Research Writing Project:
It’s All a Mystery to Me
DO NOT THROW THIS AWAY!
This packet of information is your guidebook to
writing a successful research paper. It is also your calendar. You have specific due dates for
specific portions of the project, and you will find those dates throughout this packet;
therefore,
DO NOT LOSE THIS.
*****ALL DATES ARE TENTATIVE*****
1. Selecting a Topic—
(10 points)
Decide which ideas you could actually prove something about or ideas
that have a new angle that you could portray in your writing. Then
decide which topic meets the following criteria:
 Is it interesting to you?
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Is there enough information available to write a 2-3 page
research paper?
Is it an unsolved mystery? A topic about which you can have a
hypothesis? An event about which there are differing
opinions? A topic which is not factually based or clearly
proven already?
Is the topic able to be researched in the time provided?
Is the topic specific enough that I can clearly focus the paper?
(a topic that is too broad will be overwhelming to you and the
reader!)
Do I have an open mind about this topic? (in other words, you
should not already have formed an opinion.)
Do I have the opportunity to learn something new about this
topic through research?
If you can answer “yes” to all of the questions, then you have a great topic. If
none of your topics meet these standards, then open your mind to others. You
need to commit to a topic by the end of class TOMORROW. You must see me
about changing your topic—I may or may not allow you to change.
It’s a Mystery to Me Research Project
STEP 1: NAME IT
What is your mystery? Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? You find the answers! If your topic is
Stonehenge, that is not the only word you can use to search – you can also search for the geographical
location, the time period, the religious connection, etc. The more key words you have, the more
thorough your search will be.
STEP 2: RESEARCH
Research your mystery. Find appropriate sources and using source pages; for the Internet, remember to
use only .edu’s .gov’s or .org’s. (NO .COM’S!) The internet is not always your friend. Check the author
and site sponsor: are they well-known and reliable? Is proper spelling used? Is proper grammar used?
Use an encyclopedia, the internet, and library books.
STEP 3: HYPOTHESIS
Form a hypothesis. So you’ve read about your topic and answered many questions. Do you think you
have a good idea on what could be one of the solutions to the mystery?
STEP 4: DRAFT
Choose a narrator – if I am writing about Stonehenge. I might decide it was really an ancient place of
worship for a religious culture which revolved around worship of the sun. I would tell this story though
the eyes of an archaeologist who stumbled upon it originally or through the eyes of a teen living in a
civilization which believed in this worship. You may need to do not only historical research, but
geographical and cultural research to fill in the gaps of your story.
How can you tell the story? Who would be a likely narrator? How do you think this person would most
likely be telling the research? What would be an interesting general story frame for the mystery?
STEP 5: WRITING
This is creative research writing. Feel free to incorporate dialogue, conversation, thoughts, diary entries,
letters, etc. Even though this is not a traditional essay, all of the information must be documented
correctly. In telling your story, you must use parenthetical citation. This simply means your document,
in parentheses, the author of the work and page number on which the information appears in your
research material. Your parenthetical citation will correlate to your works cited page.
A Word about Requirements
* At least 2 pages, typed: double- spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman.
* Paper contains 10 cited facts.
* Minimum of 3 sources – one encyclopedia, one internet, 2 books.
* Works Cited page.
* Colored source pages attached.
* Rough Draft attached.
2A- Gather Information
o It is important to read a general article (or several) about your topic.
Library Research Days:
Internet Research Days:
One way to begin is by looking up your topic in an encyclopedia or through and on- line search.
When you do this, you may get some ideas for key words and phrases to use while you continue your
research. You can also begin by reading several magazine articles or checking out web pages about your
topic.
If you intend to use the information from a web page, you must check it against the web-reliability
form in this packet. (We will practice this as a class.) Remember that anyone can create a webpage.
