SHAKESPEARE RESEARCH PROJECT Choose one of the following research topics. You will be working on a research project for three weeks, so choose something that you think you will be interested in. You should browse the school library database to see what materials are available on each topic. Option 1: Shakespeare s Critics Agree or disagree with one of the criticisms of Shakespeare s plays. Locate multiple articles discussing the affirmative or negative of criticisms of Shakespeare s plays. Pick one side of the issue and discuss the supporting arguments from your research. Option 2: Female Characters in Shakespeare What role do women play in Shakespeare s tragedies? Research literary analysis of the role of women in Shakespeare s plays. Decide if you agree with the way that women are portrayed in his literature and discuss. TIMELINE Step 1: Choose a topic. Due: Wednesday, November 29 Topic: Choose one of the topics. Step 2: Gather research. Due: Friday, December 2 You must have three or more valid sources. Use a variety of sources including books, journals, DVDs, internet resources, etc. You must have at least one journal article. Do not use Wikipedia or Enotes. Distinguish between reliable sources and unreliable sources. Step 3: Take Notes Due: Monday, December 5 Note key facts and ideas from each source. Consider the information you need for your paper. When noting specific quotations, remember to record the page number and use quotation marks. Avoid plagiarism. Step 4: Organize Information Due: Friday, December 9 Make an outline. Use a graphic organizer. Determine what information you need in your paper. Note cards will be graded! Step 5: Compose a Rough Draft Due: Monday, December 12 Write 6-10 paragraphs (or more) about your topic. Using your outline, notes, graphic organizer and the rubric, write your rough draft. Make sure you have a clear thesis. Include in-text citations. Step 6: Evaluate and Revise Your Rough Draft Check your spelling, vocabulary, use of transitional words, etc. Use proper sentence and paragraph structure. Make sure that you have in-text citations (see handout for instructions.) I will not grade a paper that does not have in-text citations. Have someone else read your paper teacher, friend, parent, etc. Step 7: Prepare a Final Draft Due: Monday, December 19 Use the rubric. Be sure that you have adequate information about your topic. Are all the sentences complete? Are the paragraphs clear and unified? Do you have an original title? This must be typed in Times New Roman, font size 12, double spaced. Must include Works Cited Page Using the handouts you received, write your Works Cited page. Use the MLA format.
All sections of your final draft (including cover page, outline, essay, and works cited page) must be typed. Times New Roman, font size 12, double spaced. Note-Taking for the Research Paper Gather more sources than you think you need for the paper. When you first read a source, do not try to absorb all the information presented. Instead, skim the page(s) in search of material that is relevant to your topic and its focus. For full-length books, study tables of contents and indexes to find the sections that apply to your outline. Skimming the material quickly will save time and resources. Don t expect that every source that you find will be relevant to your topic. You must eliminate sources that will not be helpful. When you find information that you think will be useful, take notes on your on note cards. Paraphrase, summarize, or use direct quotes. 1. Paraphrasing restating the author s ideas in your own words. To paraphrase, read the passage that you would like to use twice. Then, set it aside and rewrite the passage in your own words. Note: adding or deleting a few words is not paraphrasing and is considered plagiarism. 2. Summarizing restating only the main points and important supporting details 3. Direct Quotation presents the exact words. Note, you must indicate you have copied something word-for-word by using quotation marks. Failure to do so is plagiarism. Note: Your paraphrase or summary should be shorter than the original text. Sample: The original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and thus they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47. A paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47). A summary: Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47). A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.
Creating Note Cards After you have found useful information on your topic, you will record the information on notecards by paraphrasing, summarizing, or quoting the original text. It is very important that you keep track of exactly where the information came from. Keeping organized notecards will make writing your final paper much easier. Follow the format below. Sample Source Card: A Ackroyd, Peter. Shakespeare: The Biography. New York: First Anchor Books, 2006. Sample Paraphrase Note Card: CMC Early Life A Shakespeare was baptized in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Stratfordupon-Avon on April 26, 1564. From this record, Shakespeare s birthdate is estimated to have been April 23, 1564 (Ackroyd 3). Sample Direct Quotation Note Card: CMC Early Life A In the sixteenth century, the mortality of the newly born was high. Nine percent died within a week of birth, and a further 11 percent before they were a month old (Ackroyd 3). CMC
http://www.plagiarism.org What is Plagiarism? Many people think of plagiarism as copying another's work, or borrowing someone else's original ideas. But terms like "copying" and "borrowing" can disguise the seriousness of the offense: According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means 1. to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own 2. to use (another's production) without crediting the source 3. to commit literary theft 4. to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source. In other words, plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward. But can words and ideas really be stolen? According to U.S. law, the answer is yes. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection if they are recorded in some way (such as a book or a computer file). All of the following are considered plagiarism: turning in someone else's work as your own copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit failing to put a quotation in quotation marks giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up most your work, whether you give credit or not. Most cases of plagiarism can be avoided, however, by citing sources. Simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed, and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source, is usually enough to prevent plagiarism. Note: Plagiarism will result in a zero and will be reported to the Administration for further action.
