Honors World Cultures s1

American Cultures 6.0

Mr. Gutsche

Research Paper Guidelines

1)  All students in American Cultures Honors are required to complete a research paper to receive course credit. You will choose your paper's topic, subject to my approval, and it should be a topic covered in American History between the years 1918 to the present. The focus of the paper should be a topic post-WWI. Some possibilities you may wish to consider are:

·  A historical event, its regional or global significance and ramifications;

·  A current issue / situation and possible alternative outlooks toward it;

·  A comparison of two major events, people, groups, etc. and how they relate in/to U.S. History;

·  A person or group of people, past or present, and their impact or role in U.S. History.

·  SEE POSSIBLE TOPICS LIST on the Class website!

YOUR PAPER MUST FOCUS ON AN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE. It may be on a topic dealing with other countries or regions around the world, but the FOCUS of your paper and thesis must be on the American perspective (If you are having difficulty, you could also look for topic ideas in Chapters 22 to 31 of your textbook or on the American Cultures Outline you received at the beginning of the year).

2)  The final draft of the research paper MUST be…

·  Typed; with your thesis sentence underlined (last sentence of introduction paragraph)

·  Turned in as a hard (paper) copy and submitted on turnitin.com (directions will be given);

·  A minimum of 5 pages in length and a Works Cited Page (The number of pages is to the last full page and does not include the Works Cited page)

·  Double spaced

·  Font size of 11 or 12 (Calibri or Times New Roman preferred), with one-inch margins on all sides.

3)  SOURCES…

·  A minimum of 6 sources total must be cited on the Works Cited page.

·  2 of those sources must be primary sources (you will put an * next to those source on your WC)

·  Your textbooks and general encyclopedias (books and/or internet) ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE SOURCES.

·  I strongly encourage you to use a variety of sources (Example - books, articles, electronic databases, websites, etc.). You may NOT rely solely on internet sources.

4) DOCUMENTATION…

·  Sources used within your paper must be cited using MLA parenthetical documentation.

·  For the correct format, follow the guidelines on the North Penn IMC Resource page for MLA format or use NoodleTools to keep track of your sources, notes, and citations.

5) PLAGIARISM WARNING…

The North Penn School District Plagiarism Policy will be strictly enforced. If the originality of your paper is challenged, the following process will be utilized and the "burden of proof" rests with the student. A) All sources must be presented to the teacher within three days of the challenge. B) An appointment will be scheduled to review the source of the ideas for your writing. C) It is the student’s responsibility to show at this meeting where the ideas included in the paper originated.

6) GRADING THE PAPER…

The Research Paper will be graded in progress during the third and fourth marking periods. Due dates and point values are listed below:

·  Final topic due for approval on Wednesday 2/3 10 points

·  Preliminary Thesis statement due on Monday 2/8 15 points

·  Preliminary Bibliography due on Wednesday 2/10 10 points

·  First Note taking check point on Tuesday 2/16 10 points

·  Second Note taking check point on Monday 2/22 10 points

·  Thorough Outline due on Wednesday 2/24 30 points

·  Rough draft due in class for peer review on Monday 2/29 50 points

·  Final draft due on Friday 3/11 (+10 if turned in early) 100 points

*Hard copy and turnitin.com submission both required

ALL OF THE ABOVE ITEMS MUST BE TURNED IN ON THE STATED DUE DATE IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FULL CREDIT. REQUIRED ITEMS WILL BE ACCEPTED ONE DAY LATE FOR HALF CREDIT. TWO DAYS LATE WILL NOT EARN POINT CREDIT, BUT STILL MUST BE SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL. ABSENCE FROM CLASS ON ANY OF THE ABOVE DUE DATES DOES NOT EXCLUDE YOU FROM MEETING YOUR OBLIGATION. IF YOU ARE ABSENT ON A DUE DATE, YOU MUST PRESENT THE REQUIRED ASSIGNMENT ON THE DATE OF YOUR RETURN.

7)  Final drafts will be lowered in grade one letter grade for every day that they are late. The absolute last day to turn in a final draft for 50% credit is Thursday 3/17/16.

8)  Failure to turn in a research paper may potentially result in an “F” for the 3rd and/or 4th marking period. Opportunities to resubmit “F” papers to meet the minimum stated requirements may be made available at my discretion, if the student has worked diligently to meet all preliminary deadlines.

9)  I urge you to share a copy of these guidelines with your parents. This is a major part of your grade for the second semester, and they should be aware of my expectations and your obligations.

10) You may find it helpful to obtain an additional folder just for research paper handouts and assignments. Organization is the key to success with this project!

Tentatively scheduled IMC days: 02/03 – 02/12

*** Above IMC dates and due dates may change if we have snow days or need to change our planned schedule for other various reasons ***