RESEARCH PAPER
DON’T’S PART I
1. DO NOT USE 1ST OR 2ND PERSON
2. DO NOT STATE THE FOLLOWING IN ANY FORM:
A. MANY USES
B. A LOT OF THINGS
C. A VARIETY OF WAY
D. ETC.
3. DO NOT BE TOO BROAD IN THESIS STATEMENT
4. DO NOT USE CONTRACTIONS (CAN’T, DON’T, WON’T, ETC.)
5. DO NOT USE WEAK VOCABULARY SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING:
A. MAD
B. BAD, GOOD, GREAT
C. GET, GOT, GOTTEN
D. DID, DONE, DO
E. ETC.
6. DO NOT BEGIN EVERY SENTENCE THE SAME WAY (WEAK SENTENCE FLUENCY)
7. DO NOT USE THE SAME WORDS OR PHRASES REPETITIVELY
8. DO NOT FORM THESIS AS A FRAGMENT OR QUESTION
9. DO NOT USE “IN THIS ESSAY…”, “I WILL BE EXPLAINING…”, “MY PAPER IS ABOUT…”, “MY PURPOSE IS TO…”, ETC.
10. DO NOT DECLARE A STATEMENT OF OPINION WITHOUT EXPLAINING YOUR POINT
11. DO NOT END EACH PARAGRAPH WITHOUT A TRANSITION TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH OR SOME TYPE OF WRAP-UP
12. DO NOT WRITE YOUR CONCLUSION WITH IDENTICAL PHRASES OR WORDS AS YOUR INTRO OR BODY PARAGRAPHS
13. DO NOT GET OFF TOPIC
14. DO NOT TALK ABOUT ANYTHING THAT WAS NOT MENTIONED OR SOMEHOW TRULY CONNECTED TO YOUR THESIS
DO’S PART I
1. BE CLEAR IN POINT AND ALL IDEAS
2. USE A THESAURUS TO HELP YOU HAVE A VARIED VOCABULARY
3. USE STRONG WORD CHOICE
4. GRAB THE READER’S ATTENTION IN YOUR FIRST SENTENCE OF YOUR INTRO
5. MAKE SURE YOUR THESIS IS THE LAST SENTENCE(S) OF YOUR INTRO PARAGRAPH
6. USE TRANSITION WORDS AND PHRASES TO HELP YOUR PAPER FLOW FROM ONE THOUGHT TO THE NEXT AND FROM ONE PARAGRAPH TO THE NEXT
7. BE SPECIFIC IN YOUR THESIS STATEMENT
8. ALL PARAGRAPHS MUST CONTAIN A TOPIC SENTENCE WITH SUPPORTING DETAILS
9. BUT, REMEMBER THAT YOUR TOPIC SENTENCE CONNECTS TO YOUR THESIS AS YOUR SUPPORTING DETAILS SHOULD
10. YOUR THESIS IS THE WHOLE PURPOSE FOR YOUR RESEARCH PAPER—YOU MUST NOT LOSE THAT FOCUS
11. USE THE COMPARE/CONTRAST, CHRONOLOGY, OR EXAMPLES FORMATS TO SET UP YOUR PAPER (AS SHOWN IN SLIDES)—UNLESS YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT A STRATEGY THAT YOU BELIEVE WOULD WORK BETTER FOR YOUR TOPIC
PARAGRAPH 1---INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH
This paragraph should be at least 5-7 sentences. However, I am going to provide a model using the 6 sentence intro format.
SENTENCE 1—LEAD-IN SENTENCE (GRABS THE READER’S ATTENTION)
A. CAN BE A QUESTION (MUST BE FOLLOWED WITH A DETAILED ANSWER) --LEAST EFFECTIVE IF YOU DON'T USE ACCURATELY
B. CAN BE A STATISTIC OR NUMBER
C. CAN BE A PROVEN FACT
D. CAN BE A DICTIONARY DEFINITION OF A WORD
E. CAN BE A QUOTATION OR QUOTE OF SOMEONE’S SPEECH OR THOUGHT
F. CAN BE A BRIEF STORY CONNECTION LEADING INTO THE PURPOSE OF THE PAPER
G. CAN BE A DIRECT STATEMENT TO THE TOPIC OF YOUR PAPER
SENTENCES 2-4—SHOULD BRIEFLY LEAD UP TO MAIN IDEA (THESIS) OR BRIEFLY MENTION MAJOR POINTS THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER IN THE PAPER (DO NOT PUT EXPLANATIONS IN INTRO---ONLY BRIEF POINTS TO FURTHER DEVELOP IN YOUR BODY PARAGRAPHS)
LAST SENTENCE IN INTRO—YOUR THESIS STATEMENT
THESIS STATEMENT IS YOUR MAIN IDEA OR TOPIC SENTENCE OF YOUR ENTIRE PAPER. THIS IS WHAT YOUR ENTIRE PAPER WILL BE FOCUSING ON.
