All projects are due on ______! No Exceptions!

Revolution and Rebellions - English II Research Project 2012

Important dates

A or B day Research Schedule

1/18 and 19Topics, research packets

______1/20 and 23 Research packet testand top three topic choices due

1/24 and 25Cornell notes review and bonus rounds

______1/26 and 27In library taking notes – 1 note sheet due

______1/30 and 31In library taking notes - 1 note sheet due

______2/1 and 2In library taking notes – 1 note sheet due and conferences

______2/3 and 6In library taking notes – 1 note sheet due

______2/7 and 8In class – working outlines and thesis reviewed

2/9 and 10In class – working outlines and thesis due; final copies and work cited reviewed

______2/ 13 and 14Rough drafts due – in class editing

2/15 and 16

______2/17 and 20Projects due!

* Dates may change if necessary. Be certain to mark any changes!

Failure to follow instructions or rules will result in the loss of library and computer privileges and require you to complete your project on your own time without teacher assistance.

Step One - Choosing a Topic

This is the beginning of a great journey. You will choose your top three topic choices, and through a random drawing process, a final topic will be assigned.

Step Two - Gathering and Documenting Sources and Note Taking

1. Begin by using the school library information system to locate reference materials about your subject. You may use: books, encyclopedias, magazines, newspapers, or online databases. It is very important to only use approved sources.

  1. You will use a minimum of four sources. You may use only one encyclopedia article, whether book or online. The Bible is not a valid research source. YOU MAY NOT USE THE INTERNET!
  1. When you find an information source you wish to use, begin a Cornell note sheet. Each source must have its own note sheet. Use the steps reviewed by the librarian and teacher to complete each sheet.
  1. When using the online databases, you may save work to your H: drive or put it in the digital locker in your school account. Do not try to email it to yourself as these are usually blocked.
  1. To access the online databases, log in to DentonISD.org, go to the GHS site, then library, and library links
  1. You may use the “ÉasyBib” reference sheet (end of packet) to make sure you have all of the required citation information on your note sheet. For other sources, see your teacher for assistance.

7. Taking notes is very important to your research. Without notes, you cannot write your research paper.

  1. Remember to paraphrase or summarize almost everything.
  2. Write direct quotes with quotation marks on the card and write DIRECT QUOTEunder it.

c. Printed sources must have a page number.

  1. You must have a minimum of four sources and a minimum of four Cornell note sheets. More is always better!

Step Three - Formulate a Thesis

The writer’s task is to collect evidence that proves and supports the thesis statement. Study the main headings you have chosen and use them to create a final thesis statement. Look for the overall idea to present, not details. The thesis statement should be a sentence which states the main idea of the research.

A thesis statement enables the writer to remain on a productive path in planning and writing the paper.

  • It is the controlling idea of the paper.
  • It is one declarative sentence expressing a position on a limited topic.
  • It is developed through each body paragraph.
  • It answers the paper’s question.
  • It will address some limited and specific issue pertaining to the text or topic.
  • In this paper, it should be the last sentence in the introductory paragraph.
  • It is restated in the conclusion.

The wording of the thesis statement can evolve over the course of your writing process. Do not be discouraged if you do not have a “perfect” thesis right away. As you write your paper, and think more about your topic, you will come up with an eloquent final thesis.

There are two types of thesis statements: open and closed.

Closed thesis statement: a closed thesis statement has distinct subtopics that correspond directly to body paragraphs.

  • Paper’s question: Should students be required to identification cards? Support or refute.
  • Closed thesis statement: Schools should not require students to wear IDs because IDs are ineffective, inconvenient, and expensive.
  • Because it is a closed thesis statement with apparent subtopics, the reader knows that you will discuss how IDs are ineffective in body paragraph one, inconvenient in body paragraph two, and expensive in body paragraph three.

Open thesis statement: an open thesis statement does not have distinct subtopics but rather an open-ended statement still answering the question.

  • Paper’s question: Should students be required to identification cards? Support or refute.
  • Open thesis statement: Schools should require students to wear IDs.
  • The writer does not indicate what each body paragraph will specifically explain, but the reader knows the writer will discuss the reasons for wearing identification cards.

DO NOT begin thesis statements with phrases such as “The purpose of this paper is…” or “My paper is going to be about…” or “I believe…”!

