Sixth Six Weeks Research Project

Sixth Six Weeks Research Project

English I

This Packet Belongs To:______

If lost, please return to room 411.

Background:

"We Didn't Start the Fire" is a rap-like recitation of events and icons that telescopes the singer's 40 years as it tries to make some linear sense of the postwar years. It also highlights Billy Joel's fascination with history: "I'm a history nut," he says. "I devour history books. At one time I wanted to be a history teacher."

The song's inspiration was an encounter in which Joel found himself taking something of a teacher's -- certainly an elder's -- role.

"I was talking to this young guy in his early '20s," he says. "And he was talking about what a hard time this was to grow up in, with crack and AIDS. And I thought, we said that when we were that age. Jeez, there was Vietnam, the Kennedy assassinations, drugs, Nixon...the song is saying, 'Look, we didn't start the fire, we tried to fight it, but it was burning and it's gonna burn on after we're gone and it's gonna burn on after you're gone, too. That's the way the world is, imperfect; you have to learn to deal with it. But don't give up! Change what you can change; don't fall into cynicism and despair."

Your assignment:

First, you must listen/watch the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel. Then, you must choose a topic out of the song. ALL STUDENTS WILL SIGN UP FOR A TOPIC. NO REPEATS WITHIN A CLASS!

Lyrics are on the following page.

FYI:

Parts of Research Paper:

Introduction

¨  Part 1: Background Information – Who? What? When? Where? Why?

¨  Part 2: Conflict(s)- What is/was wrong about your topic? What was the conflict?

¨  Part 3: Modern Relevance- Why should WE know about your topic?

Conclusion: Restatement of essay. Wrap Up.

General Information:

~  You need a minimum of four sources.

o  One source must be a book.

~  Do not just settle on the first four sources you find. Find the best sources possible.

~  You will need a minimum of 25 note cards.

~  Gather more information than you feel is necessary.

~  Cite everything that is not common knowledge.

Guidelines for the Research Paper:

1.  The final manuscript must be written in MLA (Modern Language Association) format with 12 pt Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins on all sides, and correct headings.

2.  There will be individual due dates for your tentative works cited page, note cards, and outline. Failure to complete these steps on time will significantly lower your overall grade.

3.  Plagiarism will result in a failing grade. Cite everything that is not common knowledge!

The Research Paper Writing Process

þ Checklist

Preliminary Steps

¨  1. Select a topic.

¨  2. Research the topic by reading general information in books, encyclopedias, and credible internet sources.

¨  3. Verify that there are enough available sources of information.

¨  4. Write a tentative thesis statement.

Gathering Information

¨  1. Print online information and place in back pocket of research folder.

¨  2. Have a variety of sources; do not overuse any one source.

¨  Do I have at least 4 sources?

¨  Do I have at least one book source?

¨  3. Record author, title, and publishing information for all sources to create a tentative works cited page. (Refer to Creating a Works Cited Page on page 10.)

¨  Have I copied down all source information?

¨  4. Take notes on notes cards. Include source/page citations. Use subject headings. Paraphrase. Summarize. Quote.

¨  5. Keep EVERYTHING (notes, sources, etc.) together!

Writing the Paper

¨  1. Revise tentative thesis statement.

¨  2. Write a formal outline.

¨  3. Write a strong introduction.

¨  4. Use note cards and outline to write a rough draft. Include parenthetical citations.

¨  5. Write a strong conclusion. Emphasize the importance of mythology and its relevance today.

Preparing the Final Manuscript

¨  1. Revise your draft. Be sure that you have used third person throughout the paper and have incorporated quotations smoothly and correctly.

¨  2. A final works cited page should include only the sources that you cited in your paper. Works cited should be in alphabetical order. This page does not count towards the three page minimum.

¨  3. Proofread final manuscript to ensure there are no errors.

¨  4. Make sure essay and works cited are together.

Turning in Your Work

¨  1. Turn in paper copy to Mrs. Schwanke

¨  3. CONGRATULATIONS!!! You’re all done!!!

RESEARCH TERMS

1)  ______ – a reference book, usually alphabetized, that provides

background information and facts

2)  ______– any person, book, or document that provides information on a topic

3)  ______ – a collection of webpages, images, videos or other digital information

4)  ______– a list of sources that were cited or referenced in a research paper; usually appears on a separate page at the end of the paper

5)  ______– a reference in the text contained in parenthesis which points to a specified source in the Works Cited list containing a page number and author’s name [Example: (42), (Steinbeck 97)]

6)  ______– a large collection of data organized for rapid search and retrieval through the internet

7)  ______ – an alphabetized list of names, places, and subjects mentioned in a printed work, giving the page or pages on which each item is mentioned; usually at the end of a reference book

8)  ______ – a program that searches for files, documents, and/or data from a database or the internet using specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found [Example: Google, Bing, Yahoo!]

