Research Paper

• A research paper is a carefully planned essay that shares information or proves a point.

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• Hardest part…picking the topic
• Pick three topics from the list provided and write them down
• Take a few minutes and list everything you know about the topics

Ask yourself and write down:
• Why am I interested in this topic?
• What will I want to learn from this paper?
• Why am I choosing this topic?
• What will I learn from this topic?

• General: Genocide
• Focus: Genocide in Somalia and the effects on citizens in the country
• General: American views on war
• Focus: Vietnam: before and after the conflict

• Begin by writing some basic questions you would like to answer in you paper.
• Any time you find information that answers a question, take notes on it.

• Direct quote- copies information verbatim
• Paraphrase
• Summarize

• A paraphrase is your “translation” of the source text in YOUR OWN words. A paraphrase is about the same length as the source.

• A summary condenses the ideas from the source in a briefer version. It should be very short.

• You must document these in your paper.
• When in doubt, always make sure you document. Seriously.
• Even if it is after every sentence…

• Since 1969, when Tolkien sold the rights to
Houghton Mifflin, more than 100 million
Tolkien books have been sold worldwide and merchandising was in its infancy (Zellar 23).


PRIMARY
Diary
Person
Event
Survey
Etc.
 Not original sources:
Magazine article
Web site
Encyclopedia,
SECONDARY
Documentary

 Is the information current ?
 Is the information complete ?
 Is the information accurate ?
 Is the source an expert ?
 Is your source biased ?

• Peer-reviewed or scholarly sources by professional experts in the field
• General Audience sources for non-experts
– Cosmopolitan, Newsweek
– English Journal, Journal of American Medical
Association, Cell

• Wikipedia
• Google- until Friday
• Yahoo- until Friday
• Any other search engine
• Free essay websites
• Regular websites that “average” people create

Author’s name
Title of book
5
Olsen, Shawn M. Chocolate Lover’s Guide.
Hayti: Charger Publishing, 1987.
City published
Publishing company
Year published
Notice the periods after the author’s name, the title of the book, and the end of the source.

Names in ABC order
2
Heck, Alice M., Kosmo M. Haley, and James G. Winn.
“Further Analysis of the Llama’s Sleeping patterns.” Zoo
Psychology 6 (2007): 215-240.
Underlined journal
Quoted article name name, the title of the book, and the end for the article

Name of Institution and/or author
Publication date
7
World History Fact Book 2004-2005. Dec. 2004. World
University. 9 Aug. 2005
<http://factbook.worldu.edu/fbook04/emroll/fall.shtm
l>.
Date accessed
Period at end of website.
Notice the website address is in brackets and NOT underlined or different color.

– Record details, information, quotations
– Record page number where information can be found
– Use descriptive wording or headings at top

• The Roman Numerals (I, II, III) designate paragraphs and main topics for paragraphs.
• The capital letters (A, B, C) give information about the paragraph’s main topic.
• The numbers (1, 2, 3) give specific details about the information.
• You may have more than just an A and B main topic. Use as many letters as necessary to cover your information. Same rule goes for numbers. Use as many as you need.

Two-point rule:
• If you have an A, you must have a B.
• If you have a 1, you must have a 2.

• Outline example

• Gather all your research or notes on the topic
• Review it all and decide what your research/information is telling you about your topic.
• Begin to select the information and in what order you want to present it.

• First: You must introduce your paper on a broad scale in the first few sentences. For example, you may use an anecdote (story) or an intriguing statistic to engage your reader.
• Second: You must transition from your broad anecdote (story) or statistic to a more precise statement that provides a blueprint for your entire research paper— your paper’s working thesis statement!

Engage your reader here.
Provide a brief anecdote or
Visual Reference an interesting statistic from your research that will catch the reader’s attention.
Smoothly transition between introductory anecdote and thesis statement.
Your thesis statement should be the last sentence or last two sentences of your introductory paragraph. This is the “blueprint” for your body paragraphs.

• Teenagers in many American cities have been involved in more gangs in the last five years than ever before. These gangs of teens have been committing a lot of violent crimes. The victims of these crimes are both gang members and people outside of gangs. Many people do not want to travel to areas in our cities because of the danger from this problem. For this terrible situation to stop, it is going to take a combined effort on the part of many people. Excellent, supervised afterschool programs, more jobs available for teens, and healthy family relationships will go a long way towards ending this crisis in our society.