Formatting an Outline The next step of your research paper will be to create an outline. The outline will help to guide you when you write your final paper. Your final paper should be 6-8 paragraphs so your outline should have 6-8 major sections (one per paragraph.) Consider the subtopics on your note cards as sections of your outline or paragraphs in your essay. Getting a Good Night s Sleep I. Introduction A. Reasons why getting enough sleep is so important. 1. Getting enough sleep makes us more alert. 2. Sleep is directly related to performance. 3. We are more irritable and less able to concentrate when we haven t slept enough. B. List of ways to help you sleep soundly. 1. Establishing a regular pattern. 2. Limiting use of technology before bed time. 3. Eating certain foods at night. 4. Avoiding energizing activities. II. Sleep Patterns A. Circadian rhythm we are wired to function on a certain pattern or rhythm that dates to practices from hunters and gatherers. For example: sleeping when the sun goes down. B. Establishing a pattern studies show that if we go to bed and get up around the same time every day, we will have a more restful sleep, have an easier time falling asleep, and will be more alert during the day. It is best to maintain the pattern even on weekends. C. It is recommended that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Therefore, a good pattern would be to go to sleep each night at 10 PM and to wake up around 7 AM. III. Technology A. With so many electronics like cell-phones, TVs, and computers, we are constantly plugged in. Limiting the exposure of electronics before bed can help you fall asleep faster. B. The light from screens on electronics can limit the amount of melatonin produced by the body. Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced in darkness that helps us sleep. C. Shutting off all electronics for at least an hour before bed can help you fall asleep faster. D. Turn off all TVs, cell phones-- the darker a room, the easier it will be to fall asleep. IV. Foods A. Snacks that help you sleep. 1. Bananas contain melatonin, as well as tryptophan, magnesium, and potassium, all of which help you relax and sleep. 2. Yogurt or milk also contain calcium and tryptophan. 3. Cherries. B. Foods to avoid before bed 1. caffeine 2. ice cream 3. pasta 4. pizza V. Activities that can interfere with sleep A. Surfing the web, spending time on facebook, youtube, or other internet sites. B. Exercising within three hours of bedtime. C. Reading an interesting book.
D. Having serious conversations. VI. Conclusion A. Brief overview of what will help you sleep better. B. Adverse effects of not sleeping 1. Decreased performance and alertness 2. Irritability 3. Difficulty remembering 4. Increases your chances of being in an accident. C. Establish healthy sleeping habits to increase your well-being.
Formatting Your Research Paper Formatting Guidelines and Reminders: Your paper must be at least 10 paragraphs in length. Type your paper in Times New Roman, font size 12. Your outline, paper, and works cited page must be double spaced. Use one inch margins on the top, bottom, and sides of your paper. Under paragraph. Set the spacing before and after to 0. Indent the first word of each paragraph half of an inch (use the tab key.) Do not skip extra lines between paragraphs. Your final paper must include a title page (turn this over for guidelines) Your last name and page number (with a space between the two) should appear in the upper right corner of every page except the title page and outline. Type this information in a header (double click the top of your document to open up the header box. Or, go to insert on the top tab, then header choose the first option down. Press the tab key twice so your cursor is on the right margin. Insert page number (see button in the top left of the tool bar, choose the third option down. Click on format page number and start at 0 to eliminate a page number on the title page.) If your outline is more than one page, number them with lower-case roman numerals (i, ii, etc.) Type your outline and works cited page in separate Microsoft Word documents to avoid page number confusion. In-text citations and a works cited page are essential components of the research paper. Any paper handed in without either or both of these will receive a zero. Anything copied word-for-word must be in quotation marks. Failure to use quotation marks around anything you have copied is plagiarism and will result in a zero. For the Works Cited Page: Center and double space the document. Set the spacing before and after to 0. Type Works Cited at the top of the page. Arrange your entries in alphabetical order by author s last name or title. Create a hanging indent to indent all lines after the first line of your entry. If the ruler at the top of the document is not visible, click view ruler on the right above the arrow bar. To the left of the ruler is an hourglass shaped figure. After typing your sources, highlight the entire document. Click on the hourglass and drag the bottom half over to the ½ margin. You may have to drag the top piece of the hourglass back to the end of the ruler. This should naturally indent your entries. Remove hyperlinks from web addresses. To do this, right click on the hyperlink and click remove hyperlink. Or, type ctrl z immediately after the hyperlink appears. Use handout #5 Creating Citations for formatting guidelines. Follow the instructions exactly, including all punctuation and capitalization. Remember to underline the title of books, and to put quotation marks around article titles. Your final paper must be printed and stapled in the following order: 1. title page 2. outline 3. 6-8 paragraph essay 4. Works Cited page. Place the final paper in the right pocket of your research folder with the grading rubric on top. In the left pocket of your folder, have your rough draft, outline, and notecards and all handouts for the research section in order (this counts as a notebook check include the blue sheet).
Formatting a Title Page Center the words of your document. Use Times New Roman, font size 12 Click on paragraph. Make sure line spacing is set to single and spacing before and after are both set to 0. Press enter ten times before you type anything. The first line of your title page should be your title. Do not italicize, underline, bold, or use quotation marks. Do use capital letters when necessary. Press enter twice and type By your name. Press enter 25 times and type the subject, period, and teachers for who you are writing the paper. Press enter twice and type the date. See example below: The Life of William Shakespeare By Robert Redford English IV, Period 2, Ms. Moses December 1, 2016