English 11 Research Paper Requirements

Requirements:

  • Minimum of 6-8 pages (and not a line less!)
  • 12 points font, double spaced
  • Cover page will include: Name, date and title
  • Works Cited page will be in proper MLA format
  • Cover page and Works Cited are not included in the 6-8 page paper.

Topic Selection

This year, your topic will revolve around the theme of “Mass Hysteria.” Since we have finished reading “The Crucible” and a variety of other Puritan short stories, we see how the town of Salem reacted to the crying out of witches. There have been many examples of hysteria throughout history, but since this is English 11 and all of our literature is from American authors, we are going to keep the hysteria related to the United States.

See attached sheet for topic ideas. This is not an inclusive list, so feel free to find your own topic. One topic per person, per class unless you have a different angle or thesis on the subject.

What is a research paper?

A research paper is a piece of academic writing that requires a more abstract, critical, and thoughtful level of inquiry. Meaning you will be using your researching skills that you have acquired to find information to support your thesis (main idea of the paper).

We will be going through all the steps to writing the paper, having a variety of due dates and one-on-one meetings with Mrs. Sieg during class time to check your work. You grade will include these due dates along with in class work grade. Remember that you will not finish all of your work in class so I recommend buying a USB drive so that you not only have your work backed up but also so that you can take it home and work on it also. Many of you will rely on the eBackpack, but you can NEVER be too cautious when it comes to your work.

Due dates (use this as a check off list as we work on the paper)
  • Topic Selection ______(10 points)
  • Sources printed from the Internet ______(35 points @ 5point per article)
  • Highlighted Resources ______(20 points + 5 points per day use of class time)
  • One book resource ______(10 points)

(Bloomer Library, Bloomer High School Library MORE system or WISCAT)

  • Topic Web ______(10 points)
  • Conference #1 ______(10 points)
  • Notecards ______(50 points)
  • Conference #2 ______(10 points)
  • Outline ______(25 points)
  • Thesis statement ______(10 points)
  • Introduction ______(15 points)
  • Body paragraph 1 with proper in-text citations ______(10 points)
  • Conference #3 ______(10 points)
  • Final Draft ______(Points TBA)

If you do not turn in your paper on the due date and by the specified time, you will receive a zero for the paper and a failure for the 2nd quarter. There are no exceptions to this policy.

Let’s break it down…

Sources: You will need to have 7 Internet sources and one book on your topic. If once you print them and you realize that some of the articles are short or don’t have a lot of information, print a few more just for good measure. Please remember to use only legitimate sources and your best bet is to start at Badgerlink.net. I will not accept information off of Wikipedia this time. Remember that .org (organization), .gov (government), and .edu (education) are good sites to keep in mind. Careful with .com (commercial) endings since those have a tendency to be less reliable unless it is a newspaper source.

Please keep this sheet as a reminder of due dates and expectations.