Use good judgment when seeking info on the web. Generally information from a university (.edu),
government (.gov), or professionally sponsored page (.org) is reliable.
o Find a general article in a magazine or an encyclopedia and begin to take notes on the article.
o For each of the sources you find, please gather the following information:
o Author(s)
o Title
o Publisher
o Place of Publication
o Date of Publication
o Page Numbers
o Web Address (if applicable) and date you found info.
Remember NOT TO COPY WORD FOR WORD unless you plan to include quotations in your paper.
You notes should only include information which is relevant to your topic; not every piece of
information found will be necessary. If you do copy something word for word, it must be enclosed in
quotation marks and cited!
2B- Taking Notes
Once you have found a source that relates well to your research, it is important to make that
information as usable as possible. In order to do so, you need to take concise notes that summarize the
pieces of the source you think you’ll be using for your paper. For each source you find, you need only
the information that applies to YOUR topic. In some cases, it is helpful to photocopy sources, but if you
don’t take notes on what you’ve copied, there’s a good chance that when you go to use the source, you’ll
find that it’s junky and irrelevant to your research.
Taking notes will make that later stages of research (outlining, drafting) much easier and
will help you to get the most out of your sources.
Here are some tips for taking notes:
--Briefly summarize the main points of the source that apply to your topic
--Paraphrase (write in your own words) ideas you might want to use
--Highlight or copy down notes that seem to fit really well with your topic, quotes that say
perfectly what you’re trying to relate in your paper.
--Keep notes organized by subject, i.e: sources that support your hypothesis and those that don’t.
* Your notes and sources combined are worth 60 points, so take them both
seriously. One of the keys to manageable research is organization! It should
be easy to see how you have organized your notes ad the sources you have
found. Choose a system and stick to it!
--Take thorough notes on all of the sources you find (unless there is no valuable info in the
source you find!). Choose to use note cards, listing, or photocopying. Be consistent and work together!
Be sure to record the page number from which EACH PIECE of information comes.
2C- Finding Sources
Now you need to start reading articles and finding sources to give you information which will
move you toward a hypothesis about your topic and answer the questions you have about a topic.
3- Forming a Working Hypothesis and Story Frame
Now that you have a topic and some information about that topic, you need to decide on a
hypothesis and slant. What do you think really happened? Who could tell this “story”? What could your
story frame be? For example, if I am writing about Stonehenge, I might decide that it was really an
ancient place of worship for a religious culture which revolved around worship of the sun. I would tell
this story through the eyes of an archaeologist who stumbled upon it originally or through the eyes of a
teen living in the civilization which believed in this worship, or I could write it from the perspective
of…well, you get the idea. Who would tell this story? What would this story be? MAKE SURE YOU
HAVE EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR HYPOTHESIS!!!!! Also, this would be a great time to
determine what kind of historical, cultural, or geographical research you will need to fill in the gaps of
your “story”.
* Write a working hypothesis and identify your story frame.
--Begin to think about the information you already have to help prove that. Then seek the
information you still need to make your proof stronger…what’s missing? What do you still need to find
out?
4- Developing Main Points
After you have taken all of your notes and started thinking about a hypothesis, you will begin to
develop the main points, which support this. Look back at what you proposed for your working
hypothesis.
Okay, now think about what you have learned from research you have completed. Based on your
research, what are your reasons for the slant on the topic? Why do you believe this to be true? What is
your evidence? How will you use the research to develop a convincing narrative story which is creative
ad informed by your research? How will you organize your information? What genres might be best
suited to your storyline?
5- Drafting
Your next step is to begin a preliminary draft of your paper. This will be MUCH MORE
CREATIVE than any other paper you’ve written. Do not limit yourself to a traditional essay style.
Feel free to incorporate dialogue (conversations), thoughts, diary entries, letters, and other forms of
communicating the information which will fit in with your story frame. Get into a multiple-gee
approach! Remember all of the examples we perused early in the project-what might be useful from
those examples? What else can your creative flair add?
Even though this is not a traditional essay, all of the information must be documented correctly.
