8th Grade Research Paper
2016
Subject: / Language artsRequirements: / Thesis * Hmwk. Grade due______
Source check * Hmwk. Grade due ______
Rough Draft with Revision *Hmwk. Grade due______
Final Draft * Test Grade
Works Cited Page * Test Grade
Ø Late Policy: If you fail to turn in your research paper on Wed., March 30th , you will incur an automatic 10% deduction. If you do not turn it in on Thurs., March 31st , papers will not be collected after Spring Break for credit.
Ø If you struggle with keeping up or meeting deadlines, you must talk to your teacher A.S.A.P. Arrangements can be made for additional help before or after school to use computer for research, typing, or general help. (All documents will be placed on the Common Drive to access from home. It is still good to have a flash drive.)
Ø PLAGIARISM (using ideas, words, phrases, or sentence structure not your own – whether as a direct quote or as paraphrased material – without crediting a source) will result in an AUTOMATIC FAILURE (a zero for the entire project).
Ø When turning in “Drafts” – that still means they must be 100% complete, meeting paragraph length and content requirements.
Choosing a Topic for Your Research Paper
Prompt: You will develop and create a five paragraph research paper that informs your audience about an issue relating to the Holocaust study. You must conduct and synthesize research into an informative essay that is supported with credible and reliable research.
Topic Ideas can include but are not limited to the following:
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1. Dictatorship under the Third Reich
2. Early stages of persecution
3. The Evian Conference
4. The first concentration camps
5. Aftermath of World War I
6. Hitler’s Rise to Power
7. German propaganda
8. Mein Kampf – influence
9. Nuremberg Race Laws
10. Kristallnacht (The night of broken glass)
11. How World War II started
12. The “Final Solution”
13. The SS Police
14. Murder of the Disabled
15. Auschwitz Concentration Camp
16. Dachau Concentration Camp
17. Life in the Ghettos
18. Mobile Killing Squads
19. Killing centers
20. Victims of Nazi persecution
21. Jewish Resistance
22. Non-Jewish Resistance
23. Rescue
24. Holocaust Remembrance Day
25. Death Marches
26. Liberation
27. Postwar Trials
28. Displaced Persons camps
29. Emigration
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Finding Sources
As part of the requirements for this paper, YOU MUST
1. Use at least 2-3 sources. That means that your sources will need to be cited parenthetically in the text of your paper as well as identified on the Works Cited page. You can, of course, use more than three sources, but don’t overdo it. Try to find QUALITY sources rather than scrounging information from multiple mediocre ones.
2. Use the following credible sources:
ü One scholarly article from
http://www.inspire.net, or http://eric.ed.gov/ or http://scholar.google.com
ü An internet article (professional, approved by teacher)
http://www.ushmm.org/learn/students
http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/index.asp
http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/the-holocaust
http://www.theholocaustexplained.org/ (click on Key Stage 3)
http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/VR.htm
http://teacher.scholastic.com/frank/gloss.htm
http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/search.htm
3. You must fill out the appropriate PARC sheet for each source. Print off the article to annotate.
Resource to Avoid:
v Wikipedia
Due to its fluctuating nature, this resource is not an allowed resource for any NACS project. Though this website may be a good place to begin your brainstorming, it is not a valid source as anyone can place whatever they like on the webpages, and there is minimal editing by the creators of Wikipedia. You can, however, often find links to more substantial, creditable resources on this website.
IF ALL ELSE FAILS, ASK A LIBRARIAN OR MEDIA CENTER SPECIALIST FOR HELP! THEY ARE THERE TO ASSIST YOU AND ARE EXPERTS AT FINDING INFORMATION!
Finding a Good Internet Source
There are many great resources available on the internet, but you have to know where to look, how to look, and how to judge credibility.
Where to Look
Here are some great search engines:
www.google.com
www.ask.com
www.yahoo.com
Another great resource is INSPIRE (Indiana’s Online Research Library), free to all Indiana residents. This website has thousands of articles posted online for nearly any subject you can think of. ONE AMAZING SOURCE!!!! (And the articles count as magazines or periodicals, not as an internet source – so be sure to site them as such.) Simply go to the following link and search for your topic: www.inspire.net.