• During the Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle
East there was much armed conflict between
Christians and Muslims. Christians called these conflicts the Crusades because they were fighting under the sign of the cross to save the holy lands of the Bible from being desecrated by non-Christians.
However, the true reason for fighting for these lands was less than holy. It was mainly a desire for economic gain that prompted the Christian leaders to send soldiers to fight in the Holy Land.

It is amazing how many languages one hears while visiting a big city. Your hearing is not only overwhelmed by the constant surrounding noise, the strain to hear and understand when someone is giving you directions, but it also picks up the many different languages and dialects spoken around you. Language not only highlights and defines a geographic area but also the culture of that particular area. You are seeing so many new places, faces, and your hearing is in the same situation. You immerse yourself in the culture by eating the food, buying the traditional souvenirs, sightseeing and participating in local activities. You wish you understood the language and try to listen to the dialogue exchanged between the people who live there. For once English is not the dominant language.
You are now considered the immigrant; what do you do?

• Call It Sleep by Henry Roth is both a multilingual and multicultural novel about the son of an immigrant family. It is a multilingual novel through the narrative strategies Roth uses for the American reader who does not understand any language but English.
Multilingualism is used throughout this novel to encompass communicative skills in more than one language, even if it is active or passive (McWhorter 36). John McWhorter states, “when two or more languages are rolled around in the same mouths, they merge. Linguists have found there is no such thing as languages coexisting without affecting one another” (36-37). Roth wrote Call
It Sleep from the inside perspective of David Schearl’s psyche and his personal journey for a personal and cultural identity. The entire novel is written in third person but through David’s eyes; therefore, David does not reveal anything he is not comfortable revealing. Roth wrote the novel in an early twentieth-century inner-city. The inner-city, like the Lower East Side of New York City, became something to suppress immigrant’s roots and origins
(Giles 11). David lives with his mother and father in Brownsville,
Brooklyn, and later on New York’s East Side. David is the protagonist and speaks two languages throughout the multicultural and multilingual novel.

• A thesis statement declares what you believe and what you intend to prove. A good thesis statement makes the difference between a thoughtful research project and a simple retelling of facts.
• The thesis statement is typically located at the end of your opening paragraph.
• Remember, your reader will be looking for your thesis. Make it clear, strong, and easy to find.

• clearly identifies the subject of the paper;
• makes an assertion about that subject, one that allows for a range of discussion;
• predicts the logical order you will follow in your discussion.
• Assertion: support, reason, examples

• Despite never playing sports, young John Doe achieved unusual physical fitness on his Montana cattle ranch.
Subject--John Doe and his physical fitness
Assertion--fitness was "unusual"
Order--sports history of the time, your definition of "unusual" fitness, the way in which John Doe achieved fitness

• It should be contestable, proposing an arguable point with which people could reasonably disagree. A strong thesis is provocative; it takes a stand and justifies the discussion you will present.
• It is specific and focused. A strong thesis proves a point without discussing “everything about …” Instead of music, think "American jazz in the 1930s" and your argument about it.
• It clearly asserts your own conclusion based on evidence. It is perfectly okay to change your thesis!
• It provides the reader with a map to guide him/her through your work.
• It avoids vague language (like "it seems").
• It avoids the first person. ("I believe," "In my opinion")

•Identifies a limited, specific subject
• Meets the requirements of assignment
•Focuses on a particular feature or feeling about a subject
•Supported with convincing facts and details
•Stated in a clear, direct sentence

• As you read look for:
• Interesting contrasts or comparisons or patterns emerging in the information
• Is there something about the topic that surprises you?
• Do you encounter ideas that make you wonder why?
• Does something an "expert" says make you respond, "no way! That can be right!" or "Yes, absolutely. I agree!"

• Select a topic: television violence and children
• Ask an interesting question: What are the effects of television violence on children?
• Revise the question into a thesis: Violence on television increases aggressive behavior in preschool children.
• Remember this argument is your “preliminary” or
“working” thesis. As you read you may discover evidence that may affect your stance. It is okay to revise your thesis!

• Topic: The History of Fencing and Learning how to play
 Fencing history and learning how to play the game go hand-in-hand
• Topic: lung Cancer- types, causes, preventions, treatments, latest research/advancements
– Lung cancer, one of the deadliest forms of cancer today, has many types, causes, methods of prevention, and treatments, which arise with each new day.

• Grab your folder and write a complete sentence about your research paper
• Then, get out another sheet of paper and write 1-4 and bonus on your sheet. POP QUIZ

• You’re working so hard, so I’m giving you the fun part. At the top of your outline and draft, write your title! Make it original and fun!
• Choose an original title for your paper. Examples are from ProQuest:
– Art of Forgiveness
– Forgiveness: A Path to a Better You
– Tender and Tough: Praying for Enemies
– Forgiveness as a Human Strength

• First: You must support the thesis presented in your introduction with research you gathered last week in the library.
• Second: You must have in each paragraph a topic sentence that proves your thesis statement. You must have at least 3 supporting sentences that proves your topic sentence for the specified paragraph for your paper. You must also have a summary sentence to wrap up everything in the paragraph before moving on to the next paragraph.

Cape Cod is unique. A peninsula which stands farther out to sea than any other portion of our Atlantic coast, it was created, geologists say, by mile-high glaciers which dropped deposits here in the last Ice Age—about 11,000 years ago.
It was then molded for more than 100 centuries by winds, waves, tides and currents. You can see mile after mile of original glacial deposits sliced by the elements into cleansloping cliffs. Layers, some as distinct as in a cake, show the advances and retreats of the ice. You can even pick up pebbles brought by glaciers from the Laurentian Mountains in Canada.

Transitional expressions emphasize the relationships between ideas, so they help readers follow your train of thought or see connections that they might otherwise miss or misunderstand. The following paragraph shows how chosen transitions lead the reader smoothly from the introduction to the conclusion of the paragraph.
• Although most people consider piranhas to be quite dangerous, they are, except in two main situations, entirely harmless. Piranhas rarely feed on large animals; they eat smaller fish and aquatic plants. When confronted with humans, piranhas' instinct is to flee, not attack. But there are two situations in which a piranha bite is likely. The first is when a frightened piranha is lifted out of the water—for example, if it has been caught in a fishing net. The second is when the water level in pools where piranhas are living falls too low. A large number of fish may be trapped in a single pool, and if they are hungry, they may attack anything that enters the water.

Two Ways to Quote a Source:
1. Use author name in your sentence, put page number at the end inside parentheses.
Example: Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a "spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
2. Put author name and page number at the end of the sentence in parentheses.
Example: Romantic poetry is characterized by the
"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings"
(Wordsworth 263).

It is apparent that word-play is an essential aspect to Much Ado About
Nothing. William McCollom discusses the importance and the role of the witticisms and puns throughout the course of the play. McCollom states,
“the wit of Shakespeare’s plays informs the words spoken by the characters, places the characters themselves as truly witty and intelligent, inappropriately facetious, or ingeniously witless, suggest the lines of action these characters will take” (68). Beatrice and Benedick are the two characters who are considered “witty.” McCollom says that their witty banter is a “merry war ” (69). He also comments that the “wittier speakers will prefigure in language the wit or intelligence of their acts. Benedick and
Beatrice are the shrewdest in speech and with the Friar are the first to reject the rejection of Hero ” (71). McCollom implies that Beatrice and
Benedick are wise in thought and action, unlike those who are falsely or weakly-witted such as Claudio. Claudio apparently cannot create his own logical witty remarks and therefore, copies others such as the Prince. His reaction to Hero (accusing her based on flimsy evidence) is also proof of his inability to think properly or critically about situations.

A good concluding paragraph will do the following:
1. Restate the major supporting points
(topic sentences) in the paper.
2. Show how the evidence in the body paragraphs logically leads to the conclusion (thesis statement) that you presented in the introductory paragraph of your paper.
3. Restate the thesis in the conclusion.

By promoting a caring atmosphere in schools, teachers can reduce the likelihood of bullying. Above all, teachers need to inform themselves and the rest of the school community so that together they can develop a policy to discourage bullying.
By educating themselves about bullying, teachers and parents have the knowledge to set up effective programs and structures both within the classroom and for the whole school. Furthermore, by removing the opportunity for children to bully, providing children with a stimulating environment, and giving them the tools to deal with conflict appropriately, teachers can reduce children’s inclination to bully. Although bullying will never be fully eradicated and must be dealt with as soon as it occurs, increasing awareness of the problem is making schools a safer and more enjoyable environment in which children can learn.