research paper

Requirements for introduction:

· Your introduction must start with a “hook” to get the attention of your reader. A good hook may be found in one of your sources. Keep this in mind as you are looking for information. See the Writing an Introductory Paragraph” powerpoint on Blackboard to get some ideas for this.

· You also need a transition sentence (or sentences) to connect the hook with the thesis.

· Your introduction must also include a preview of the main points of the essay and a thesis (or overall topic) sentence to tell your reader what the essay is going to be about.

· The introductory paragraph should be 125-175 words long.

Requirements for the body paragraphs:

· Remember that an essay of this type may contain different kinds of paragraphs—like the definition paragraph that you have already written about the disease. You may also have paragraphs that talk about the famous person’s background and struggles with the disease, their ability to move past these struggles, or the accomplishments that they were able to achieve. Regarding the disability, you can define it and/or you can explain the strategies for overcoming it.

· Your transitions between paragraphs must show how these different pieces of information relate to each other.

· Each body paragraph must have a topic sentence, and the information in the paragraph not contain information other than the information predicted in the topic sentence.

Requirements for the conclusion:

· The conclusion must briefly restate and review the main points of the essay—using different words and sentences than you used in the introduction.

· Your conclusion should leave your reader with something to think about.

General requirements for the essay:

· Essay should be 800-950 words long.

· Use APA format as we have been practicing all semester.

· APA cover page

· APA running head and page numbers

· Double-spacing, #12 font

· References page

· You must use at least 4 sources in your essay. DO NOT use mostly information from one source. One of the primary purposes of this essay to practice combining information from different sources to present the information in your own unique way.

· You MAY NOT use Wikipedia as one of your sources.

· Make your sources as reliable as possible.

· You may use short quotes—only if they are actually from the famous person that you are writing about. Otherwise, you should paraphrase all information from your sources.

· You must make sure you give credit for the information to the appropriate authors, whether you use a direct quote or a paraphrase. This will require you to make frequent in-text references to the sources—the specific authors or titles for where you found the specific information. In addition, you should include the page numbers if they are available.

· Do not use contractions.

· Do not use 1st and 2nd person pronouns (I, me, we, us, you, etc).

· Do not use informal language.

· Do not start sentences with FANBOYS.

· Every time you sit down to work on this paper, you should review these guidelines.

· Before you send the paper, you should read these guidelines again and see if you have followed them.

· Before you send the essay, you should also check your punctuation and grammar—especially the things that we have covered in class, like commas, semicolons, colons, subject-verb agreement.

· Make sure you check your APA formatting.

· This essay is supposed to show what you have learned this semester. I am not going to correct things that we have been over many times and that you should know by now. You have to learn to edit yourself.

· Make any necessary changes before you upload the essay.

Sample introductory paragraph from Powerpoint:

“When we accept our limits, we go beyond them” (Brainy Quotes). These words were spoken by the man who is known as the father of modern physics, who invented the theory of relativity, and who invented the world’s most famous equation—E = mc2. This same man who once was labeled “dull” (alberteinstein.org), but later won the Nobel Prize in Physics, was a man with many limitations. Albert Einstein, one the world’s most well-known scientists, was also autistic and dyslexic. The disabilities of dyslexia and autism are often misunderstood and can be devastating diagnoses. However, once they are identified and understood, there are many strategies for overcoming the limitations that they bring. Albert Einstein overcame these limitations and transformed the scientific world. The following explanation of the problems that accompany dyslexia and autism and the ways that Einstein overcame these problems to achieve incredible scientific accomplishments will encourage and create hope for anyone who is afflicted with these cognitive disabilities or knows someone who is challenged by them.