English 101 Research Paper
Ms. Di Re
Suggested Topics for a Novels Research Paper
The following is a list of novels for your consideration. Choose one you have already read and liked.
Of Mice and Men
Animal Farm
The Catcher in the Rye
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Separate Peace
The Scarlet Letter
Lord of the Flies
The Great Gatsby
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Chocolate War
The Color of Water
The Things They Carried
In Cold Blood
The Kite Runner
Brave New World
1984
Night
Speak
***A novel of your choice, for which you have found sound literary criticism/ written scholarship, and which
has been approved by me.
The following suggested topics are provided to serve as a guideline to assist you in choosing a topic and then
developing an assertion (thesis statement) for your research paper.
1. Book Banning
2. Literary Movements
3. Social impact of a novel
4. Political impact of a novel
5. Historical events influencing plot
6. Role of minor characters
7. Use of theme to develop
in the novel
8. Use of symbolism to develop
9. Female roles in stories written by females
10. Female roles written by males
11. Male roles in stories written by females
12. Male roles written by males
13. Influence of author’s life on aspects of the novel
14. Conflict w/in a character
15. Relationship b/t children and their parents
16. Setting impacting characters’ actions
17. Relevance of character names/ or characters w/o names 18. Importance of setting to theme
19. The female psyche
20. The male psyche
21. The role of morality/immorality/values
22. Relevance of trivial occurrences in storytelling
23. The role of minority characters (gender/race) in storytelling 24. Relationships b/t males/females
25. How characters serve as a foil for one another
English 101
Research Paper Assignment
September 2014
As a condition of graduation, every senior is required to complete a research paper during the first
semester of senior year. The following research paper assignment is required to be completed by Ms. Di Re’s
English 101 students.
Assignment:
1. Choose a novel you have already read and liked (see suggested list on the reverse side of this page).
2. Locate research on your novel that is sound literary criticism/ written scholarship. [For example,
Blooms Notes, Novels for Students, Gale database. In other words, absolutely no Wikipedia or ask.com or
yahoo answers, etc.]
See the back of this sheet for 25 possible topics to focus your search.
3. Develop an assertion (thesis statement or claim as the common core calls it) which must be approved
by Ms. Di Re.
NO TWO STUDENTS MAY DEFEND THE SAME ASSERTION.
Requirements:
1. 25 note cards, with a minimum of 3 sources (bibliographical information) copied and pasted into the
template provided on my HW page. [50 points]
2. A “hybrid” outline/draft [template on my HW page]. The outline portion will require a thesis
statement, three main points, and details [notes from the completed notes cards] to support the main points. The
rough draft portion will require in-text citations after each detail and a completed works cited page. [50 points]
3. The paper is to be DOUBLE-SPACED and between 3-5 pages in length. [No paper of fewer than 3
FULL pages or more than 5 pages will be accepted].
4. The first page should have the following information aligned to the left margin and single spaced:
Your name
English 101, Period
Ms. Di Re
Due Date
Your title should be centered
5. The paper must have a works cited page (not counted in the length of the paper) which will follow the
proper format: 1. alphabetical order by the first item of the citation (it will either be an author’s last name or the
title of an acceptable database article 2. The first line of the citation WILL START AT THE MARGIN and all
subsequent lines within the citation will be tabbed once. 3. The information for the citation will follow that
which was obtained for the note cards.
Grading:
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The note cards and hybrid outline/draft will count as a test grade in MP 1
This paper is 30% of the MP 2 average
Each day any portion of the paper is late, 10 points will be deducted.
Papers that are not properly cited will be heavily penalized.
Plagiarized papers will receive a zero AND students will be required to submit a properly written
paper to fulfill the graduation requirement
Dates to Remember:
Library days for research:
Note cards due:
Thesis statement due:
Hybrid outline/draft due:
Final Copy due:
Rubric for grading:
Format (heading, title)
1
2
3
4
5
Use of Embedding & Quotes
1
2
3
4
5
Paraphrasing
1
2
3
4
5
Thesis Statement
2
4
6
8
10
(main points elucidated in intro paragraph)
2
4
6
8
10
Written coherently & well organized
15
20
25
30
35
Citations in the report
2
4
6
8
10
Works Cited page
2
4
6
8
10
Written w/o major grammatical errors
2
4
6
8
10
Development of Thesis Statement