Since you are not an expert in the field and you have not done any new or original research about the
topic, you must give credit to those who have written and researched the topic. That is where
parenthetical source citation comes into play. That simply means that your document, in parentheses, the
author of the work and page number on which this information appears in your research material. For
example, if I use a fact, definition, case scenario, or piece of information – even if it is not in the exact
same words as the author – I must include information for the reader of the paper o fid the piece of
information quickly. You already know how to do this because you have used it in your persuasive
essay!
* If you do not use a parenthetical source citation, you will not be giving credit to your
sources, which is plagiarism.
(Fun note) Plagiarism will get you kicked out of most colleges; it will earn you a failing
grade for this project. Plagiarism is a big no- no!
--Give credit to the people who did the hard-core research! It will seem awkward to you are first,
but it will become a habit with some practice. You will probably use parenthetical citation after almost
every sentence in your paper. Since you did not come up with these ideas on your own, you merely
connected them in a new way; you will need to give credit to those who did, even if you are not
quoting the sources. If you had spent the time doing the first-hand research must be documented!
> A hint: When you are typing your rough draft, save it on a disk or in your
student folder on the server of the school’s computers. Then you can easily make
changes! Remember to save early and often; doing so will eliminate the chance that
you’ll lose the work you’ve already done!
* Write a rough draft of your paper.
6- Sharing a Rough Draft
Once you have composed your rough draft, as with any other paper we have written in this class,
it only makes sense to share it with others in order to get feedback about content, structure, style, and
usage. In order to participate in this portion of the project, you will need a complete, clean copy of the
paper you have written.
* Print a copy of your draft for each member of the group. Bring it to class.
7- Revising
Once you have received feedback from others, it will be up to you to determine what changes ad
modifications you will make to you final paper. As always, I will be available to assist you in any way
during this process. DO NO FORGET all you have learned over this course of the semester- you have a
large tool box of strategies you have practiced ad improved.
* Revise your draft, taking into consideration the comments from your peers. Finalize all
changes prior to handing in the publishable version.
8- Publishing Your Essay
* Hand in one final draft.
--Breathe as sigh of relief – you have completed the research paper!
Appendix C: Rubric for Research Paper:
It’s All a Mystery to Me
1. Format (30 points)
a. _____ in correct order
b. _____ correct type size and double-spaced
c. _____ correct length
2. Citations (60 points)
a. _____ 10 citations used (20 points)
b. _____ all documented sources are found on works cited page (20 points)
c. _____ correct format (author 35) used for citations (20 points)
3. Introduction (30 points)
a. _____ Topic is introduced early (10 points)
b. _____ Characters are introduced early (10 points)
c. _____ Introduction is creative and interesting (10 points)
4. Body Development (50 points—each category is worth 10 points)
a. _____ Body clearly focuses on the topic
b. _____ Body is moment-by-moment in terms of detail (don’t drag on!)
c. _____ Clear, rich details paint a picture for the reader
d. _____ Balance of creativity and research
e. _____ Research flows well and fits into the paper
5. Conclusion (20 points)
a. _____ Hypothesis (main point) is clear by the conclusion (10 points)
b. _____ All events are wrapped up and sufficiently analyzed by the end (10 points)
6. Works Cited (50 points)
a. _____ All entries are included and punctuated correctly (25 points)
b. _____ MLA style followed (25 points)
7. Technical/Organization (35 points—each category is rated on a 5-point scale)
a. _____ Correct Spelling
b. _____ Correct Capitalization
c. _____ Avoided fragments and run-ons
d. _____ Used a wide variety of words (avoided overused words)
e. _____ Appropriate/consistent verb tense
f. _____ All paragraphs flow and fit together well
g. _____ Used a variety of sentences
8. Style (10 points EXTRA CREDIT)
a. _____ Used dialogue correctly and effectively (10 points EXTRA CREDIT)**
Total ______/275