Theresearch Paper - Packet

TheResearch Paper - packet

Assignment Overview

Your goal is to write a well-researched, well-written persuasive research paper. Remember that because this is a persuasive paper, you are trying to prove your opinion by providing support from outside sources.Writing to persuade – use facts to support the argument you are making.

Components of Your Grade

1.Topic Selection – Quiz Grade5.Outline – Quiz Grade

2.Research Plan – Quiz Grade6.Rough Draft – Quiz Grade

3.Works Cited – Quiz Grade7.Final Draft with Works Cited

4. Thesis – Quiz Grade2-Major Grades

1. Topic Selection

What is the topic you have chosen? ______

Ask Yourself:Does this issue have a personal or geographic appeal? Yes No

Does this issue relate to my personal life?Yes No

Do I know someone affected by this issue? Yes No

Has it affected my community?YesNo

Has it affected communities in other states or

countries where my family or friends live?Yes No

Ask!

Is this a topic I have always wanted to know more about?

Does this topic meet the requirements of my project?

Ask!

Who is the intended audience?

Circle all that apply.

Peers Community Members Parents or Teachers Other

Understanding the characteristics of your target audience can influence your topic choice. It’s important to present topic that is meaningful and interesting to your audience. You may select a topic because it relates to your personal life OR because you know someone else affected by this issue.

2.Research Plan

Once you have selected a topic to research:

1. Do preliminary reading.

2. Generate a list of at least 5questions you would like to answer about your topic through your research.

3. Decide what resources will be beneficial in answering these questions.

Do preliminary reading.

A textbook is a good place to start for general information on any topic. So is an encyclopedia. Or the databases/websites that I have provided. (No Google, yahoo, Wikipedia/etc.)

As you read, use this space to note any aspects of your topic that you find interesting.

______

Generate a list of at least 5 questions you would like to answer about your topic.

Establishing a set of questions before you even step into the library will help guide your research. Remember, your questions should be clear and answerable. (I suggest the basic who, what, when, where, why questions!)

List your questions in this space.

1.______

2.______

3.______4.______5.______

Decide what resources will be beneficial in answering these questions.

What kind of sources do you need to answer the questions you have established? Are there any specific publications that you think will be particularly useful? Helpful Databases & Websites include: SIRS Researcher; ProCon.org; ebscohost.com; hwwilson.com.

Use this space to record all potential resources.

______

Beware! Not all sources are equally helpful. Ask yourself these questions in order to evaluate each source you find:

• Is the source up-to-date? Recent information is the best!
• Is the source reliable? The author should be from a reputable university, business, or institution!
• What are the author’s viewpoints and biases? Try to discover if the author has a political, ethnic, gender, or other bias that affects his objectivity!

3. Let’s start by creating a WORKS CITED PAGE...

Creating citations for a works cited page is a lot like algebra: the goal is to plug missing information into a complex-seeming formula. After getting started, however, it becomes obvious that while the formula looks complex, it’s really a piece of cake! And remember, always fill in the available information, and forget about and skip what’s missing!

When deciding how to cite your source, start by consulting the list of core elements. These are the general pieces of information that MLA suggests including in each Works Cited entry. In your citation, the elements should be listed in the following order:

1. Author.
2. Title of source.
3. Title of container,
4. Other contributors,
5. Version,
6. Number,
7. Publisher,
8. Publication date,
9. Location.

This is what it will look like on your Works Cited page:

Author’s last name, first name.“Title of the source.” Title of container, Other contributors,Version, Number,Publisher,Publication date,Location.

Each element should be followed by the punctuation mark shown here. Earlier editions of the handbook included the place of publication, and required punctuation such as journal editions in parentheses, and colons after issue numbers. In the current version, punctuation is simpler (just commas and periods separate the elements), and information about the source is kept to the basics.

4.Writing a Thesis

What is a thesis statement? A thesis is a statement in which the topic, main ideas, and primary arguments of an essay are presented. Look at the following examples.

Topic

Assisted Suicide Thesis

Death Penalty

Illegal Immigration

Gay Marriage
Thesis

Physician-assisted suicide should be a legal option for terminally ill patients.

Or – opposite argument

Physician-assisted suicide should be illegal.

The death penalty should be abolished.

Or – opposite argument

The death penalty should be administered for particularly heinous crimes.

Illegal Immigration threatens life in the United States.

Or – opposite argument

The United States should make it easier for illegal immigrants to legally live and work here.

Granting legal marriage rights to gays and lesbians would threaten the stability of the family, a pillar of our society.

Or – opposite argument

Granting legal marriage rights under the law must extend to gays and lesbians to ensure that all citizens enjoy full human rights.

Why does your essay need a thesis statement? Two reasons to include a thesis are to give your reader an overview of your paper and to help you organize your thoughts.

