Research Paper 2015
For this assignment you will be evaluated on your research skills and your essay-writing ability.
Papers are due November 20th. Late papers will lose 10% per day.
You can choose any subject we address in the course for further research. Feel free to browse
the websites students created to get ideas. Here are some possibilities:
Scientific Literacy, Definitions of Science, Racial Classification and Science, Social Class and
Science, Eugenics, Gender and Science, Sexuality and Science, Hysteria, Development of the IQ
Test, Disability Studies, Clinical Photography, Comparative Anthropology, Use of Metaphor in
Science, Modern Museums, Museums' Role in Science Education, Human Testing, and the
Tuskegee Experiment.
(As this is to be your own original work, it is wise to choose different topics from your friends.)
Your goal is to find five reliable sources for your research. Two of them may be written for a
general audience (and one of these may be a reliable website), but the remaining three must be
written for an academic or professional audience. These could be a monograph (aka a book), an
article from an edited collection of essays, or a journal article. The sources should add up to at
least 60 pages. You need to work with these sources very closely. Read them carefully and cite
them often in your text. List them in alphabetical order in an MLA bibliography at the end of the
paper.
As it is an essay you need a thesis. The thesis will be developed from your sources. This means
that choosing good sources which work well together is really important. Don’t go with the first
five things you find! Look for sources which address one aspect of the subject. For example, if
you were interested in Eugenics you could focus on any one of the following sub-topics:
Eugenics in Canada, Eugenics and Women, Eugenics in the United States, Eugenics and Race,
Nazi Ideology and Eugenics, The History of the Term "Moron", Eugenics and Immigration,
Eugenics and Class, Eugenics and Birth Control, Positive Eugenics, Marriage Laws, Shift from
Segregation to Sterilization, Negative Eugenics, Eugenics in Popular Culture, International
Collaboration in the Study of Eugenics, or the Kallikaks and the Jukes.
Look for similarities and differences in how each source addresses the topic and develop your
thesis from there.
Here is what your paper should look like with approximate guidelines for length:
 Introduce topic and give an overview (1-2 pages)
 Introduce your thesis and develop it with frequent reference to your sources (You will
likely focus on some sources more than others). (4-5 pages)
 You can also add an afterword in which you tell the reader what you think and discuss
your feelings about the issue. (maximum 1 page)