YOU WILL BE USING A GENERIC THREE-PRONG THESIS STATEMENT SUCH AS GERALD DID IN HIS ESSAY.
MODEL INTRO AND BACKGROUND PARAGRAPHS
Student Name
Mrs. Stonitsch
English 9/ 2nd
7 May 2014
Voicing a Generation
If one were to look in a dictionary, Nirvana means a state of perfect happiness; however, in the music industry it means quite the opposite. Nirvana was an angry, raging grunge band. Nirvana’s lead singer, Kurt Cobain, dropped out of school to focus on his music career (“Kurt Cobain”). Cobain was very passionate about art and music. Like many bands, Nirvana never anticipated that they would grasp the nation’s attention. They were responsible for bringing attention to what was originally an underground music genre: grunge. The song that was most accountable for Nirvana’s success was “Smells Like Teen Spirit” off of their 2nd album, Nevermind. It became the anthem of the generation (“Nirvana (Rock Group)”). Nirvana helped voice a generation and impact the music industry through their image, their emotionally charged lyrics, and their unique grunge sound. Yellow = Hook Blue = Angle Pink = 3 points
Grunge music was extremely popular in Seattle in the 1980s and 1990s. The most popular grunge band at this time was Nirvana (Dagnino). Lead singer Kurt Cobain grew up in Aberdeen, Washington. This is where he met Krist Novoselic. The two realized that they both enjoyed punk music and decided to start a band called Nirvana. Nirvana was first signed by Sub Pop Records in Seattle. Sub Pop was an independent label that nationalized grunge music. This is where the band recorded their first album, Bleach. Afterwords they shuffled through a few different drummers before they finally settled on Dave Grohl (Gould). In the midst of recording their second album, Nevermind, many different record labels tried to out-bid each other to win over the band. In the end, Nirvana left Sub Pop and was signed to DGC Records (Gould; “Kurt Cobain”). At this point, Nirvana's popularity was increasing rapidly and they had attracted a lot of attention. (Background Paragraph)
1. YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE CITATIONS IN YOUR INTRO; HOWEVER, IF YOU USE A QUOTE, LYRIC, STATISTIC, PARAPHRASE, OR SUMMARY IN YOUR INTRO, YOU MUST INCLUDE PARENTHETICAL CITATION AS SHOWN IN SAMPLE ABOVE.
2. REMEMBER: COMMON KNOWLEDGE IS NOT CITED WITH A CITATION OR LISTED ON WORKS CITED ENTRY; HOWEVER, IF IT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU BELIEVE MANY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW, THEN CITE IT.
2. The Works Cited page for these two paragraphs are listed below. Notice how they match the beginning of the entries. The ones used in the intro and background paragraphs are highlighted in yellow for you.
Works Cited
Dagnino, Michelle. "Punk and Grunge Culture." Pop Culture Universe: Icons Idols Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Gould, Katherine. "Nirvana." Pop Culture Universe: Icons Idols Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
"Kurt Cobain." Newsmakers. Detroit: Gale, 1994. Student Resources in Context. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
McConnell, Veronica Bruce, et al. "Music: Grunge Rock (1990s)." American Decades: 1990-1999. Ed. Tandy McConnell. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. Student Resources in Context. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
"Nirvana (Rock Group)." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
"On Exhibit: Nirvana." Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
Savage, Jon. "Nirvana." Middle Search Plus. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Smith, Chris. "Nirvana: Nevermind (1991)." Pop Culture Universe: Icons Idols Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
SAMPLE INTRO AND BACKGROUND #2
When people hear the name Elvis, they think of the “King of Rock,” but he was so
much more than that. Elvis accomplished so much during his lifetime, more than just singing
and being a major movie star. Coming from a family with nothing, he became a superstar. Elvis
Presley inspired all kinds of people. His humble upbringing brought hope to minorities, his
unique style gave people the courage to stand out, and his creative twist on rock and roll music
opened the door for many musicians.
Although he was not the first to sing rock and roll, Elvis Presley will always be the “King
of Rock.” (TOPIC SENTENCE, EVEN FOR BACKGROUND) He fused together different genres of music to add his own twist to rock. This style is now known as rockabilly. Elvis was always exposed to music while he was growing up. He sang in the church choir as a boy, and when he moved to Memphis, he was introduced to the blues and jazz of Beale Street (“Elvis Presley Biography”). Presley grew up in a black neighborhood, where he heard a lot of their exotic music. Throughout his career, he combined
their sounds with his own, always keeping a balance of black and white music (“Elvis Presley”).
Even though his family was penniless, he was able to become successful with his amazing
musical talents. (WRAP-UP SENTENCE, EVEN FOR BACKGROUND THAT ROLLS OR TRANSITIONS TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH)
Elvis Presley was a minority growing up and showed his support for minorities
throughout his career. (TOPIC SENTENCE FOR 1ST THESIS POINT)