Name: ______________________________ Writing 1 Class Period: _________________________ Write a Research Paper! In this packet, you will find all of the materials you will need to complete in order to write an effective research paper. Due to uncertainty regarding the schedule for EOC testing, all deadlines in the calendar are tentative and are subject to change. Research Paper
Aims:
Goal #1 Goal #2 Overview Requirements: 4-6 Pages(and Works Cited) 12 font Times New Roman 6 Sources(1 film, 2 textual non-reference sources, 2 references—can be digital, 1 internet page) 2 drafts Items due: 2 drafts 6 source cards Research Packet Final Draft Supplementary Documents: Calendar, MLA Guide, Index Cards (Provided by student), Flash Drive (Provided by student) Brainstorm Your Topic The goal of a research paper is to inform the reader about something they didn’t know about before. Research papers draw heavily on the use of evidence… your reader won’t care what you’re writing unless you’re presenting them with ideas and evidence that they can believe. For this class you will be required to create a paper that answers a very general question. How does race/ethnicity affect the world? You can pick any topic, but you explain how it relates to race/ethnicity. You must also prove your reasoning with facts from relevant sources. Before we can start looking for evidence, though, answer the following questions to try to identify a topic that you will be interested in researching this unit. First of all, think about and explain different ways that you’ve witnessed people of a certain culture or race interact and how? (For example, performing arts, political activities, neighborhood, clubs etc):
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Next, think about how people of a various cultures interact with each other? Is the interaction usually positive, negative or both? And, how do they interact? (For example, performing arts, political activities, neighborhood, clubs etc):
Third, think about how different races/ethnicities have affected the United States.
Fourth, how has the US reacted to (discriminated against or accommodated) these races/ethnicities?
Finally, how different races/ethnicities have affected other countries?
Fourth, how have these countries reacted to these races/ethnicities?
Choose Your Topic! Look back through the ideas you’ve developed by answering the questions above. You now need to select one topic that you think you could research for a few weeks and stay interested in it.. Choose wisely – this is your only opportunity to select the topic for your paper. The Topic of My Research Paper Is:
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Research Plan
K
W
What I already Know about this topic
What I Want to Know about this topic
Now, look back through your “K” column above. You already have some knowledge about this topic. Where did it come from? How did you gain all of this knowledge?
Finally, look at your “W” column. You will want to learn the answers to all of these questions as you complete your research. Where do you think you will look for the answers to these questions?
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Source Citations Source Citation
Definition:
MLA
Definition: Why it is Important:
An effective source citation needs to give the reader all of the information he or she would need to find the book, article, or website where you found the information. Here are a few example citations for your reference: Citation for a Book: Format: Author’s last name, author’s first name. Title of book. City of publication: Publisher, Publication year. Example: McNulty, Anna. A+: How Teaching Made Me Rich and Famous. St. Louis: McMiller Publishing, 2007. Citation for a Magazine Article: Format: Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of Article.” Magazine name Date of publication: page numbers. Example: Miller, Rudolph. “Jazz isn’t Just for Dirty Hippies.” Newsweek May 3, 1975: 4-18. Citation for a Website: Format: Author’s last name, author’s first name. “Title of page.” Name of website. Online. Date accessed. Web address. Example: Claus, Santa. “List of Good Boys and Girls.” Santa’s Electronic Workshop. Online. November 22, 2003. http://www.santa.org/lists/2003good.html. Citation for a Film: Format: Movie title. Director.Key Actors/Performers.Studio Production Company. Production Date. Format. DVD Distributor. Distribution Date Example: Citizen Kane. Dir. Orson Welles. Perfs. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton. RKO Radio Pictures, 1941. Guided Practice Instructions: The parts of the following source citations are mixed up, out of order, and have been put together incorrectly. Rewrite them correctly. Book:
Haunted. Doubleday Publishers. 2006. Chuck Palahniuk. New York.