How to Look
Search engines are only useful if you know how to use them. If you are having trouble locating good internet sources, try changing the words you use to search.
Using Sources
< And What to Do with Sources Once You Have Them >
You must record the proper MLA citation at the TOP of each source. Use the examples below to help you determine how to do that. These citations will then easily transfer to your Works Cited page.
Book
Author, First, and Second Author. Title of Book. Publishing City: Publishing Company, copyright date.
Example:
Vare, Ethlie Ann, and Greg Patek. The Life of William Faulkner. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1977.
Reference or Encyclopedia Article
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Reference Book. edition number. copyright date. page number on which the article is found.
Example:
Tobias, Richard. “Thurber, James.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2nd ed. 1987. 612.
Essay from a Printed Collection (Anthology or Book of Multiple Authors/Articles)
Author’s Last Name, First Name (of article). “Title of Essay or Chapter.” Title of Book. Editor of the Collection. Publishing City: Publishing Company, copyright date. pages of article.
Example:
Darst, Anne. “Young, Gifted, Black---And Inspired.” Black Theater. Ed. Lindsay Patterson. New York: Dodd, 1971. 221-76.
Periodical (Magazine, Journal, or Newspaper Article)
Author’s Last Name, First Name (of article). “Title of Article.” Title of Magazine Volume.Issue (Date of Magazine): pages of article.
Example:
Edsall, Thomas Bryne. “London’s ‘To Build a Fire.’” English Journal 14.4 (June 1988): 86-94.
Online (Internet) Source
Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Website. Date posted. Sponsoring Organization. Date accessed <electronic address (URL)>.
Example:
Devitt, Terry. "Flying High." The Why Files. 9 Dec. 1999. University of Wisconsin, Board of Regents. 4 Jan. 2000 <http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/ shorties/kite.html>.
Periodical Article from Inspire.net (or Similar Database)
Last, First. “Title of Article.” Title of Periodical Volume.issue number (date of periodical publication): page numbers of article. Sponsoring Organization. Date accessed <electronic address (URL)>.
Example:
Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the Promotion of African American Children’s Literature.” African American Review 32 (1998): 9-16. Inspire. 8 Jan. 2008 <http:// www.inspire. net/>.
You must also highlight and annotate EACH of your sources, demonstrating that you have carefully read and considered each of the sources you are using. What can you annotate? Keep these ideas in mind:
µ Your reactions
µ Any questions you may have
µ Summary of content
µ Valuable quotes or information you can use in your paper
The Works Cited Page
The last page of the final draft of your research paper is called the Works Cited page. Note: It is NOT a bibliography (which simply lists sources you might have read as you researched), but rather a Works Cited records those sources that you actually used in the writing of your draft. On this page you will record in alphabetical order all the sources cited in your paper. “Cited” means you quoted or paraphrased a work in the text of your paper. If you did not use a work in your paper, it should not be listed on this page. The good news is you already did most of the work when you labeled your sources!!! If you perfected them then, all you should have to do is organize them in alphabetical order (based first on author, then on title) and record them with all the proper capitalization and punctuation (remember – that is key!!!).
Follow these guidelines when writing your Works Cited page:
§ Center the title Works Cited one inch from the top of the page. Do nothing special to the title. Do not make it bold; do not underline it or change the font size or style.
§ Begin each entry right at the left-hand margin. Continue the information all the way to the right-hand margin. If the entry runs more than one line, indent the additional lines five spaces (or simply tab).
§ List each entry alphabetically by the author’s last name. If there is no author, use the first word of the title to alphabetize (ignore a, an, or the if it is the first word of the title).
§ Everything should be double-spaced with NO additional spaces in between entries.
Sample Works Cited Page:
Last Name 5
Works Cited
Darst, Anne. “Young, Gifted, Black---And Inspired.” Black Theater.
Ed. Lindsay Patterson. New York: Dodd, 1971. 221-76.
Edsall, Thomas Bryne. “London’s ‘To Build a Fire.’” English Journal 14.4
(June 1988): 86-94.
