AP English III Dual Credit 2015 Research Paper Steps and Guidelines
1. Have fiction book read and initial assignment completed by 10/15.
2. Decide on an arguable, intriguing topic, stemming from your book, that you would like to
research on 11/18. Choosing your topic will assist in the formulation of your thesis and
overall target of your research process.
3. Fill out Cornell notes for your primary source (fiction book) on 11/20.
4. In the library on 12/1 and 12/3, find, read, and fill out Cornell notes on the following on:
a. One-to-three articles about the book’s author(s) or the book (e.g. background,
interviews, information about influences and/or style reviews, commentary, news
articles about the incident/event/situation/topic detailed in the book, etc.)
b. Three-to-five articles about the content (or topic) of the book (e.g. newspaper
articles, magazine articles, scientific papers or scholarly journals)
c. Must have at least five sources including the primary source—the fiction book.
d. Secondary sources must be from DHS or TWU databases or approved (by Mrs.
Morris) websites.
5. By 12/7, have your Cornell notes sorted into categories, and use them as your outline’s
major headings. Type up your outline using the MLA format for a sentence outline.
Refer to example of an MLA sentence outline on my website. The outline must include
an MLA works cited page.
6. On 12/11, the final draft of your research paper is due. The final draft should be 5-7
double-spaced pages, 12-point font, with 1” margins all around. The heading should be in
the top left-hand corner of the page with page numbers in the top right-hand corner (last
name and page #). You are required to use quotations from the fiction book as well as the
secondary sources. Use Purdue OWL as a reference for correct MLA usage.