Correction:____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Magazine:
26-29. “How to Go to College – Free!” October 6, 2002. Hannah Arendt. US
Website:
http://www.wikipedia.com/calico.htm. April 29, 2006. Author Unknown. “Calico
Cats.” Online. Correction:____________________________________________________________________ 4/19
_____________________________________________________________________________ News and World Report. Correction:____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Film:
2004. Troy. Warner Bros Cir.Wolfgang Petersen. Perf.Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando
Bloom, Peter O’Toole, and Diane Kruger.. Correction:____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ Independent Practice Instructions: Below, a messy student who wasn’t very well organized took down information from a bunch of sources she wants to use in her paper. Your mission is to make sense of the information and to put together a properly formatted MLA source citation for each of these sources. 1.
I found this really great website with tons of information on the subject of my research paper, Michael Jordan. The site was called “ H is Airness ” and I really liked the “ M ichael Jordan: A Biography ” page. The author was Phil Jackson… he said something about being Jordan’s coach…? Anyway. I found it yesterday – March 15th, 2007 – and if I Sourcewant Citation: to go back that page was at http://www.mj.com/jordan/biograhy.html . 2. My teacher handed me this book that’ll really help with my research project. The book was titled, The Human Condition and it was written by Hannah Arendt. The book was published by Schocken Books in 1999… that publishing Sourcecompany Citation: is located in New York City. 3.
I was reading Newsweek magazine at the gym the other day and there was this really interesting article about Barack Obama called “ America’s New Hope? ” I think it was on pages 20-23. It was written by Anna Quindlen and was in the March 5th edition of the magazine. Sourceit Citation: 4.
I was watching the movie Beacons of Light. It was produced by Incan Films on the 28th, of May 1997. The two main actors were Savannah Watson, and Angel Henderson. They were directed by the talented director Amos Hansen.
Source Citation:
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Thesis Statements Topic Sentence
Definition: Example:
Thesis Statement
Definition: Example:
Practice Instructions: Now, take the following topics and write thesis statements about them. Example:
Topic: Flava Flav Thesis: I think Flava Flav is one of the coolest people ever to set foot on the earth.
1. Topic: pineapple and anchovy pizza Thesis: __________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. Topic: state takeover of Miami Public Schools Thesis: __________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Topic: the Miami Heat Thesis: __________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 4. Topic: McDonald’s Thesis: __________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ Independent Practice Instructions: Now, go back to the topic you chose to write about on the bottom of page 2. Write a thesis statement about this topic. What do you want to help your reader understand by writing this research paper? My Thesis Statement: ______________________________________________________
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Main Ideas to Support your Thesis Instructions: This is where writing papers can get really messy. Sure, you know what you’re going to be writing about. You even have a pretty good idea about what you want to say. Now, you want to take that big idea – your topic – and break it down into bite-sized pieces your reader can understand. This will give your paper structure and will make it more interesting for your reader. Example:
Thesis: John Elway was the greatest Denver Broncos quarterback of all time Main Idea 1: First of all, John Elway won back-to-back Super Bowls. Main Idea 2: Secondly, John Elway is the reason the team is so successful today. Main Idea 3: Finally, Elway’s statistics are so good that no other quarterback in the Broncos’ history can compete with them.
Now, give it a shot on your own! Try to come up with different main ideas that you could use to support the following thesis. Thesis: School lunches at Miami Northwestern Senior High School need to be improved. Main Idea 1: _______________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Main Idea 2: _______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Main Idea 3: _______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ Finally! The moment you’ve been waiting for. Come up with three ideas you can break down your thesis sentence into. You want these to be bite-sized pieces of the topic you’ll be exploring. Focus on three different things that can prove the point you’re trying to make to your reader. My Thesis: _____________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Main Idea 1: _____________________________________________________________ Main Idea 2: _____________________________________________________________ Main Idea 3: _____________________________________________________________
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Reliability of Sources Reliability
Definition:
Practice Instructions: Your job is to determine whether the following sources are reliable. Remember: reliability is all about whether you can believe the evidence and the claims the source is making. Does the information they’re presenting to you make sense? Example:
The guy down on the street corner tells you that aliens are everywhere. Is this claim reliable? Explain your answer. ___________________________________
5.
Your doctor tells you that eating fatty junk food like Flamin’ Hot Cheetoes can cause heart disease and other health problems when you are an adult. Is this claim reliable? Explain your answer. _________________________________________
6.
Your mother tells you that there are 55 states in the United States. Is this claim reliable? Explain your answer. _________________________________________ 7.
