Research Paper: Hints and Criteria
What is a research paper?
According to the Writer's Inc. book, "A research paper is a carefully planned essay that shares information or proves a point. It may include ideas from books, Web sites, documents, interviews, observations and so on".
1. Understanding the project . . . All students have been assigned a role in the Renaissance faire. Students should be actively researching their "role." For example, if you were assigned the role of "plague doctor," you might try to look up the black death, physicians, cures for the plague, illness during the 1400's, where the plague originated from, which gender the plague commonly effected, the symptoms of the plague etc.
2. How do I record my research?
EVERY TIME you come across information you want to (or might want to) include in your paper, write down as much information about the source as you possibly can.
-Make sure you keep track of your sources on the computer or on index cards.
-Arrange your sources alphabetically by the author's last name. Number each entry in your computer list, or number each card in the upper-right hand corner.
-Keep notes on cards of the same size and style.
-Record important details and quotations, along with the page numbers where this information can be found. Also place the number of the related bibliography card in the upper right-hand corner.
-Place quotation marks around word-for-word quotations.
-Use an ellipsis ( . . .) when you leave a word out of a quotation.
-Look up unfamiliar words. If you find that a particular word is important, copy its definition onto the same note card.
-Give each card a descriptive heading (a word or a phrase to highlight the main idea of that card: The plague - CURES OR The plague CAUSES OR The plague's BEGINNING)
Two types of note cards should be prepared:
1. Bibliography Card
This card should contain the following:
a. The full name of the author (or editor)
b. The full title of the work
c. Publisher, city and date
d. The type of source (book, website, interview, etc.)
e. The call number of book (if it belongs to a library collection.
2. Content Card
This card should contain the following:
1. The number you assigned to the source in the upper left corner.
2. The page number the material comes from (located in the upper right hand corner)
3. The topic of the material on the card.
(birth of king, types of sheep, sheep sheering, diet of geese, etc)
This information should not normally be more than 3-4 lines and should be centered around a single idea (the topic of the card). It may include quotations either direct or indirect)
SEARCHING TIPS:
To help organize your research and note taking, try writing some basic questions you would like to answer in your report. Anytime you find information that answers a question, take notes on it.
Sample questions:
What is the Plague?
Where did the Plague originate?
Which gender caught the Plague more frequently?
Who did the plague affect?
What are the symptoms of the plague?
What are other names for the plague?
WRITING THE PAPER
Title Page: The title of the paper will be located in the middle of the title page and centered both left to right and top to bottom. The following information will be located in the bottom right hand corner of the title page:
Teacher's name
English I Honors
World History Honors
Date
FIRST PAGE OF TEXT
-Contains the title of the paper located 1/3 of the way down from the top of the page. Your title should NOT be in quotes, caps. or underlined - it should ONLY be centered.
-Set your computer so that it automatically DOUBLE SPACES your text.
-Make sure you include your last name and the page number in the top right hand corner of each page (located one inch from the top edge and one inch from the right hand edge).
-Make sure all pages have one-inch margins.
-Page numbers MUST be located in the TOP RIGHT hand corner of the paper. Student's last name should be typed right before the page number.
WORKS CITED
-Type the words Works Cited at the top center of the works cited page keeping the paper's margin at one inch.
-NUMBER your works cited page, but please remember that your works cited page DOES NOT count as a page of text. You must have at least SIX FULL pages of text.
PAPER LENGTH
-All papers must contain at least SIX full pages of text, but no more than ten pages of text.
Where can ADDITIONAL HELP be found?
-All students were given a Writers INC text book. The following pages will be helpful
-Writing the Research Paper 245
-Writing Responsibility 255
-MLA Documentation Style 259
-Sample MLA Research Paper 275
WORKS CITED
-"Works Cited" is centered one inch from the top
-Sources are listed in alphabetical order
-Second and third lines are indented five spaces
-Double spacing is used throughout
Format for a Book Entry
-Author's last name, initial. (year). Book Title. City: Publisher.
-Example:
Bode, J. (1998). Death is hard to live with: Teenagers and how
they cope loss. New York: Delacorte Press.
-Books with two or more authors:
Monroe, J. G. & Williamson, R.A. (1993). First houses:
Native American homes and sacred structures. Boston:
Houghton.
Note: Follow the first author's name with a comma; then join the two author's names with an ampersand (&) rather than with the word "and".
Format for a Periodical Entry
-Author's last name, Initial. (year, month, day). Article title.
Periodical title, pages.
-Example:
Trost, C. (1998, July 18). Born to lose: Babies of crack users
crowd hospitals, break everybody's heart. The Wall Street
Journal, p.1.
Format for an On-Line Entry
-Author's last name, Initial. (year, Month, day). Title of article,
chapter, or Web page [no. of paragraphs]. Title of Full
Work [On-line], vol.no. (issue no.). Retrieved Month, day,
year from source: Electronic address
Example: Article in On-Line journal
Carter, D.L. (1995,April). A nation embraces capitalism.
Economic Perspectives [On-line serial], 6 (18). Retrieved
October 2, 1999 from the Internet:FTP://342.323.342.1/pub
/baccon/EconomicPerspectives/1995.6/95.6.18.capitalism.
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