There are 4 grades attached to this project: 3 daily grades 1 major RESEARCH PAPER STEP #1: CHOOSE YOUR TOPIC You will choose a topic about which you are interested and you will research that topic. You will be expected to weave information together in a meaningful way. Therefore, your research paper should consist primarily of your own writing and should not be a series of quotations. The paper will consist of four parts, each with very specific guidelines. 1. Cover Page: This should contain the title, your name, class period, and date. The title of your paper may be a creative title. 2. The body of the paper: (1250 word minimum) a. The introductory paragraph should contain your thesis and three points that are going to present about your topic. These points become the topics of each of the supporting paragraphs in the body of the essay. b. In the body of the essay, use specific evidence, examples, and statistics. Each paragraph must have at least one citation (MLA CITATIONS). c. In the conclusion, it is important to clearly redefine the topic and restate the three points. Do not introduce new material in the conclusion. 3. Last Page: Works Cited Miscellaneous: You need at least three sources. Once you begin using a computer, save your work every 5 minutes!!! While we are in the computer lab, I expect you to work only on this project. You should not be socializing, playing games, surfing, shopping, etc. STEP #2: CONSIDER WHAT YOU WANT TO LEARN To do a research project, you need to figure out what you want to learn and what is important to know. Write a list of things that you want to learn. STEP #3: GATHER MATERIALS 3 Sources with Cornell Notes
This is the part of the process where you find material to build your article. Remember, you must have at least three sources with Cornell Notes on each. Plagiarism is the act of stealing ideas, language and information and passing them off as one s own. Although research requires us to refer to another person s ideas, we must reference these ideas and give credit to the sources where we found this information. How do I avoid plagiarism? If you read sources to help you understand a topic, give credit to every source that is not common knowledge. If you find someone else has used the perfect words to express your idea, use quotation marks around that person s words, and give credit to the source. Never submit someone else s work as your own. Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting You can borrow from the works of other writers as you research. Good writers use three strategies summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting to blend source materials in with their own, while making sure their own voice is heard. Quotations are the exact words of an author, copied directly from the source word for word. Quotations must be cited! Use quotations when: You want to support your argument or a statement. You want to highlight particularly eloquent or powerful phrases or passages. Paraphrasing means rephrasing the words of an author, putting his/her thoughts in your own words. When you paraphrase, you rework the source s ideas, words, phrases, and sentence structures with your own. Like quotations, paraphrased material must be followed with in-text documentation and cited on the Works-Cited page. Paraphrase when: You want to avoid overusing quotations You want to use your own voice to present information Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) of one or several writers into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to give credit to the original source. STEP #6: CREATING AN OUTLINE The purpose of outlining a paper is to indicate the paper s structure and to organize the writer s ideas and the accumulated research into a logical, fluent, effective paper. Kepke Page 2
I. Thesis II. TITLE of Paper Details III. Details IV. Details V. Conclusion STEP #7: WRITE YOUR ESSAY A. Every time you come to a new topic you will start a new paragraph by indenting. B. Direct Quotations within the body of your paper Enclose all quotations in quotation marks. Always copy the quotation exactly as it appears in the original source. Copy spelling, internal punctuation, and capitalization, even if the original contains errors. All quotations must be integrated. Never drop a quotation into a sentence or paragraph without a proper lead-in. C. Documenting Sources in Text Paraphrased material If you are paraphrasing material from a specific page of a book or magazine article and you do not wish to state the author s name in the sentence, cite the source of the information as shown in the following example: As society continues to undergo rapid technological change, people will be unable to adapt (Toffler 24). If you are paraphrasing material from a specific page of a book or magazine article and you use the author s name in your sentences, cite the source of the information as shown in the following example: Toffler believes that as society continues to undergo rapid technological change, people will be unable to adapt (24). Quotations Introduce the quotation with words of your own. Whether the material is a complete sentence or a word or phrase, place it in quotation marks to indicate that it is indeed a quotation, rather than a paraphrase. For example: Kepke Page 3
In his book Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Peter Drucker defines innovation as the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service (20). Omitting material from quotations o You can omit words, phrases, sentences, or paragraphs from your quotation; be sure it still reads grammatically correctly and that you have not changed the meaning of the original work. o Indicate that material has been omitted within a sentence or paragraph, by using an ellipsis ( ). An ellipsis is three periods with a space before each and after the last, as shown below: In surveying various responses to plagues in the Middle Ages, Barbara W. Tuchman writes, Medical thinking... stressed air as the communicator of disease, ignoring sanitation or visible carriers (101-02). Citing other types of publications Passage with two or three authors: (Angell, Smith and Jones 48). Passage with more than three authors: (Williams et al. 97). Et al means "and others" Passage with no author listed: Use the first word of the citation when no author is listed. Titles of magazines articles are enclosed in quotations, and titles of books are underlined. (College 15) - book title is College Bound Seniors ("Study" 96) - magazine article title is "Study Finds Teen Smoking on the Rise" Passage in a volume of a multi-volume work: indicate the volume number first, followed by the page number. (Danielson 4: 113-15) STEP #8: CREATING A WORKS CITED A Works Cited Page is where you list all of the sources you used for your article. It will be the last page of your work. A. Centered at the top of the page, Works Cited. B. Skip a line after the title and begin at the margin. Do not indent the first line of each entry in the list of works, but indent any additional lines five spaces. This technique highlights the names by which the list has been alphabetized and is called reverse indentation. C. Single-space each entry, but double space between entries. Sample Works Cited Anderson, Sammae. Immunizations in America. New York: Health Central Publications, 1989. Kepke Page 4
CDC Report on Immunizations 1999. 27 February 1999. Center for Disease Control. 3 June 2000 <http.//www.centerfordiseasecontrol.gov>. Discoveries in Health. Medicine Today. 25 Sept. 1986: 73-38. STEP #9: REVISING AND EDITING YOUR ARTICLE This part is very important to your final grade. After you revise and edit your own paper, you will have two peers and one adult revise and edit your paper. These are required, and all must sign your paper. Of course, you may have more people help you revise and edit your paper. A. Carefully check your paper for grammatical and mechanical errors. B. Read your paper out loud. I know it may seem silly to read out loud to yourself, but by hearing it, you can catch errors that you may silently read over. C. Edit, edit, edit! Then edit some more! STEP #10: FINAL COPY A. Type your final copy. B. Have a well-written introduction and conclusion. C. The typed, final draft should be double-spaced, 12-point regular font, with 1 margins. IMPORTANT NOTES: 1. If you are researching a poet or author you must include information about their childhood, education, life, important works, and career. You must also include a short excerpt (a few lines or sentences) that you find poignant from one of their works and list this on your works cited page. 2. If you are researching a time period be sure to include information about famous writers, artists or musicians from that period as well as the historical information about that age. RUBRIC 1. 3 pages of Cornell Notes = 100 pts Daily Grade 2. Outline = 100 points Daily Grade 3. Rough DRAFT with three signatures 100 pts Daily Grade and revising and editing marks and corrections. 4. Final Paper 100 pts Major Grade Paper Rubric= Cover sheet 20pts Body Paragraphs with 3 citations 20 pts 12 pt font, length, margins, Style and format, word count 20 pts Grammar, punctuation, spelling Content 20 pts Works Cited correct format 20 pts = 100 pts Kepke Page 5