Raymond tells you a touchdown is worth 6 points in football. Is this claim reliable? Explain your answer. _________________________________________
8.
Mr. Lischwe tells you that there are 210 degrees in every triangle. Is this claim reliable? Explain your answer. _________________________________________
Instructions: Now, we’re going to make things a little more difficult. This is your chance to show that you understand what reliability is and how it works. Make up one claim that is reliable and one claim that is not reliable in the space below. Reliable: _______________________________________________________________________ Not Reliable: ____________________________________________________________________
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Credibility of Sources Credibility
Definition:
Practice Credibility is all about the person giving you the information. Do they know what they’re talking about? Can you trust them? Would it benefit or hurt them for you to think one thing or the other? Now, your job is to determine whether the information you’re reading is coming from someone you could believe to give you true information about the subject. Example:
A doctor is giving you advice about healthy foods. Is she credible? Explain your answer. __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________
1. A bus driver is giving you advice on the metro you can take to get from Northwestern to the Dadeland Mall in 40 minutes. Is he credible? Explain your answer. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2. The guy selling you a new cell phone is trying to get you to buy the fanciest one they sell. He says it is a better value than the others. Is he credible? Explain your answer. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3. A lawyer tells you that you’ve been unfairly fired and that, if you filed a lawsuit, you could get your old job back. Is he credible? Explain your answer. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 4. The used car saleswoman tells you that the Escalade you’re looking at is totally safe and is a great value. It certainly hasn’t been in any car crashes and you’d better buy it fast because someone else was looking at it pretty hard about an hour ago. Is she credible? Explain your answer. __________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
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Research Guide Instructions: We’ll be focusing on different types of research during this unit because with technology so readily accessible, it is easy to find the answer to any question. If you need information odds are that it’s just a click away on the internet or a flip away in a book. In order to carry out your research, start by going to www.google.com and entering the term you want to explore in the box located in the middle of the screen. For example, if I was doing my research paper on John Elway, I’d put “John Elway” in this box. If I wanted to get something more specific, I’d go back up to the search box and add more terms – for example, “John Elway passing and touchdown statistics”. Over the next few days you will be responsible for finding at least five “solid” sources – 1 website, 2 references, and 2 textual resources that provide valuable and reliable information about the topic you’re exploring. You will print out the pages that you think are the best at making your point. You will also complete a “Resource Sheet” for each of these pages, to remind yourself of where and when you found this information and how you think it can help you write your paper.
Text Source #1 Name of website: _______________________________________________________________ Name of page or story: ___________________________________________________________ Web address: ___________________________________________________________________ Author of this page or story: _______________________________________________________ Date I found this webpage: ________________________________________________________ Helpful information I got from this webpage ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ How I could use this page in my paper: _______________________________________________
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Text Source #2 Name of website: _______________________________________________________________ Name of page or story: ___________________________________________________________ Web address: ___________________________________________________________________ Author of this page or story: _______________________________________________________ Date I found this webpage: ________________________________________________________ Helpful information I got from this webpage ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ How I could use this page in my paper: _______________________________________________
Reference Source #3 Name of website: _______________________________________________________________ Name of page or story: ___________________________________________________________ Web address: ___________________________________________________________________ Author of this page or story: _______________________________________________________ Date I found this webpage: ________________________________________________________ Helpful information I got from this webpage ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ How I could use this page in my paper: _______________________________________________
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Reference Source #4 Name of website: _______________________________________________________________ Name of page or story: ___________________________________________________________ Web address: ___________________________________________________________________ Author of this page or story: _______________________________________________________ Date I found this webpage: ________________________________________________________ Helpful information I got from this webpage ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ How I could use this page in my paper: _______________________________________________