Step Four - Organizing Your Notes

  1. Create topics
  2. Look for patterns based on your Key Words / Main Ideas, and begin grouping your main ideas.
  • These will become your main topics such as "history," "effects”, “political influences”, “cultural influences”, “supports”, “controversies”, etc.
  1. Sort notes into topics and organize within topics
  • After you have sorted your notes for each topic, read through your notes for each group. After reading the information for each note, decide with which topic this note would best fit.
  • Using either a color code, number system, or symbol system, sort your notes by topics and code them.
  • For your history/background section, decide which note would best be presented first. For history, using chronological order is easiest. Once you decide on a first note, next to your color, number, or symbol for that topic, mark it “1”. On the next note, put a “2” and so forth until all the notes have been numbered.
  • For the other sections of the papers, it is best to organize your notes based on good, better, and best reasons to support your argument.
  • Not all notes may be used. If a note is redundant, mark it with an “X”, but do not scribble it out where you cannot read it. You may need to refer to it later.

Step Five–Writing the Outline

The purpose of outlining a paper is to indicate the paper’s structure and to organize the writer’s ideas and the accumulated research into a logical, fluent, effective paper. This is the road map to your paper. Use the map! Don’t be the idiot who wanders aimlessly refusing to ask for directions! See the example outline for extra help (page 5).

Helpful Hints for Working Outlines

  1. Center the title at the top. Do NOT use a larger font, bold, underline, or quote the title.
  1. Use Roman numerals and letters as needed and modeled on sample outline.
  1. Always line up the margins. Indent subtopics so that all letters or numbers of the same kind will come directly under one another in a vertical line.
  1. Use the buddy system. All A’s must have B’s, all 1’s must have 2’s, etc.
  1. Capitalize only the first word in a main topic or subtopic (with the exception of proper nouns and proper adjectives).
  1. Do not use periods at the end of phrases or topics, only after complete sentences. Your outline will NOT have complete sentences.
  1. Double space.
  1. To create the body of the working outline, take the notes you sorted and use the topics as the headings for your outline. The organized notes for each section will be your subtopics, details, and sub-details. Use at least two sources per paragraph. DOCUMENT ALL INFORMATION FROM NOTE SHEETS ON THE OUTLINE.
  1. Convert these notes into your own phrases. This will determine that the majority of the ideas in the paper are in your voice and not accidentally someone else’s. Use at least two sources per paragraph. Any information from a note, not matter how you paraphrase it, must be documented.
  1. Include all correctly incorporated direct quotations to be used in the final outline and paper, and document them in MLA format.
  1. Use at least two sources per paragraph.
  1. Read your notes carefully and rearrange ideas as needed.
  1. Most importantly, edit, edit, edit, and edit some more!
Outline Example

Last name, First name

English II, period

Date

Title

I.Introduction

A. Lead

B.Transition sentence

C.Thesis statement

II.Background

A.Concrete detail 1 (good proof from research to prove point in topic sentence. You must have at least three facts and use at least two sources per paragraph.)

1.Supporting sentence

2.Supporting sentence

B.Concrete detail 2 (better proof)

1.Supporting sentence

2. Supporting sentence

C.Concrete detail 3 (best proof)

1.Supporting sentence

2.Supporting sentence

D.Conclusion sentence to paragraph

III.Turning Point (Use previous structure)

IV.Outcome (Use previous structure)

V.Significance (Use previous structure)

VI.Conclusion

A.Rephrase thesis statement

B.Transition sentence

C.Conclusion

Step Six – Write Your Essay

  1. Use your outline. Using paragraph form, indent the first line and follow your outline. When using information from a note, be sure to include documentation.
  1. Remember, you will need to add some of your own words and sentences to notes to create a smoothly flowing essay.
  • You will also need to make sure supporting sentences come from your head, not notes.
  • Topic sentences must come from your head, not notes.
  • Concluding sentences must come from your head, not notes.
  1. With all direct quotes, include documentation and incorporate in MLA format.
  1. Make sure you use at least two sources per paragraph.
Step Seven - Internal Documentation and Quotations

What to document? EVERYTHING! Okay, not really everything but almost because you must document anything that is not common knowledge or your own original idea. Everything else must be documented. This includes direct quotes, paraphrasings, generalizations, and anything else that did not burst forth in brilliance from your brain. To put it simply, if the information comes from a note card,DOCUMENT IT!

How do I document?

MLA’s in-text citations are written with a mixture of signal phrases and parenthetical references. Signal phrases are words which indicate that something comes from a specific source such as quotations, summary, or paraphrasing. This usually includes the author’s name. The parenthetical reference follows the sentence and includes at least the page number of the work cited or the author and work cited. Citations should be as clear as possible so that the reader can find the source on your works cited page. By using a signal phrase, it is possible to keep the citation brief.

Good writers use paraphrasing and quoting to incorporate source materials in with their own words to make sure their own voice is heard. No matter how you choose to write it though, it MUST BE DOCUMENTED IF IT COMES FROM A NOTE CARD!