9)  ______– the address bar at the top of a web browser that indicates the website or webpage being viewed

10)  ______– a punctuation mark (. . .) that indicates an intentional omission of a word or a phrase from the original text in a direct quotation

11)  ______– exact words from the author set within quotation marks

12)  ______– a restatements of the author’s ideas in your own words

13)  ______– a condensed restatement of the author’s most important ideas

My THREE choice topics are:

1:______

2:______

3:______

Before you choose your specific topic, it’s important that you brainstorm each of your topics.

For Example:

After you’ve brainstormed ideas off of your topic, create questions over those ideas.

For Example:

Name:______Period:______

Daily Grade: Questions Over Topic

My Topic:______

My FIVE Questions:

1.______

2.______

3.______

4.______

5.______

You will detach this paper from your packet and TURN IT IN to me. Check your back page for due dates.

Plagiarism

What Is It?

Plagiarism is defined as presenting words and/or ideas from an existing source as if they were your own words and/or ideas. Plagiarism is essentially stealing! Plagiarism can occur if you copy directly from a source without using quotation marks or an in-text citation. Plagiarism can occur if you use words and ideas from a source that is not common knowledge and forget to include an in-text citation and documentation on the works cited page.

How to Avoid It

1.  Record information for your works cited page as you find sources rather than waiting until you write your final manuscript.

2.  Take thorough notes and record sources – their authors and their pages numbers – as you go.

3.  Put notes in your own words.

4.  When paraphrasing, put a majority of the author’s words in your own words.

5.  When quoting, use quotation marks.

6.  Make sure anything that is not common knowledge has a in-text citation in your final manuscript.

To Note or Not to Note

Ask yourself two questions when deciding whether or not to cite particular information.

1.  Does the information or the wording belong to someone else?

2.  Would the information appear more credible if I cite it?

Directions: Indicate whether or not a writer should document the information in each of the following and give credit to a particular source. Circle yes if it needs a citation and no if it doesn’t.

yes no 1. Mythology helped explain natural phenomenon. It existed before mankind had science.

yes no 2. Mythology is still relevant in today’s world.

yes no 3. The phoenix is mentioned in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, but its ancestry and origin of birth is unknown.

yes no 4. “According to ancient writers, the phoenix lived for five hundred years, then died and was reborn. It had brilliant golden and scarlet feathers and grew to the size of an eagle.”

yes no 5. Mythology is all around the world in art, in literature, in astronomy, and in popular culture.

yes no 6. Japanese comic creator Osamu Tezuka's developed a twelve-book series titled simply Phoenix.

yes no 7. The phoenix, a bird associated with immortality, can be seen today in the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling.

yes no 8. The Encyclopedia of World Mythology states: “Fire can also be a symbol of new life, as in the case of the phoenix the mythical bird that is periodically destroyed by flames to rise reborn from its own ashes.”

yes no 9. Today, the phoenix is a symbol of resurrection and rebirth.

yes no 10. This mythological bird even appears in the name of the heavily populated U.S. city, Phoenix, Arizona.

Creating a Works Cited Page

For each of the sources you decide to use for your research paper, you must be sure to copy down all the information necessary for proper MLA (Modern Language Association) documentation and citation. The way you cite your source depends what kind of text that is it. Due to the overwhelming number of resources available, only the most frequently used MLA source documentations are listed here. Use the following web sites. They practically write the MLA citations for you!

http://www. easybib.com

http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

http://www.libs.uga.edu/ref/mlastyle.html

Book with 1 author:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Book. City of the publisher: Name of the Publisher, year of the publication.

Example:

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Boston: Little Brown & Company, 1999.

______

Book with 2 or more authors:

First Author’s Last Name, First Author’s First Name, and Second Author’s First Name and Last Name. Title of Book. City of the publisher: Name of the Publisher, year of the publication.

Example:

Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon, and Ash Dekirk. A Wizard's Bestiary: A Menagerie of Myth, Magic, and Mystery. New York: New Page Books, 2007.

______

Encyclopedia Article:

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name (if available). “Title of Encyclopedia Article.” Name of Encyclopedia. Number of edition with ed. Year of the publication.

“Title of Encyclopedia Article.” Name of Encyclopedia. Volume number. Total volumes. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Page numbers of article.

Examples:

Jones, Louis. "Aphrodite." The New Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1987.

"Hades." UXL Encyclopedia of World Mythology. 3rd vol. 5 vols. Detroit: UXL, 2008. 471-474.