your own voice/analysis with those of experts and employing MLA guidelines for citation and documentation. To do this, you may select one of the following prompts:

  • Adaptations and Fairy Tales: Explore the purpose of adaptation. Consider the following questions to help you get started: What do the changes do for the story? How do these changes impact your understanding of the story? Why might these changes have happened?

  • Creative Writing Assignment: Write an adaptation of your own of “Beauty and the Beast”. For this assignment, you must also write a two-page reflection on the research you did to understand this story and make an argument for your creative choices. For this option, your story must be at least 1300 words and your research component and justification/analysis for your choices must be at least 700 words. This is not an ‘easy’ option, as you will be graded on the seriousness and effectiveness in which you craft a story and utilize research to do so. You are not expected to be creative writers, but you are expected to take seriously the project if you choose this option.

Requirements

  • Essay must be between 1300-2000 words in length; see specifications for Creative Writing prompt if you choose that one.

  • MLA formatting is required (double spaced, no spaces between paragraphs, course information at the top, one-inch margins on all sides, 12 pt. standard font, creative title)

  • All pages must be numbered and have your name as part of the header

  • All drafts must be submitted on Canvas. No print copies are required, nor will they be accepted in lieu of digital copies.

  • If you do not hand in the Annotated Bibliography, you will lose half a letter grade from the final paper

Reminders

  • You are not summarizing the readings, and you are not writing a personal essay.

  • You should place these texts in conversation with each other rather than writing separate papers disguised as one paper. This means that each paragraph should discuss each text in equal measure based off of your topic sentence and argument per paragraph.

  • You should not center someone else’s words over your own; you are not using the secondary sources to create your argument, but only to support what you are saying.

  • If you do not have any direct quotes or a Works Cited page, you will be subject to a lowered and possibly failing grade.

  • Refer to Paper #2 for tutoring requirements