What is a strong thesis? A strong thesis justifies discussion, expresses one main idea, and is
specific.

How do I write a thesis? Writing a thesis is quite simple; simply tie your topic and your main points into a single sentence!

In the space provided, write your thesis for your research paper:

______

5.Outline

Outline your paper in the following space provided – or get some notebook paper to use if you need more space.

A hook is always the first sentence of your paper and is designed to “catch” the reader’s interest.

Hook Examples:

1.The pentagon has twice as many bathrooms as are necessary.

2. When my older brother substituted fresh eggs for our hard-boiled Easter eggs, he didn’t realize our father would take the first crack at hiding them.

3. Hillary Rodham Clinton once said that “There cannot be true democracy unless women's voices are heard.”

Also remember, each main idea should be one of the five questions you generated in your research plan. Your support comes from your research!

Your Paper Title:

I. / Introduction
The Thesis
II. / Topic sentence
Support
A.
B.
C.
III. / Topic Sentence
Support
A.
B.
C.
IV. / Topic Sentence
Support
A.
B.
C.
V. / Topic Sentence
Support
A.
B.
C.
VI. / Topic Sentence
Support
A.
B.
C.
VII. / Conclusion
Restatement of Thesis

6.Rough Draft

Now that you’ve done your research, written your thesis, and organized your ideas into an outline, it is time to begin drafting your research paper. This should be very much like connecting the dots.

As you begin to support your own statements with your research, be sure to use proper citation (see MLA guidelines below).

MLA citation

Since you now know how to create a WORKS CITED PAGE, let’s work on using appropriate IN-TEXT DOCUMENTATION...

When backing up your statements with quotes or when incorporating quotes into your writing, there are certain steps to follow:

1. Place quotation marks around all borrowed material.

2. Include a citation at the end of the sentence but before the period.
What’s a citation? This is where you cite, or give credit to, the source of your quote. When citing a source from a book or article with a single author, do the following:
(author’s last name page number)
(Brooks 12)When citing a source where the author is unknown, use a shortened title instead:
(shortened title page number)
(“Computers” 86)
When citing multiple pages of a work in a single sentence, do the following:
(author’s last name page number, page number)
(Brooks 124,126)
When citing two different sources in a single sentence, in the same order that the quotes appeared in your writing, do the following:
(author’s last name page number, author’s last name page number)
(Brooks 124, Stanton 98)
When citing an online article with no page numbers, use only the author’s last name (when available) or the shortened title:
(author’s last name online)
(“shortened title” online)
(Randall online)
(OED online)
When citing more than one work by the same author, use the author’s last name, the shortened title, and the page number, as follows:
(author’s last name shortened title page number)
(Randall “Technology” 75)
(Randall “History” 211)
Now, put it all together and look at the following example:
This same process was once termed “imitation,” which, as it was first defined by Johnson in theseventeenth century, is a mode “in which the ancients are familiarized by adapting theirsentiments to modern topics” (Brooks 124).

3. When incorporating long quotes (those that exceed four typed lines) into your papers, do the following: Indent one inch (on all lines of the quote).
Do not use quotation marks.
Include a citation after the final punctuation.

7.Final Draft with Works Cited

After you have proofread and edited your rough draft, you are ready to complete your final draft. This is the draft that will determine the majority of your grade, so ensure that it follows these guidelines:

• 3-5 typed pages
• double-spaced with 12 point Times New Roman font
• must include a works cited page (see sample below)

The Works Cited Page

On this page, type and arrange in alphabetical order the MLA citations you completed on the front of each source packet. Make sure your spacing is correct, and refer to the sample below.

Works Cited

Brooks, Harold F. “The ‘Imitation’ in English Poetry, Especially in Formal Satire, Before the Age of Pope.”TheReview of English Studies 25.98 (1949): 124-40. Print.

Cohen, Ralph. “The Augustan Mode in English Poetry.”Eighteenth-Century Studies 1.1 (1967): 3-32. Print.

Davies, Paul C. “Rochester and Boileau: A Reconsideration.”Comparative Literature 21.4 (1969): 348-55. Print.

Moore, John F. “The Originality of Rochester’s Satyr against Mankind.”PMLA 58.2 (1943): 393-401. Print.

Moskovit, Leonard A. “Pope and the Tradition of the Neoclassical Imitation.”Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 8.3 (1968): 445-62. Print.

Your final paper should look something like this…

Sam Jones

Ms. Henderson

English 3

5 May 2010

Bathrooms and the Pentagon

The pentagon has twice as many bathrooms as are necessary. The famous government building was constructed in the 1940s, when segregation laws required that separate bathrooms be installed for people of African descent. This building isn’t the only American icon that harkens back to this embarrassing and hurtful time in our history. Across the United States there are many examples of leftover laws and customs that reflect the racism that once permeated American society.