Decades Research Paper
Assignment: Students will be writing a research paper throughout the 4th quarter of the class.
Students will choose a decade and topic to focus on and come up with a topic that interests them
and develop a research paper. Ms. Turner will be helping students throughout the semester in
guiding them and making sure they are on track.
You can choose any topic in a decade between 1950-2010. Your focus can be broad (such as
changing gender roles during the 1950s) or specific (How the Beatles impacted American music
in 1962). Pick something you are interested in.
This will count as a test grade.
Due Date: The final draft of the research paper will be due tentatively May 28th. This date is
subject to change depending on Knightdale High School testing schedule.
Requirements: Paper must meet the following requirements.
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Paper Length:
o Academic paper length: 4-5 pages
o Honors paper length: 6-7 pages.
Paper Format: Chicago Style (http://gcd.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/Chicago_Style_Example_Paper_Footnotes.pdf)
o Typed
 Please see Ms. Turner if you do not have access to a computer at home to
make other arrangements.
o Title Page
o 1 inch margin
o Size 12 font, Times New Roman, doubled spaced.
o Footnotes & Works Cited page- sources must be correctly cited
 Papers turned in without a works cited page will not be graded!
Papers that do not meet the format requirements of 1 inch margins, size 12 font, Times New
Roman doubled spaced will automatically be docked 20 points.
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A clear and evident thesis
NO PLAGIARISM– Any paper that has any plagiarism will receive an automatic
grade of a zero!
o Plagiarism- using another’s thoughts as your own aka copying and pasting
information into your paper.
o You MUST put those in quotation and cite your information using footnotes!
Sources
o Academic – At least three sources
o Honors- At least four sources
o No Wikipedia
o Use scholarly articles (google scholar or go to the media center)
Tentative Timeline:
Date
April 2nd
April 8th
April 13th
April 17th
April 21st
April 24rd
April 24th
April 29th
May 1st
May 15th
May 28th
What is due
Students must sign up for a decade by 3 pm. (outside Ms. Turner’s door)
Students must choose a specific area of focus for their research paper and have it
approved by Ms. Turner.
Students must think of and submit a thesis statement to Ms. Turner.
Students should have at least 2 of the sources they are going to use. See Ms.
Turner if you are having trouble finding sources.
Students should have their thesis statement approved by Ms. Turner by now.
Students must submit a 1/2 page typed abstract of their paper (academic) – quiz
grade
Students must submit a 1 page typed abstract of their paper (honors) – Quiz
grade
Students should have and read all their sources.
Students should submit a detailed outline (preferably typed) of their paper – quiz
grade
Students should submit an annotated bibliography to Ms. Turner. This should
include all the sources you are planning on using. Quiz grade.
Students should submit a rough draft of their paper to Ms. Turner – Test grade
Research paper is due- Test grade