RESEARCH PAPER BACKGROUND – EMBARKING ON YOUR EXPLORATION

Before winter break, you will complete the first two steps in your research paper project. We will work on the bulk of the project after winter break.

STEP ONE: By December 6th,you will have spoken with your “regular” humanities teacher and turned in a typed explanation of your research topic, articulated in one to two sentences. Your humanities teacher will have to approve this topic, and may ask you to change the focus of your topic and/or re-write your topic.

Once you have settled on a topic, you will begin doing basic background research.You will use some of the following sources to gather this background information:

Print sources in the library:

  • Encyclopedias, atlases and other reference sources
  • History and biography books in the middle and high school library
  • Cobblestone and other magazines

Online sources such as:

  • Online encyclopedias and websites (check with your teacher to make sure these sites are academically appropriate)
  • American Memory
  • Facts on File

Any useful information you find, you should print and keep in your research paper folder. BE SURE TO KEEP TRACK OF THE SOURCES OF THAT INFORMATION. You may want to include a document that is a “log” or record of the sources you browse during this background research.

STEP TWO: By December 18th, you will turn in an extended, thoughtful paragraph that presents the background information for your topic. This will tell the essential “story” of your topic and fill in the context that surrounds your topic. That is: what happened, who were the people involved, when and where did this event or topic take place, what were the relevant events and ideas that led up to and resulted from this event, what else was happening in the country at this time? In other words, how does this event make up one chapter of the larger story of American history and identity?

How much time should you spend? At a minimum, you should be spending three half-hour blocks doing some of this background reading, and two half-hour blocks writing and revising your background paragraph. You may spend more time if you are interested.