English IV
Research Packet
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS
BASIC REQUIREMENTS, STRUCTURE, & ASSEMBLY
TOPICS AND NARROWING & DEVELOPING
DRAFTING THE PAPER
OUTLINING
SPECIFICS ABOUT QUOTATIONS
SAMPLE WORKS CITED PAGE
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
WORKS CITED PAGE INSTRUCTIONS
1. BASIC FINAL COPY REQUIREMENTS:
A. 6 pages
B. Times New Roman font style
C. Double Spacing
D. 6 Sources Minimum (not including dictionaries, encyclopedias, or Wikipedia)
E. 12 In-Text Citation Minimum (must match the sources)
F. No Plagiarism—good mix of writer’s words with summarized and quoted sources. Always give credit to source material with an endnote in the text of the paper.
2. INTRODUCTION & THESIS: Introduction grabs the reader’s attention, gives relevant background concerning the issue/controversy, educates the reader, and leads smoothly into the thesis which contains your position on the issue. This thesis indicates the paper’s organization.
3. ARGUMENT DEVELOPED: The opposition’s position is explained and refuted. Then paragraph by paragraph, the writer develops his or her argument with research support or the writer explains the problems associated with his or her topic and argues for specific solutions with research support. (Recognize whether or not your topic is pro/con or problem/solution.)
4. CITATIONS IN PROPER FORMAT & ALL RESEARCH EVIDENCE CITED IN THE TEXT OF THE PAPER
5. WORKS CITED PAGE PROPERLY FORMATTED
6. GRAMMAR/SPELLING/PUNCTUATION & SENTENCE FLUENCY: Sentences are smooth and easy to read; fragments and run-ons are taken care of. Few, if any, errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar are present.
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7. CONCLUSION: Conclusion effectively wraps up paper and gives a “finished feel.”
8. ASSEMBLY:
A. 6 PAGES OF TEXT
C. WORKS CITED PAGE
Prompt:
Pick a modern social issue and discuss how today's media is depicting AND influencing it (cause and effect).
English IV Research Paper Pointers
YOUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
1. EXPLAIN A CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING YOUR TOPIC
2. EDUCATE THE READER ABOUT YOUR TOPIC
3. TAKE A CLEAR AND DEFINITE POSITION ON THE CONTROVERSY AND PROVE YOUR CASE WITH SOLID RESEARCH EVIDENCE AND LOGIC
DRAFTING THE PAPER
I. GENERAL: It would be best if you saved your research paper as two separate files in your “My Documents” folder on your school profile:
1.) Text of the Paper (Introduction, Body, and Conclusion)
2.) Works Cited Page
If you do this, you can avoid many problems with spacing, etc., in another section of your paper. Remember that you can access your school profile from home at by using Google Docs
The text of the paper should be 6 pages long (double spaced). This does not include the works cited page.
II. INTRODUCTION & THESIS: The introduction should gently “lure” the reader into your paper and into your thesis. Save the details of your argument for the body of your paper. In this introduction you should explain the controversy and educate the reader about your topic (if there is too much information you need to cover to educate the reader, only discuss the controversy in your introduction and, then educate the reader in the first body paragraph). Finally, write your thesis as the last sentence of your introduction.
III. [OPTIONAL] EDUCATING THE READER (BASIC BACKGROUND): If you were unable to do this in the introduction because of length, provide this information in the first body paragraph. This is the BASIC information the reader would need to understand your topic before you go into the argument portion of the research paper. For example, if your topic is “assisted suicide” (also known as euthanasia), it would be a good idea to define what assisted suicide is before you argue for or against people’s right to use this medical procedure. Perhaps you would explain its origins and the methods of assisted suicide today. You may have been able to handle this in the introduction paragraph, so it may be unnecessary to do this as a separate body paragraph.
IV. DIRECT OR INDIRECT QUOTES: Include several direct or indirect quotes in your paper. Direct quotes are where you quote the author or speaker word for word, and these require quotations marks around these words. Indirect quotes are where you quote the author or speaker, but you take what they have said and put it in your words (this is also known as paraphrasing). In this case, you do not use quotation marks. In either case, you need to identify the author or speaker and mention what makes him or her an authority:
According to John Smith, a prosecuting attorney in Dallas, Texas, “When used properly, executing murderers actually saves lives because others know that if they kill, the state of Texas is going to kill them back” (Smith).
OR
The prosecuting attorney for Dallas, Texas, claims that his state’s death penalty produces an effective deterrent for future murders. This is because, he says, would-be killers realize that if they commit a murder, the state will apply the ultimate penalty: death (Smith).
Notice that in both cases an endnote appears after the direct quote or indirect quote. This needs to occur in your paper.
V. CONCLUSION: The conclusion should “echo” or restate the thesis.
VI. WORKS CITED PAGE: A model and instructions for this page can be found in this packet . To create this page, you can browse www.bibme.org and enter the information you have for your sources. You need to select MLA format, because this is the format used for English classes. This will create a perfect Works Cited page than can then be downloaded in Microsoft Word format. This page will be the last page of your research paper.
