The Research Paper

As many of you are about to dive into the actual writing of the research paper, there are some important things to remember...

In-text citations are a way to flag ideas that are not necessarily your own to connect to your Works Cited page. There are a few ways to integrate information. Online Writing Lab at Purdue breaks it down quite nicely.

In addition, check out a full-exemplar of a *perfect* research paper from one of our Comp. classes a couple of years ago. That student received a 100%.

Thesis/Outline

As we move forward, remember these:
Thesis needs to be a claim, not a fact!
Organize your information in a clear way--create your outline!

Check out a terrific example of the whole process HERE.

MLA

What is MLA? (from the MLA website) All fields of research agree on the need to document scholarly borrowings, but documentation conventions vary because of the different needs of scholarly disciplines. MLA style for documentation is widely used in the humanities and features brief parenthetical citations in the text keyed to an alphabetical list of works cited that appears at the end of the work.

As we continue our process for the research paper, and "check your sources," we are requiring you to put these sources in "MLA Style." EasyBib is a terrific resource, but you do need to know how to enter your information correctly. You can submit your sources to us any way you would like-note cards, Google Docs, etc.

The best how-to out there for correct MLA-formatting is the OWL at Purdue University. Use it!

The most important thing to start with for a correct citation is author. Let's look at an article (you'll have to sign-in), and figure out how to correctly format the citation. This source has the correct citation at the bottom.

Here is another article that will take some more work...Let's open a Doc and do this...

HERE IS YOUR TOPIC CHOICE/SOURCES WORKSHEET.

Research Paper

Check out Ms. Hopkins' Libguide!

The Basics...

Here is a timeline of our process:

Tues. 2/9: Topic Choice and Find Sources (Minimum 3-MLA)
Wed. 2/10: (half-day) Sources/Note-Taking
Thurs. 2/11: Note-Taking
Fri. 2/12: Note-Taking/Form Thesis
Mon. 2/15: Outline
Tues. 2/16: Intro
Wed. 2/17: Body Paragraphs
Th. 2/18: Body Paragraphs
Fri. 2/19: Rough Draft Due

New Deal/Depression Assessment

Agenda:

• Finish: Analyzing the Living New Deal website: The Living New Deal document
• CREATIVE WRITING: Vignette
• In the same document you did your photo analysis, using the same photo you analyzed, write a “vignette” based on your photo. This is your assessment for our unit on the Depression.
• What is a “vignette?” A vignette is a short, well written sketch or descriptive scene. Think of the two Steinbeck pieces we read-”Breakfast” and “The Turtle.” It does not have to necessarily have a plot which would make it a story, but it does reveal something about the elements in it. It may reveal character, or mood or tone. It may have a theme or idea of its own that it wants to convey. It is the description of the scene or character that is important. This is your chance to be very descriptive and creative! Paint the picture with your words. 
• This vignette should be at least 3 paragraphs. You will be graded using a six-trait rubric—with emphasis on word choice and voice, i.e., how detailed and descriptive you are. Use Steinbeck as an exemplar.
• Here is a student exemplar and another one

Great Depression/New Deal

Agenda:

• Collect/Discuss: Chapter 22 of Anthem
• Collect/Discuss: "Breakfast" by John Steinbeck
• Analyze: The New Deal using the Living New Deal website
• Assignment/Requirements: The Living New Deal document

Depression/Steinbeck

Agenda:

• Finish Chapter Attack (chapter 22)
• Steinbeck's "Breakfast" is a great little vignette that has many themes which are shown through the setting, characters, word choice, and imagery.
• Read the piece here, and then and answer the questions.