Research paper

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HERO CLASS RESEARCH PAPER - CHEESEMAN

1. Task Definition

Where do I start?

You are to complete a Research Project for the 1st semester Hero Class– You must pick a book with literary merit that must be approved by the teacher (please avoid popular fiction or non-fiction):

You may select your book through the George Library DESTINY catalog.

In researching your book you should begin with the resources available to you from your research guide that are accessible from the George Library web page.

You must select 7 credible and appropriate (pertain to your topic), scholarly articles from scholarly sources plus 2 books (chapters) and annotate them. The purpose of this assignment is to familiarize you with the process of gathering information from a library.  In learning the method of gathering and annotating information, you will be that much more prepared when required to write and research in college.

You are expected to:

· Select a book

· Submit a Synopsis of the Plot

· Submit a Characterization of Protagonist and Antagonist

· Complete Your Book

· Formulate a Working Thesis”

· Submit a Working Outline

· Research and Select Articles to Support Your Thesis

· Complete a Preliminary Bibliography and a Short Description of the Main Points and Sub-topics of the Articles you have selected. 

· Submit a First Draft  

· Turn in your FINAL Draft 

Your teacher will give you your due dates. 

  

Select a Paper Format:

1.    A paper on a particular work.  You might treat character (for example, "The Character of Bottom in A Midsummer's Night Dream", or "The Question of Whether Willy Loman is a Hero or Antihero in "Death of a Salesman"), or tone, ideas, form, problems, and the like.  A research paper on a single work is similar to an essay on the same work, except that the research paper takes into account more views and fact than those you are likely to have without the research.

2.    A paper based on a comparison and contrast.  These are two types:

a.     A paper on an idea of some artistic quality common to two or more authors.  Your intention might be to show points of similarity or contrast or to show that one author's work may be read as a criticism of another's. A possible subject of such a paper might be "The Theme of Ineffectuality in Behn, Eliot, Steinbeck, and Williams," or "Behn's Antimale Poems in the Context of Male Domination Lyric Poetry of the Seventeenth Century."

b. A paper concentrating on opposing critical views of a particular work or body of work.  Sometimes much is to be gained from an examination of differing critical opinions. "The Question of Hamlet's Hesitation."

3.    A paper showing the influence of an idea, an author, a philosophy, a political situation, or an artistic movement on a specific work of an author.  As this paper has the potential to run long, this type of paper might have to be modified to suit the length requirement.

4.    A paper on the origins of a particular work or type of work.

                                  

2 INFORMATION SEEKING STRATEGIES

What are the possible sources of information I can use?

Use: – Online References

Internet Sites from your RESEARCH GUIDE

Books

If necessary you may go to a university or college library to find additional resources.

3. LOCATION AND ACCESS

  

Where will I find these sources?

Use the DESTINY catalog to find books in our library.

Use the recommended databases and web sites found on your Library Research Guide.

Passwords are available in the library.

4. USE OF INFORMATION

Deciding what information to use and how I will use this information

The Research Paper

Traditional procedure

1.    If possible, select a subject that interests you and that you can treat within the assigned limits of time and space. Your paper will be 8-10 pages.

2.    Determine your purpose in writing the paper.

3.    Consider the audience – your peers and your teacher.  Remember that your teacher is an ‘expert’ in the field.

4.    Develop a thesis statement expressing the central idea of your paper.

5.    Gather your ideas and information in a preliminary list, eliminating anything that would weaken your paper.

6.    Arrange materials in an order appropriate to the aims of the paper and decide on the method you will use in developing your ideas (definition, classification, analysis, comparison and contrast, example)

7.    Make a detailed outline to help you keep to your plan as you write.

8.    Write a preliminary draft critically and try to improve it, revising, rearranging, adding, and eliminating words, phrases, and sentences to make the writing more effective.  Follow the same procedure with each subsequent draft.

9.    Proofread the final draft, making all final corrections

5. SYNTHESIS

   Putting your information together.

Follow these guidelines:

1. Cover page.

2. 7 annotations– typed.  Use MLA stylebook for correct documentation and citation.  You must correctly quote from each article in your annotation.

3. Copies of 7 scholarly articles from which annotations were written.

4. Annotated Bibliography

.

6. EVALUATION

  Reviewing your project.

You must reference your source each fact that you express.

You must cite the sources that have lead you there or that support your arguments.

Finished assignment fulfills task.

· Information found matches information needed?

· How well did my paper turn out?

· Did I revise with a critical eye?

· Sources are credited.

· Was I happy with my process of finding and using information?

· Work is complete and includes name and date.

· Work is handed in on time.

· How would I do a similar project in the future?