Mock Congress Research Paper Guidelines
Helena High School
Social Studies Department
NOTE: This is a MINIMUM REQUIREMENT assignment. Failure to complete this assignment is a failure for the semester.
-You will be participating in Mock Congress at the end of the semester. In preparation for this experience, each student is REQUIRED to research and write a paper on a national problem/issue.
-The purpose of this research paper is:
1) to prove that there is a problem/issue of significance for the society in general,
2) to explain the extent and nature of the problem/issue,
3) to provide a proposed solution to this problem/issue.
-Later, you will be REQUIRED to write a legislative bill on your problem/issue, which will provide a recommendation for a specific solution. This research paper will be used to testify before a committee and/or speaking for that bill in floor debate during Mock Congress.
-This handout covers all the guidelines and minimum requirements for this assignment so you can plan accordingly to completing the requirements on time.
A) Minimum Requirements:
1) 4-6 Pages (MLA Format
- Must be TYPED (will NOT be accepted if handwritten)
- 12 pt Times New Roman
- Double-spaced
2) Minimum of 4 Research Sources Sources must be included correctly.
a. MLA Format: Double spaced, Times New Roman.
Heading and Header (left justified, last name and page number).
Heading for Outline, Drafts, and Finals should include the following (double-spaced, left justified)
Student name
Government teacher ______(or None)
English teacher ______(or None)
Class
Date
b. Cited In-Text AND Works Cited Page
Works Cited page in correct MLA format: double-spaced, hanging indent, alphabetized by first word in reference.
- Draft and Final must be in correct MLA format and must have a Works Cited.
3) Research Sources
a. Sources must be from within the last 5 years ONLY
a. Any source older than 5 years must be cleared with your instructor ahead of time, otherwise its usage will not be given credit.
b. Non-Internet Sources and Database Works
c. Major Newspapers, Magazines, and Journals
d. Acceptable websites: .edu, .gov, .org or major publication websites (ex: Time, Newsweek, Published Newspapers, etc.)
e. Non-print related .com websites will NOT be accepted
f. No wikis
4. Content
Background/History
Opposing Viewpoints
Policy Proposal for Fixing/Altering the Issue
Defense/Validation of Policy Proposal
Minimum 4 qualified research sources
These elements constitute 57% of paper evaluation.
Development
Organization/Sentence Fluency
Word Choice /Voice
Conventions/MLA Formatting
Minimum 4 page requirement
These elements constitute 43% of paper evaluation.
B) Grading Rubric Grades will be assigned according to the following scale:
135 – 150 points = A
120 – 134 points = B
105 – 119 points = C
90 – 104 points = D
0 – 89 points = F
RUBRIC for final paper (150 points) is based on:
o 15 - Ideas and Content-- Intro, Background/ History - Government teacher
o 20 - Ideas and Content-- Position Argument - Government teacher
o 20 - Ideas and Content-- Opposing Argument(s) - Government teacher
o 20 - Policy Proposal and Solution - Government teacher
o 10 - Minimum of 4 Qualified Research Sources - Government teacher
o 20 – Development - English teacher
o 10 - Organization/ Sentence Fluency - English teacher
o 10 - Word Choice/Voice - English teacher
o 20 - Conventions & MLA Formatting - English teacher
o 5 - Minimum 4 page requirement - English teacher
§ (If no Government teacher, English teacher responsible for all. If no English teacher, Government teacher responsible for all)
C) Papers in on Time
a. Reasonable efforts on the part of the student to meet deadlines will constitute full award of points.
b. Lack of effort for timeliness may result in loss of points per the instructor’s policy.
D) Online Resources for Research Paper and Mock Congress
On the Helena High library Department webpage you will find the following to help you out on your research paper and the drafting of your bill for Mock Congress:
1) Mock Congress Research Paper Guidelines (this handout online)
2) Research Paper Help Packet
3) Templates for the Four Outline Formats (in Word; choose one, download)
4) Turnitin.com Link and Instructions (all papers must be submitted to this website)
5) Mock Congress Bill and Resolution Guidelines and Templates
6) Mock Congress Bill and Resolution Samples
7) Calendar for Students of Mock Congress Paper dates
Plagiarism: taking credit for another’s work, or not properly referencing appropriate sources.
To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use:
· Another person’s idea, opinion or theory
· Any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings – any pieces of information – that are not common knowledge
· Quotations of another person’s actual spoken or written words
· Paraphrase of another person’s spoken or written words
To avoid plagiarism, you should also be familiar with the following terms:
Paraphrase: using someone’s ideas, but putting them in your own words. Although you use your own words to paraphrase, you must still acknowledge the source of the information.
Summary: putting only the main ideas or main points into your own words. Although summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material, you must still acknowledge the source of the information.
Quotation: using someone’s exact words. When quoting, you must always put quotation marks around the passage and you must still acknowledge the source of the information.
Common Knowledge: facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people. This is generally known information and you do not need to acknowledge the source. Example: John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960.
Some examples to compare
The original passage:
“Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes.”
Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
An acceptable paraphrase:
According to James Lester, students often quote excessively in research papers, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).
An acceptable use of a quote:
To produce a quality paper that showcases your ideas, “probably only 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter” (Lester 46-47).
An unacceptable plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
Plagiarism Do’s and Don’ts
Don’ts
· Don’t misrepresent other people's work as yours.
· Don’t make up fake sources, quotations, interviews, etc.
· Don’t think that by copying something over and changing every couple of words that you’ve put it in your own words.
· Don’t cut and paste without citing your sources.
· Don’t procrastinate on assignments and homework so that you end up under too much deadline pressure and become tempted to take shortcuts.
· Don't resubmit work for which you have already received credit in a previous class or earlier in your current class.
Do’s
· Do expect to make mistakes managing and citing sources; do expect to correct them.
· Do use strategies to help you manage your sources (for example, put sources you’re quoting or paraphrasing in a different font and font color until the final draft so you don’t accidentally forget they came from another writer).
· Do have fun with sources. Think of using them as weaving, building, playing with blocks, or any other metaphor that you associate with “taking what’s at hand and making something of it.”
· Do write before, while, and after you research, but especially before.
· Do have a clear idea of your thesis, purpose or argument so you can have a distinctive voice in your own essay and aren’t overwhelmed and intimidated by sources.
PLAGARIZED PAPERS (OR PAPERS SHOWING SIGNIFICANT SIGNS OF PLAGARISM WILL RECEIVE A ZERO SCORE AND WILL NOT EARN CREDIT FOR COMPLETING THIS ASSIGNMENT TOWARDS GRADUATION CREDIT.
PLAGARIZED PAPERS (OR PAPERS SHOWING SIGNIFICANT SIGNS OF PLAGARISM WILL BE IMMEDIATELY TURNED INTO THE ADMINISTRATION AND THE STUDENT WILL FACE FURTHER ACADEMIC DISCPLINARY ACTION AS DEEMED NECESSARY.