Internet Source #5 Name of website: _______________________________________________________________ Name of page or story: ___________________________________________________________ Web address: ___________________________________________________________________ Author of this page or story: _______________________________________________________ Date I found this webpage: ________________________________________________________ Helpful information I got from this webpage ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ How I could use this page in my paper: _______________________________________________
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Evaluate Reliability and Credibility of Sources Instructions: Today, your job is to go back, review, and evaluate the reliability and credibility of the evidence you found for your research paper. As a reminder, we worked on reliability and credibility on pages 8-9. You will be asked to rate the reliability and credibility of the sources you want to use. Do these ratings on a scale of 1-5, with 1 meaning “I don’t trust this person or evidence at all” and 5 meaning “If I had to bet my life on this being true, I would.” Reliability Rating (1-5)
Explanation
Credibility Explanation Rating (1-5)
Name of Source #1
Name of Source #2
Name of Source #3
Name of Source #4
Name of Source #5
Look back through the sources you just analyzed. Put stars by the three most trustworthy sources you found. These will be the sources you use in your research paper. If one or more of them is not credible, during your own free time, please locate and utilize more reliable sources. Spend the rest of your time today going back through these sources and identifying the passages that you’d like to use in your paper. 13/19
Select and Analyze Evidence My Thesis: ______________________________________________________________________ An Analysis Refresher: **Focus point: How does your quote prove that your topic sentence is true?** Analysis Sentence #1: Explanation of Quote *Start with “In this quote…” Analysis Sentence #2: Elaboration + Relation Back to Topic Sentence *Use key words from topic sentence
Copy your MAIN IDEAS from page 7
A QUOTE from my evidence that supports this main idea
Analysis Sentence 1 – Explanation “In this quote…:”
Analysis Sentence 2 – Elaboration Relate quote back to main idea
Main Idea #1
Main Idea #2
Main Idea #3
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Introduction Paragraphs Instructions: Your introduction paragraph is where you grab your reader’s attention and tell them what your paper will be about. Get them interested in what you have to say! Without a good introduction, it is likely that your read will just set your paper down without reading the whole thing. An introduction paragraph contains the following three parts: Hook Grab your reader’s attention and get them interested in what you’re writing about. Thesis Write the thesis of the paper. Tell the reader what this paper will make them believe. Preview In one sentence, preview the main points you will be making in your three body paragraphs. Here’s an example of an effective introduction paragraph: Hook Over 11 million innocent people taken to camps and systematically murdered. 5% of the entire world’s population killed. Sound like science fiction? It actually happened in the not so distant past, Thesis World War II was one of the most devastating conflicts in the history of humanity. Preview This paper will demonstrate just how terrible an impact World War II had on the world by examining the Holocaust, explaining the causes of this war, and then exploring the consequences of such tremendous destruction. Practice Instructions: Fill in the blank boxes to complete the introductory paragraph for this research paper. Hook
Thesis Preview
The St. Louis Cardinals have been a very successful baseball team.
. Write Your Introduction! Hook
Thesis
Preview
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Conclusion Paragraphs Instructions: The purpose of a conclusion paragraph is exactly that – to tie up all of your loose ends and bring your paper to a solid ending. A conclusion paragraph contains the two following parts: Go Back! Closing Hook
Use a transition word/phrase, then revisit your thesis statement and three main reasons (topic sentences) End your persuasive essay with a hook (something interesting!). Tell your reader exactly what you want them to feel, think, or do!
Here’s an example of an effective conclusion paragraph: In the end, this paper has shown that World War II was one of the most devastating Go conflicts in the history of humanity by explaining the Holocaust, showing how the war Back! started, and exploring the impact the war had on the rest of the world. Closing Though 62 million deaths seems unthinkable, it is important to remember that this really Hook happened and that we need to keep it from happening again in the future. Practice Instructions: Fill in the blank boxes to complete the conclusion paragraph for this research paper. Go back and use the main points you came up with when writing your introduction on page 15! Ultimately, this paper has shown that the St. Louis Cardinals have been a very successful baseball team because… Go Back!
Closing Hook
Write Your Conclusion!
Go Back!
Closing Hook
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Begin your 1st Rough Draft!
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__________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ Peer Editing Checklist This paper was edited by: _________________________________________________________ The most interesting thing about this paper is… ________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Something I think you should work on is… ___________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ___.
Put “sp” by words that are or you think might be misspelled.
___.
Write “punct” by places where punctuation is missing.
___.
Write “awk” in places where the paper sounds funny or awkward.
___.
Put a question mark in parts of the paper where what the author is saying doesn’t make sense to you.
FINAL DRAFT IS DUE ON: ______________________________________!!!
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