The Research Paper cyber 12

The Research Paper 2010-2011 : 

The Research Paper 2010-2011 Made INCREDIBLY simple(yeah, right)

Your Mission : 

Your Mission Choose an author, work or genre dealing specifically with British or ancient Greek or Roman literature and explore a specific question or concern.

Format : 

Format MLA style Typed or word-processed 12 pt. Times New Roman font Follow the remainder of the guidelines already set out for you for a typewritten paper.

You must include… : 

You must include…

Works Cited Page : 

Works Cited Page At least 6 (six) academic sources besides encyclopedias primary and secondary sources Any Internet sources not available through PowerLibrary must be approved prior to use. All entries must be utilized and cited within your paper.

Slide 6: 

This research paper is weighed as a large portion of your final exam, which is 1/5 of your overall grade for the year.

A Research Paper is NOT… : 

A Research Paper is NOT… A Book report A Biography A Comparison YOUR (the writer’s) opinion Derived from one source

A Research Paper MUST… : 

A Research Paper MUST… Summarize information gleaned not just from one source, but from a series of sources Include both primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources - firsthand material, novels, interviews, & letters Secondary sources - works about someone Merge the information from the various sources into one smooth coherent product.

Choosing a Subject : 

Choosing a Subject Teacher assigned vs. Student choice Must be large enough to fill the assigned size and small enough to be covered in that space variety of sources Come up with a general subject you like first, find info, then narrow it to something manageable Determine your thesis.

Coming up with a Thesis : 

Coming up with a Thesis A Thesis is the statement you are going to prove in your paper Do preliminary research Come up with a question (“Shakespeare” is not a thesis) Do some research to answer that question YOUR THESIS WILL BE THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION

Thesis=Topic + Assertion : 

Thesis=Topic + Assertion

Example : 

Example

The “SO WHAT? WHO CARES?” Test : 

The “SO WHAT? WHO CARES?” Test Will anybody care about your thesis? NOBODY wants to read about something they already know. Examples of thesis that fails the test: “Shakespeare is considered one of the greatest writers in British history.” “Greek Mythology has had a great impact on literature.”

You must have your thesis selected by December 3rd : 

You must have your thesis selected by December 3rd Email me your thesis statement. rlane@gorockets.org

Where to go for more help : 

Where to go for more help OWL (Online Writing Lab)- http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/index.html An online tutorial that takes the reader through the research paper process.

Note Cards, Work Cited Cards, Outlines & Quotes : 

Note Cards, Work Cited Cards, Outlines & Quotes

Work Cited Cards : 

Work Cited Cards Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. The Riverside Shakespeare. Boston: Houghton, 1974. 1 Put the information on this set of cards EXACTLY as you will put it on the Works Cited page Number your WC cards

NOTE CARDS : 

NOTE CARDS One Piece of information per card “I am in blood/Stepp’d in so far that, should I wade no more,/Returning were as tedious as go o’re.” (Macbeth saying he’s already too guilty to stop committing crimes.) Blood p. 1327 1 Page number of book you found info in Work Cited card number Topic or heading under which this information will go

Other Note Taking options : 

Other Note Taking options Microsoft OneNote Pros very versatile if you own the program Works in conjunction with Office Live, thus it is accessible from anywhere Cons Not Cheap Not all versions of MS Office come with OneNote Evernote Pros FREE! Can be used from any computer with internet access You don’t need to download software to use basic features Notes are accessible from smart phones Cons Isn’t as versatile as the PAY version of MS OneNote

Outline : 

Outline Include Thesis statement at top. Major topics headed with Roman Numerals Secondary topics headed with capital Arabic letters “A” requires “B” “A” & “B” must be closely related

Outlining : 

Outlining Purpose: to explain how to do an outline before creating a speech I. Introduction A. What is an outline? B. Why is it needed? 1. Road map example 2. Skeleton example II. Parts of an outline A. Title B. Purpose C. Main Topics D. Sub Topics III. Form A. Divisions 1. Roman Numerals for main topics 2. Capital letters for sub topics 3. Numbers for next level of sub topic B. “A” requires “B” C. Closely related

Quotations : 

Quotations Quote only words, phrases, lines, and passages that are particularly interesting, vivid, unusual, or apt. Keep all quotations as brief as possible. Over quotation can bore your readers. RULE OF THUMB—No more than Twenty Percent of your paper should be direct quotes

Prose Quotes : 

Prose Quotes If a prose quotation runs no more than four typed lines and requires no special emphasis, put it in quotation marks and incorporate it in the text. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” wrote Charles Dickens of the eighteenth century in the book A Tale of Two Cities (1). Sometimes you may want to quote just a word or phrase as part of your sentence. For Charles Dickens the eighteenth century was both “the best of times” and “the worst of times” (Dickens 1).

Paraphrasing : 

Paraphrasing Paraphrase a quote to: Shorten the length Simplify the language YOU MUST STILL CITE A PARAPHRASED SECTION OF YOUR PAPER!!!

MLA In-Text Citations : 

MLA In-Text Citations In parenthesis () Usually the author’s last name and page number, but not always No Comma It’s part of the sentence so it goes inside the end punctuation (Dickens 123).