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Mrs. Lindbloom, English 12AP, English 10, and Journalism |
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Research PaperTo email me your preference from school, go to http://www.schoolnotes.com/23228/lindbloom.html and click on "Click here to send an email to Ms. Lindbloom." Be sure to include your name; otherwise, I won't know who sent me the email! Include several choices in case yours is taken. See below for research related links. A Note on the Meaning of Research Students are often under the impression that to research means to gather facts. This is only half of its definition. Research involves gathering facts and reaching conclusions based on those facts. In other words, your research must have a point. It must ask a question and seek to find an answer to it. Topic Each of you will receive a group of people/civilization who no longer exist in their former glory today. The question that you are asking is, "What happened to these people? Why are they no longer around?" Note that in many cases your population was not entirely wiped out, but its civilization has experienced significant decline, if not complete collapse. You will have to think to come up with the answer to the question. It will not be something simple like, "The Romans conquered them." Your answer to the prompt, or thesis, will explain why the Romans conquered them instead of them conquering the Romans. Some other questions to consider are
Step 1, Sources (due Feb. 23), 100 pt. homework grade You must have three print sources. These may be two books and one encyclopedia or three books. For a book to count as a source, it must have at least one chapter (20 pages or more) devoted to your civilization. See the Writing page for links to local library catalogues. You must have at least two reputable internet sources. You may have as many as five. However, the bulk of your information should come from your print resources. Write the works cited information on a 3x5 index card just as it would appear on your works cited page. When you have found all of your sources, arrange the cards in alphabetical order and number them. This will help you in Step 2 when you take notes. Step 2, Notes (due March 2/3), 200 pt. homework grade You cannot be too specific when taking notes. All information used in your paper must be documented. Thus you will probably have one notecard which tells where your civilization took place, another telling when, and so forth. Write a descriptive heading on the top of the card (something like "conflicts" or "basic facts"). Write the author's last name, the book number (from your source cards), and the page number (if applicable) on the bottom. You must have at least fifty notecards.
Graded as follows: counts as a 200 homework/classwork grade
Step 3, Outline and Thesis Statement (due Mar. 9), 200 pt. homework grade Your outline is the blueprint of your paper. Once you have organized your notecards, you should find that it is easy to come up with topics for your paragraphs. Your thesis explains your answer to the question and highlights your main reasons. Step 4, First Draft (due Mar. 16), 50 pt. test grade. The first or rough draft should contain your entire paper, simply in rough form. This is your chance to get feedback from me to improve your paper for the final draft. You should consider your paper due on this date or you may wind up making a half-hearted effort at the last minute and will not receive helpful feedback as a result. Step 5, Final Draft (due Mar. 30), 200 pt. test grade. The final draft must be printed before class and turned in at the start of class. You may bind the paper or place it in a folder. A manila envelope is not necessary.
The final draft will include the following in this order:
Plagiarism No credit will be given for term papers which are plagiarized in part or in whole. The assignment is not to cut and paste snippets of information from sources and weave them in with your own writing. The assignment is not to paraphrase other authors. The assignment is not to get another person to write it for you. The assignment is to read sources, take notes from those sources, and then create your own original paper. Honor code violations will be turned in and will appear on your academic record. As a result, you may be ineligible for honor societies. In addition, colleges and universities can and do request to see these files when considering you for admission. More than one student has been rejected outright or has had an offer of acceptance reneged after a college or university learned of his or her honor code violation. Resources
MLA Formatting MLA Parenthetical Citations
MLA Works Cited Page
Topics
Original Topics
North America
Central America
South America
Europe
Middle East/Eurasia
Asia
Africa
Australia/Pacific Ocean
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