Quotations are the exact words of an author, copied directly from the source word for word and must be cited!

To correctly document quoted materials:

Enclose all quotations in quotation marks. Always copy the quotation exactly as it appears in the original source. Copy spelling, internal punctuation, and capitalization, exactly as written, even if the original contains errors.

Use quotations when:

• You want to add the power of an author’s words to support your argument.

• You want to disagree with an author’s argument.

• You want to highlight particularly eloquent or powerful phrases or passages.

• You are comparing and contrasting specific points of view.

Examples

Quote with author’s name incorporated in signal phrase

If the signal phrase does not include the author’s name, the last name needs to be included in the citation.

All quotations must be incorporated. Avoid the following mistakes.

Never drop a quotation into a sentence or paragraph without a proper lead-in. You do NOT want to use the following poorly written example:

The “somebody said” lead-in is very common, boring, and just bad writing. Don’t do this either.

Instead, do one of the following well-written examples:

The incorporated lead-in provides more flexibility. To incorporate some of the quoted material is left out and what is retained blends right in with the sentence

The “sentence followed by a colon” lead-in is another effective technique

Omitting material from quotations

oYou can omit words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs from your quotation; be sure it still reads grammatically correctly and that you have not changed the meaning of the original work.

oIndicate that material has been omitted within a sentence or paragraph, by using an ellipsis. An ellipsis is three periods with a space before each and after the last, as shown below:

In surveying various responses to plagues in the Middle Ages, Barbara W. Tuchman explains, “Medical thinking . . . stressed air as the communicator of disease, ignoring sanitation or visible carriers” (101-02).

REMEMBER: YOU MUST INCORPORATE ALL DIRECT QUOTES IN YOUR FINAL ESSAY.

Paraphrasing means rephrasing the words of an author, putting his/her thoughts in your own words. When you paraphrase, you rework the source’s ideas, words, phrases, and sentence structures with your own. Like quotations, paraphrased material must be followed with in-text documentation and cited on the Works-Cited page. NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PARAPHRASE, YOU MUST DOCUMENT INFORMATION IF IT COMES FROM A NOTE CARD.

Paraphrase when:

• You want to avoid overusing quotations.

• You want to use your own voice to present information.

• You want to establish background or offer an overview of a topic.

• You want to determine the main ideas of a single source.

If you are paraphrasing material from a specific page of a book or magazine article and you do not wish to state the author’s name in the sentence, cite the source of the information as shown in the following example:

As society continues to undergo rapid technological change, people will be unable to adapt (Toffler 24).

If you are paraphrasing material from a specific page of a book or magazine article and you use the author’s name in your sentences, cite the source of the information as shown in the following example:

Toffler believes that as society continues to undergo rapid technological change, people will be unable to adapt (24).

NOTE: When the numbers are more than two digits, only the first number in range contains the total number of digit(s). For example:

According to Jones, the two authors oppose on another’s viewpoints about capital punishment (146-58).
  • Citing other types of publications

Passage with two or three authors:
(Angell, Smith and Jones 48).
Passage with more than three authors:
(Williams et al. 97). “Et al” means "and others"
Passage with no author listed: Use the first word of the citation when no author is listed. Titles of magazines articles are enclosed in quotations, and titles of books are underlined.
(College 15) - book title is College Bound Seniors
("Study" 96) - magazine article title is "Study Finds Teen Smoking on the Rise"
Passage with author writing more than one source: Add the first main word of the title to the author's name to differentiate which source is used. (Larson, "Wing" 23). (Larson, "Goofy" 3).
Passage in a volume of a multi-volume work: indicate the volume number first, followed by the page number. (Danielson 4: 113-15)

Remember documentation is vital! Without documentation in your working outline and essay, the project will receive a zero. If it comes from a note card, DOCUMENT! Don’t PLAGIARIZE!

Step Eight - Plagiarism: How to Avoid Common Pitfalls

Plagiarism is the act of stealing ideas, language, and information and passing them off as one’s own. All research requires us to refer to another person’s ideas, but we must reference these ideas and give credit to the sources where we found this information.

How do I avoid plagiarism?

  • If you read sources to help you understand a topic give credit to every source.
  • If you find someone else has used the perfect words to express your idea, use quotation marks around that person’s words, and give credit to the source.
  • If you take someone’s ideas and put them into our own words, give credit to the source.
  • If you read someone else’s paper as an example, give credit to the source.
  • Never submit someone else’s work as your own and ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT TO THE SOURCE.

Examples of plagiarism: Original document

Original document:

Example of plagiarism 1:

Explanation of plagiarism 1: