8 th Grade Research Paper

Transcription

1 8 th Grade Research Paper Mrs. Hill & Mr. Brinker Subject: Requirements: Thesis and Outline, Polished Draft with Revision, Final Draft (2-3 pages), Works Cited Page, Photocopies of Highlighted Sources Absolutes!!!!!!! PAPERS MUST MEET MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS AND MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY FOLDER WITH ALL REQUIRED MATERIALS IN ORDER TO BE HANDED IN! Late Work Policy, if you fail to turn in your research paper on Tuesday, November 26, you will incur an automatic 15% deduction. For turning it in on Monday, December 2 a 30% deduction. Papers will not be collect after Tuesday, December 3. PLAGIARISM (using ideas, words, phrases, or sentence structure not your own whether as a direct quote or as paraphrased material without crediting a source) will result in an AUTOMATIC FAILURE (a zero for the entire project). When turning in Drafts that still means they must be 100% complete, meeting page length and content requirements. Choosing a Topic for Your Research Paper The key to success in writing a research paper is choosing a good topic. Since this project will occupy quite a bit of your time during the next few weeks, you want to pick something that will sustain your interest and will challenge you. You must, however, choose a topic that focuses on a particular persuasive question. Just remember that your attitude toward a subject may affect your enthusiasm and effort in completing this paper. Only one student per class may sign up for each topic, so if you are really interested in a certain field, be sure to sign up soon! Teachers reserve the right to deny a particular topic based on numerous criteria. In order to sign up for a topic the following requirements must be met: 1. Your topic must be from the approved list below. 2. No two students may be signed up for the same topic. 3. Your topic must get approval from the teacher. (Teachers reserve the right to deny any topic in the best interest of the student.) *********************************************************************************************** * The Rise of Feminism: Does feminism still exist? * Popular Female World Leaders: How did women shape the countries they ruled? Science * The Benefits of Recycling: Should recycling be mandatory? 1

2 * The Power of a Tsunami: What causes a tsunami? * Dolphin Communication: How do dolphins communicate? * Aroma makes Food more Flavorful: What is the connection between smell and taste? * Children and Healthy Eating: How healthy is the food children eat? Are children only consuming unhealthy school lunches? Human Interests * Why Hobbies are Important: The effect of hobbies on personality development. * Education Specialization at a Young Age: Should students be able to choose what they want to study at a younger age? * The Rising Popularity of Vegetarianism: Why is everyone becoming a vegetarian? * How Peer Pressure Affects Us: The positive and negative impact of peer pressure. * Using Cell Phones in School: Should cell phones be banned in schools? Media and Literature * Underlying Themes in Roald Dahl's Books: Comparison of three works of Roald Dahl, a popular author of children's fiction. * Learning from Animation Movies: Do animation movies also impart wisdom? * Making a Career in Music: Are parents ready to accept such a career choice? * Advertising for Children: Does it work? What is the impact of advertising on children? *********************************************************************************************** Brainstorm here what topics you may be interested in, and begin formulating additional research questions that relate to your topic: Finding Sources As part of the requirements for this paper, YOU MUST 1. Use at least 3 sources. That means that your three sources will need to be cited parenthetically in the text of your paper as well as identified on the Works Cited page. You can, of course, use more than three sources, but don t overdo it. Try to find three QUALITY sources rather than scrounging information from multiple mediocre ones. 2. Use the following 2 varieties of sources: One scholarly article from On internet article (professional, creditable, approved by teacher) 2

3 3. Copies of all your sources. You must fill out the appropriate PARC sheet for each source. Sources that might work for me (include author, title, and how you found it!): Resources to Avoid: Encyclopedias Carroll has encyclopedias both in book form and on CD-Rom. These will give you limited assistance, since they mostly contain general information, which may not be specific enough for your thesis. These sources could be useful, however, in providing you a starting point for more research. Wikipedia Due to its fluctuating nature, this resource is not an allowed resource for any NACS project. Though this website may be a good place to begin your brainstorming, it is not a valid source as anyone can place whatever they like on the webpages, and there is minimal editing by the creators of Wikipedia. You can, however, often find links to more substantial, creditable resources on this website. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, ASK A LIBRARIAN OR MEDIA CENTER SPECIALIST FOR HELP! THEY ARE THERE TO ASSIST YOU AND ARE EXPERTS AT FINDING INFORMATION! Finding a Good Internet Source There are many great resources available on the internet, but you have to know where to look, how to look, and how to judge credibility. Where to Look Here are some great search engines: Another great resource is INSPIRE (Indiana s Online Research Library), free to all Indiana residents. This website has thousands of articles posted online for nearly any subject you can think of. ONE AMAZING SOURCE!!!! (And the articles count as magazines or periodicals, not as an internet source so be sure to site them as such.) Simply go to the following link and search for your topic: How to Look Search engines are only useful if you know how to use them. If you are having trouble locating good internet sources, try changing the words you use to search. NOTE: You must get ALL internet sources approved through your teacher in order to use them in your paper!!! Using Sources <<<<< And What to Do with Sources Once You Have Them >>>>> First, you must provide a photocopy or printout of EVERY source you use in your paper. This copy should be easy to read and complete. If you are using a book, you only need to copy the pages or

4 chapters that you cite in your paper. All articles must be copied in their entirety!!! Internet articles can, of course, simply be printed directly from the browser. Second, you must record the proper MLA citation at the TOP of each source. Use the examples below to help you determine how to do that. These citations will then easily transfer to your Works Cited page. Book Author, First, and Second Author. Title of Book. Publishing City: Publishing Company, copyright date. Example: Vare, Ethlie Ann, and Greg Patek. The Life of William Faulkner. Chicago: U of Chicago P, Reference or Encyclopedia Article Author s Last Name, First Name. Title of Article. Name of Reference Book. edition number. copyright date. page number on which the article is found. Example: Tobias, Richard. Thurber, James. Encyclopedia Americana. 2 nd ed Essay from a Printed Collection (Anthology or Book of Multiple Authors/Articles) Author s Last Name, First Name (of article). Title of Essay or Chapter. Title of Book. Editor of the Collection. Publishing City: Publishing Company, copyright date. pages of article. Example: Darst, Anne. Young, Gifted, Black---And Inspired. Black Theater. Ed. Lindsay Patterson. New York: Dodd, Periodical (Magazine, Journal, or Newspaper Article) Author s Last Name, First Name (of article). Title of Article. Title of Magazine Volume.Issue (Date of Magazine): pages of article. Example: Edsall, Thomas Bryne. London s To Build a Fire. English Journal 14.4 (June 1988): Online (Internet) Source Last, First. Title of Article. Title of Website. Date posted. Sponsoring Organization. Date accessed <electronic address (URL)>.

5 Example: Devitt, Terry. "Flying High." The Why Files. 9 Dec University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents. 4 Jan < shorties/kite.html>. Periodical Article from Inspire.net (or Similar Database) Last, First. Title of Article. Title of Periodical Volume.issue number (date of periodical publication): page numbers of article. Sponsoring Organization. Date accessed <electronic address (URL)>. Example: Tolson, Nancy. Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the Promotion of African American Children s Literature. African American Review 32 (1998): Inspire. 8 Jan < net/>. Third, you must highlight and annotate EACH of your sources, demonstrating that you have carefully read and considered each of the sources you are using. What can you annotate? Keep these ideas in mind: Your reactions Any questions you may have Summary of content Valuable quotes or information you can use in your paper

6 The Works Cited Page The last page of the final draft of your research paper is called the Works Cited page. Note: It is NOT a bibliography (which simply lists sources you might have read as you researched), but rather a Works Cited (which records those sources that you actually used in the writing of your draft. On this page you will record in alphabetical order all the sources cited in your paper. Cited means you quoted or paraphrased a work in the text of your paper. If you did not use a work in your paper, it should not be listed on this page. The good news is you already did most of the work when you labeled your sources!!! If you perfected them then, all you should have to do is organize them in alphabetical order (based first on author, then on title) and record them with all the proper capitalization and punctuation (remember that is key!!!). Follow these guidelines when writing your Works Cited page: Center the title Works Cited one inch from the top of the page. Do nothing special to the title. Do not make it bold; do not underline it or change the font size or style. Begin each entry right at the left-hand margin. Continue the information all the way to the right-hand margin. If the entry runs more than one line, indent the additional lines five spaces (or simply tab). List each entry alphabetically by the author s last name. If there is no author, use the first word of the title to alphabetize (ignore a, an, or the if it is the first word of the title). Everything should be double-spaced with NO additional spaces in between entries. Sample Works Cited Page: 1 from the top Last Name 5.5 from the top Indent the second line of each entry Notice, when citing sources from the same author, the second source is listed with three dash marks. Keep sources in alphabetical order. Works Cited Darst, Anne. Young, Gifted, Black---And Inspired. Black Theater. Ed. Lindsay Patterson. New York: Dodd, Edsall, Thomas Bryne. London s To Build a Fire. English Journal 14.4 (June 1988): Tobias, Richard. The Art of James Thurber. Columbus: Ohio UP, Thurber, James. Encyclopedia Americana Tolson, Nancy. Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the Promotion of African American Children s Literature. African American Review 32 (1998): Inspire. 8 Jan < Vare, Ethlie Ann, and Greg Patek. The Life of William Faulkner. Chicago: U of Chicago P, margins on both sides Refer to any MLA Style reference for further information on citing sources that are not in this handout. Please pay careful attention to details periods, underlining, and spacing should appear exactly as above.

7 The Thesis Statement One of the most crucial steps in writing your paper is coming up with an effective thesis statement. Think of it as the whole paper in a nutshell. If you were going to tell someone the point of your paper in one sentence, that s your thesis. Your thesis will appear as the last sentence of the first paragraph, or introduction, of your paper, as well as at the beginning of your outline. Every single sentence in your paper must have a connection to your thesis and somehow help you to prove your thesis. Your thesis is your way of telling your reader what your paper will try to demonstrate. The rest of your paper will then be devoted to supporting the statement you have made in your opening paragraph. When you type your paper, though, the thesis won t be identified---it won t be in bold print or made to stand out in any way. it will however, be recognizable in that it clearly explains the purpose and direction of your paper. Although it will just be one of the sentences in your introduction, it should be clear, just by how firm and definitive it is, that this is the statement you intend to support. Let s look a little more closely at what a thesis should and should not be: A thesis is NOT: a simple fact a series of ideas several sentences long a question a statement containing no or not a vague or indefinite idea a foregone conclusion (something everyone already knows) a sentence containing I think, I believe, In this paper, etc. A thesis IS: an option a narrow, limited, single idea, capable of being developed fully in the paper an assertion or declaration capable of being proven an argument a positive opinion (but stated as fact NO FIRST PERSON!) a clearly stated, specific point of view a fresh look at an issue you are willing to defend as being important Be sure that your thesis isn t so broad that hundreds of pages could be written about it. At the same time, it shouldn t be so narrow that you will have great difficulty coming up with enough information to support your statement. Don t use I (as in I think or in my opinion ), because it weakens your sentence and because research papers must be written in third person. Here are a couple of samples of thesis statements: Not so good: 1. Huck Finn led an interesting life. 2. Real athletes are born, not made. Better: 1. Huck Finn makes some important discoveries about human nature during a series of funny, though often frightening, adventures. (Can you see that this is much more specific and provable? Your paper will talk about his insights into human nature, and Twain s use of humor and adventure to lead Huck to these realizations.) 2. Consistent, strenuous practice can help an average skater turn into an accomplished performer. (Again, this is way more specific. Instead of having no idea where to begin, you now have narrowed your research to information dealing with the impact of effective practice on a skater s performance.)

8 Writing the Polished Draft You can approach this hefty paper like you would any other formal writing assignment. You should include the normal elements of professional writing: Solid Introduction with a catchy attention-grabber and the last sentence as your thesis. Effective Body Paragraphs with topic sentences that support the thesis, set up the main idea of the paragraph, and provide transitions between paragraphs, and support in the form of direct quotes (aim for 2-4) and paraphrases (the majority of your paper), with citations, of course. All paragraphs must be at least 5 sentences and should focus on only one main idea. Spectacular Conclusion that successfully sums up your main points in a satisfying manner. Important Note: Your entire paper should be written in third person, so don t use I or you in the introduction or anywhere else. Direct Quotations>>> This is information that you copy word for word you should aim for 2-4 direct quotations in your paper, so make sure that it is necessary to use that exact wording. When should you use a direct quote? Facts and statistics can be utilized with paraphrasing, but opinions and key ideas may need to be expressed through a direct quote. When the person who said it is important enough to warrant its usage, a quote could be used. When the quotation is so eloquent that it cannot be said in other words, a quote should be used. Paraphrasing>>> This is information you learned from a source but put into your own words. Note: It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you understand that putting into your own words is more than changing a few words from the original source!!! You must realize that in order to avoid plagiarism and automatic failure, you need to make sure that you use: no vocabulary (term or phrase) that you normally wouldn t use no passages that are exactly the same as your source no sentence or paragraph structure (order) that mirrors the text of the original source If you need help understanding paraphrasing, try going through the activity found at This will help you get a better understanding of what exactly paraphrasing is. Here are a few examples of how a student might plagiarize a work: Plagiarism Quoted: Reading to one s children is important because it fosters a love of books. Paraphrased: In fact, it is essential for parents to read to their children because it promotes an affinity for reading. Use of Idea: Parents ought to read to their children in order for their progeny to develop a love of literature. Correct Use Nelson is correct in his assessment that reading to your children is important because it fosters a love of books (Nelson 712). In fact, it is essential for parents to read to their children because it promotes an affinity for reading (Nelson 712). Parents ought to read to their children in order for their progeny to develop a love of literature (Nelson 712).

9 Parenthetical Citations Wow! You re moving right along! This research paper stuff isn t so tough after all. You are all ready to begin the actual writing of your paper. YOU MUST DOCUMENT (GIVE CREDIT TO THE SOURCE) FOR EVERY PIECE OF INFORMATION FROM A CARD THAT YOU USE. HERE IS HOW: After every fact or idea that is not common knowledge (information you knew before beginning your paper), you must put a set of parentheses containing the author and page number of where you got that information. For example, the fact that the sun rises in the east is common knowledge; however, the fact that John Q. Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, is not and must be cited in your paper. Look at the following example: John Quincy Adams was a very popular and well-respected President. At the time, Adams was the only son of a United States President to become President himself (Freidel 29). According to the Harvard Guide to American History, Serving under President Monroe, Adams was one of America s great Secretaries of state (18). Without Secretary of State Adams, the United States may not have received the lands of Oregon and Florida (Smith 38). Notice that the first sentence of the example above is made up of common knowledge, so there are no parentheses after it. The next sentence is a paraphrase, so the author and page are provided. The next sentence is a direct quote copied word for word from a source; it is in quotation marks, and only the page number is provided because it is using the same source as the sentence above it. Notice also how it was introduced; it is not a free floating quotation. The last sentence is a paraphrase of several lines of information from yet another source. Both the paraphrased parts and the direct quote, since you didn t know those ideas before you began to work on your paper, are followed by a citation containing the author (or title if the author is not known) and page where the material was obtained. *** When in doubt, provide the source of information. *** Just a Reminder: You CANNOT use contractions in formal writing. There are specific rules for using quoted and paraphrased material: Short quotations: If a quotation runs four or less typed lines, work it into the body of the paper. Long quotations: Quotations of more than four typed lines should be set off from the rest of the paper. Indent each line ten spaces. No quotation marks are used with longer quotations that are set off from the rest of the paper. In addition, the period will appear before the citation. Maintain double spacing. Quoting poetry: Lines of a poem should be worked into the text of the paper. Use a slash (/) to indicate the end of each line of poetry. Partial quotations: If you want to omit part of a quotation, use and ellipsis ( if you are omitting small portions of the same sentence;. if you are omitting information between two or more sentences) to indicate that you left a part of it out. Be sure that you don t change the quotation s meaning with your omission.

10 Adding your own words: If you need to add any clarifying information, put it inside brackets ([]) within the quotation. Citing a work with two or three authors: Students can learn twice as much if they eat breakfast on a regular basis (Jones and Smith 34). (List the authors in the order that they appear on the original publication.) Citing a work with more than three authors: Huck Finn is the early representation of the decline of Western civilization (Jones, et. al. 4). (Use the first author s name listed on the title page. Notice that this was as a direct quote.) Citing a work with no listed author: Langston Hughes traveled widely throughout Africa (Encyclopedia Americana 599). (Use the title of the source. Use the article title if you know it, if not, use the book/magazine/website title.) Citing two or more works by the same author: The basic racial problems of South Africa rest in the education of the young (Paton, Cry the Beloved Country 90). (Use the title of the work in addition to the author s name and page number in your citation. Separate the author from the title with a comma.) Citing information from multiple sources: According to many reputable scrapbookers, using your own handing writing in your journaling adds a desirable personal touch (Callaleigh 14; Rosenblatt 56). (Separate each source with a semi-colon. Cite in alphabetical order.) Citing repeatedly from the same source: Though revising can be considered death work (Wright 219), it is not always seen as such. Much of the writer s perception is dependent upon his or her past experience (249). (You only need to cite the author the first time if you continue with the same source in the same paragraph.) If you get done with the polished draft, and you ve used all your cards, and you are still short of the length requirement (2-3 pages), you may need to go back and do some more research. FAQs Do I cite pages numbers from an internet source? Only if they are labeled on the actual webpage, not just when you print it out. What if I don t know the author s name? Use the first bit of information that is available on your Works Cited page (e.g. an article or book title). What if I don t know what page numbers the article appears on? If your article has a range of pages, but you are not sure which one is which (usually due to internet printing), then just use the entire range of pages. If you simply don t know what the original pages were (as in the case of an internet site), just leave page numbers out and only include the author s name. What if my source has more than one author? See the examples above!!!!