THE PAPER IS ABOUT WATCHMEN by ALAN MOORE AND DAVE GIBBONS

For this research paper about WATCHMEN, you will write a research paper answering a simple question:

In a 1952 ruling, Supreme Court Justice Learned Hand gave a simple definition of the superhero. Hand, in writing of Superman and Wonderman, claimed the superhero “at times conceals his strength beneath ordinary clothing but after removing his cloak stands revealed in full panoply in a skintight acrobatic costume.”Hand further noted that the superhero uses his “sufficient strength” as “the champion of the oppressed,” “battling evils and injustice.”Hand’s definition can be simplified to include only four major aspects: a selfless, pro-social mission; powers; costume; and identity.If Alan Moore’s Watchmen is a story of superheroes, given Learned Hand’s definition or other definitions of the heroic, who, by the end, is the story’s hero?

The structure:

Hopefully, by this point in your education, the structure of this kind of paper

is obvious.You will need to have a thesis statement that answers the

question posed, and you will need specific and clear ideas that support

the thesis and explain how it works.

The Research:

You will need absolutely no fewer than two secondary sources.Watchmen

is not a secondary source; it is the primary source.At least one of these

secondary sources must be specifically about the Watchmen.You must find

criticism of the book through the college library’s databases or by searching

the stacks (if you get stuck, the librarian Tiger Swan knows all the research

on graphic novels and will be glad to help you).

The other research can be just about anything you need to prove your

thesis.You may use sources from political science or from philosophy or

you may want to look up something like Joseph Campbell’s writing on hero

Stories.The only rule is that you must explain why the author of your quote

has the right to comment on the topic.For just about any author, you can simply call the author “critic.”For example: In Alan

Moore’s America: The Liberal Individual and American Identities, the critic Michael J. Prince states, “While all of the characters in Watchmen exhibit some agency panic, most of them are possessed by a personally driven vigilantism that manifests the autonomy and purposeful action attributed to the liberal individual.”

The Rules

You will need to cite your sources using MLA citations.

Any instance of plagiarism (here defined as using sentences or parts of sentences

without identifying the source or using ideas with acknowledgement of where they

came from) WILL FAIL THE COURSE.

The paper is due the day of the scheduled final (or earlier).If you plan to sit for the

FINAL EXAM, you must tell me before the end of the semester.

I include the following to help with your research:

Character	Ethical/ PhilosophicalPosition	Political Philosophy
Rorschach	Kantian/ Existentialist/ Retributivists	Conservative/ Libertarian ????
Dr. Manhattan	Relativist	Statist/Nihilist ???
Ozymandias	Utilitarian/ Act Utilitarian	Radical Liberal???
Comdedian	Hedonistic Nihilist/ Absurdist	Authoritarian Conservative???
Nite Owl II	Rule Utilitarian/ Virtue Ethicist	Romantic Liberal?????

Silk Spector IIFeminist?Compassionate

Liberal???