Research Paper
Each student is required to complete a research paper. Under no
circumstances is it possible to earn credit for this course without completing
the research paper. The written report will be 9-10 pages of text, plus
footnotes. Use Times New Roman font, double spaced, one inch margins. You
must have 10 sources - at least three must be primary sources.
Research Paper Timeline
Last Day of November - Topic for research paper
Last Day of January - Annotated Bibliography, outline for research paper and thesis statement
Last Day of February - First Draft of research paper
May 15 - Second Draft of research paper
June 1st - FINAL VERSION OF RESEARCH PAPER
Each of these deadlines is worth three points toward the final paper grade. If
you miss the deadline, the points are gone. If you miss five deadlines, a
total of 15 points will be lost. If the final paper grade is a 90, the fifteen
lost points turn the paper into a 75.
Research Paper Guidelines/Tips
First - and perhaps most importantly - You must pick a topic that
interests you. You will be spending most of this school year with your topic.
If you are not genuinely interested in what you are researching, you will lose
interest and the final product will be lackluster. You should have selected a
topic and sent me an email with a short paragraph describing your topic and
why you want to write your paper on it. This is the first deadline (all
deadlines are by midnight on the last day of the month).
Second - your research needs to be solid. Primary and secondary sources
are
required. With the internet, our library and numerous universities at
your disposal, finding material should not be a problem. You can also use
Interlibrary loan through your public library (see your local librarian for
more info). If your research is superficial and shoddy, you will not be
familiar enough with the topic and the historical debates surrounding it.
Third - The great challenge in writing the narrative will be to move
beyond description and analyze the material - find a question about the topic
that your paper will answer. Compiling information and simply telling the
story are not enough for this assignment. You must construct a solid thesis
statement and every element of your narrative must be devoted to proving your
thesis.
Fourth - You must contextualize your topic. Why did the Salem
witch trials occcur? If you do not ask why and simply stop with the hanging of
over a dozen people, you miss the power of the story. Why were most of those
hanged women? Why were most of the accused from one area and their accusers
from another? What does this tell us about the health of Puritanism at the end
of the 17th century? This is the real meat of the historian's intellectual
diet. If you do not fix your topic in the proper historical context, it will
be flat and plausible conclusions will be most difficult to construct.
Sources: You must have at least 10 sources - three of which must be primary
sources.
Citations: Chicago style will be used in your footnotes. See my Links page for
resources on proper construction of footnotes. We will also discuss this in
class.
Please contact me anytime with questions about the paper. Do not miss
these deadlines!
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