Tobias, Richard. The Art of James Thurber. Columbus: Ohio UP, 1970.
- - -. “Thurber, James.” Encyclopedia Americana. 1987.Tolson, Nancy. “Making Books Available: The Role of Early Libraries, Librarians, and Booksellers in the Promotion of African American Children’s Literature.” African American Review 32 (1998): 9-16. Inspire. 8 Jan. 2008 <http://www.inspire.net/search>.
Vare, Ethlie Ann, and Greg Patek. The Life of William Faulkner. Chicago:U of Chicago P, 1977.
Refer to any MLA Style reference for further information on citing sources that are not in this handout. Please pay careful attention to details—periods, underlining, and spacing should appear exactly as above.
The Thesis Statement
One of the most crucial steps in writing your paper is coming up with an effective thesis statement. Think of it as the whole paper in a nutshell. If you were going to tell someone the point of your paper in one sentence, that’s your thesis. Your thesis will appear as the last sentence of the first paragraph, or introduction, of your paper, as well as at the beginning of your outline. Every single sentence in your paper must have a connection to your thesis and somehow help you to prove your thesis.
Your thesis is your way of telling your reader what your paper will try to demonstrate. The rest of your paper will then be devoted to supporting the statement you have made in your opening paragraph. When you type your paper, though, the thesis won’t be identified---it won’t be in bold print or made to stand out in any way…. it will however, be recognizable in that it clearly explains the purpose and direction of your paper. Although it will just be one of the sentences in your introduction, it should be clear, just by how firm and definitive it is, that this is the statement you intend to support. Let’s look a little more closely at what a thesis should and should not be:
A thesis is NOT:
Ø a simple fact
Ø a series of ideas several sentences long
Ø a question
Ø a statement containing “no” or “not”
Ø a vague or indefinite idea
Ø a foregone conclusion (something everyone already knows)
Ø a sentence containing “I think…”, “I believe…”, “In this paper…”, etc.
A thesis IS:
Ø a narrow, limited, single idea, capable of being developed fully in the paper
Ø an assertion or declaration capable of being proven
Ø an argument
Ø a positive opinion (but stated as fact – NO FIRST PERSON!)
Ø a clearly stated, specific point of view
Ø a fresh look at an issue you are willing to defend as being important
Be sure that your thesis isn’t so broad that hundreds of pages could be written about it. At the same time, it shouldn’t be so narrow that you will have great difficulty coming up with enough information to support your statement. Don’t use “I” (as in “I think” or “in my opinion”), because it weakens your sentence and because research papers must be written in third person. Here are a couple of samples of thesis statements:
Not so good:
1. Huck Finn led an interesting life.
2. Real athletes are born, not made.
Better:
1. Huck Finn makes some important discoveries about human nature during a series of funny, though often frightening, adventures.
(Can you see that this is much more specific and provable? Your paper will talk about his insights into human nature, and Twain’s use of humor and adventure to lead Huck to these realizations.)
2. Consistent, strenuous practice can help an average skater turn into an accomplished performer.
(Again, this is way more specific. Instead of having no idea where to begin, you now have narrowed your research to information dealing with the impact of effective practice on a skater’s performance.)
Writing the Polished Draft
You can approach this hefty paper like you would any other formal writing assignment. You should include the “normal” elements of professional writing:
@ Solid Introduction with a catchy attention-grabber and the last sentence as your thesis (claim).
@ Effective Body Paragraphs with topic sentences that support the thesis, set up the main idea of the paragraph, and provide transitions between paragraphs, and support in the form of direct quotes (aim for 2-4) and paraphrases (the majority of your paper), with citations, of course. All paragraphs must be at least 5 sentences and should focus on only one main idea (evidence).
@ Spectacular Conclusion that successfully sums up your main points in a satisfying manner.
Direct Quotations> This is information that you copy word for word—you should aim for 2-4 direct quotations in your paper, so make sure that it is necessary to use that exact wording. When should you use a direct quote?
· Facts and statistics can be utilized with paraphrasing, but opinions and key ideas may need to be expressed through a direct quote.