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ENGLISH IV – Research Paper Outline
Topic: ______
Introduction
Hook: ______
______
Set up argument/controversy or give background: ______
______
______
______
Thesis: ______
______
[OPTIONAL] Basic Background/Educate the Reader (if not given above): ______
______
Body Para #1: ______
______
Body Para #2: ______
______
Body Para #3: ______
______
Body Para #4: ______
______
Conclusion: ______
______
SPECIFICS ABOUT DEALING WITH QUOTATIONS
1. A direct quotation is when you use more than three of the author’s words together (consecutively).
a. If you are quoting verbatim (word for word), and the quote fills fewer than four lines, enter it in your paper and place quotation marks before and after the statement. The endnote follows it with the period after the endnote.
EXAMPLE:
The Supreme Court has placed more emphasis on restricting the powers of Congress than it has on restricting the powers of the President. For example, former Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist said, “Although the Constitution states that Congress has the right to declare war, the Court has never limited the President’s rights to make war” (Shapiro).
b. If the direct quote is longer than four lines, it is typed, single-spaced, and offset from the rest of your text. The endnote is still necessary.
EXAMPLE:
“The first year of the Beatle’s and Beatlemania in America will always be the best year of my youth. The Beatles were the one thing we all had in common – love them or hate them, you couldn’t ignore them. However, my parents did their best to ignore them as I blasted their music in my bedroom all night long” (Jones 12).
AVOIDING PLAGIARISM
When you use someone else’s words or ideas without properly quoting and/or endnoting, this is plagiarism. Sometimes, in cases where material has been directly copied from the Internet or from another source, plagiarism is clearly intentional and obvious (and is also cause for an “F”). However, plagiarism can also occur accidentally if the student does not properly cite the source material, or if the source material has not been properly translated into his or her own words.
The following excerpt is from The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. It is followed by student examples which illustrate problems with plagiarism. ***This material was taken from A Guide to MLA Documentation by Joseph Trimmer***
Original Version from The Fatal Shore
Transportation did not deter crime in England or even slow it down. The “criminal class” was not eliminated by transportation, and could not be, because transportation did not deal with the causes of crime.
Student Version A
Transportation did not stop crime in England or even slow it down. Criminals were not eliminated by transportation because transportation did not deal with the causes of crime.
Version A is plagiarism. Because the writer of Version A does not indicate in the text or in an endnote that the words and ideas belong to Hughes, the reader will believe that the words belong to the student. The student has stolen the words and ideas and has attempted to cover it up by changing or omitting an occasional word.
Student Version B
Robert Hughes points out that transportation did not deter crime in England or even slow it down. The criminal element was not eliminated by transportation, and could not be because transportation did not deal with the causes of crime (Hughes 189).
Even though the endnote has been included, Version B is also plagiarism. The writer has essentially copied Hughes’ words but has not quoted passages that were taken directly from the text. There is no sense that version B is written in the student’s own words. As a result, it is difficult to determine whether or not the student actually understands the material.
Student Version C
Hughes argues that transporting criminals from England to Australia “did not stop crime.” How could it? Simply moving criminals from one place to another would not rehabilitate them or change their behavior in any positive way (Hughes 168)
Version C is not plagiarism. It contains an endnote and the student translated the material into his or her own words.
Sample Works Cited Page
WORKS CITED
Erickson, Edwin. Toys and Reasons. New York: Norton, 1992.
“Local Reading Scores Decline.” The Daily News, 27 Oct. 1996: A2.
Mielke, Karen. “Television in the Classroom.” Time, 14 Aug. 1998: 61-67.
Moore, Terrill, and Nick Linnon. “What America’s Colleges Should be Teaching.” CQ
Researcher, 19 Nov. 2000: 5-16.
Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Washington Schools Working to
Solve Difficult Problems, 17 June 2001.
“Public Education.” The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 5. 1997 .
“Selling to Our Children.” Consumer Reports.com 17 August 1995. 18 Sept. 2002
http://www.consumerreports.org/children/htm.
Trent, Donald. Longview School District. Longview, Washington: 14 Jan. 2002.
Windisch, Marie. “Paying for Public Education.” American Education. 15 Jan. 2000.
23 October 2002 http://www.americaneducation.com.
Zuckerman, Loren. “Teacher or Trojan Horse?” 19 June 2000. R. A. Long Vertical
Files: Education. 16 Nov. 2005.
Instructions for Works Cited Page
1. Center “Works Cited” at top of page.
2. Put entries in alphabetical order by author’s last name. If no author is listed, then list alphabetically by title (Don’t’ list by “The,” “A,” or “An,” but by the first important word).
3. Double space throughout.
4. Indent second and third lines (if any) in each entry.
5. Put article titles in quotes. Underline names of magazines, newspapers, and books.
6. List only those sources that are cited in the text of the paper.
• Create a free account at www.bibme.org
• Make sure the format selected is “MLA”
• Select the type of source from the menu (tabs)
• If it’s a website, just enter the URL into the space and it will format it for you.
• Enter each source until you have them all, then download your bibliography; this will be the last page of your research paper.
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