Sophomore Research Paper

1. Sophomore Research Paper Everything You Need to Know TAKE NOTES!

2. Your Assignment • You will write a paper and deliver a 3 minute speech to the class. • English 10 – 3 typed, double-spaced pages. • Honor’s English 10 – 5 typed, double-spaced pages. • Yes - your paper must be typed!! • The paper must be written to MLA standards, which we will go over.

3. You must turn in the following: • Thesis Statement • Outline • 10 Note Cards (completed to my specifications) • Rough Draft – with Works Cited Page • Works Cited Page • Final Draft • You will also deliver a speech

4. There is a strict calendar for when each item is due. You must follow this and if you know you will be absent, turn in your work early!

5. What will my paper be on? • English 10/Honor’s English 10 – your topic will be an opposing viewpoint/current issue or event. • No two people may do the same topic! • Choose a topic that you are interested in! • You will NOT be allowed to change your topic!

6. How will this affect my grade? The total points value for this assignment is 250. Take this very seriously!

7. Points Breakdown • Thesis Statement – 10 points • Outline – 20 points • 10 Note Cards – 50 points • Rough Draft – 50 points • Final Draft – 80 points • Works Cited Page – 20 points • Speech – 20 points

8. What is MLA? • MLA stands for Modern Language Association. (this is a final exam question) • MLA has a strict code of guidelines for writing papers, journals, articles, etc. • You may want to purchase or check out am MLA handbook to make sure you follow the rules correctly. • It is also in your Writer’s Choice book.

9. What is a source? • Sources are where you get the information that is in your paper. • You find these sources by doing research. • Examples of sources are: books, encyclopedias, journals, newspapers, magazines, articles, reputable websites, interviews, movies, etc.

10. How many sources do I need? • English 10 – you must have at least 3 sources for your paper. • Honor’s English 10 – you must have at least 5 sources. • Once you have these sources, put them into alphabetical order and number them – either 1-3 or 1-5. • Make them good!

11. Why do I need sources? If you copy your work directly from your source without citing it, you are committing PLAGIARISM. You will be given an automatic 0 on your paper.

12. If you copy your paper directly from a book or encyclopedia, you are committing PLAGIARISM.

13. Know These Words • Paraphrase – the act or process of restating or rewording (even if you paraphrase, you still have to give credit – that means a citation) • Verbatim – in exactly the same words; or word for word

14. Here comes the hard part . . . Here are two things that you MUST become VERY familiar with: Works Cited and Parenthetical Citations

15. Works Cited • Okay, so you have your 3 or 5 sources. • You must have the following information for EACH source: author, title, publisher, date of publication, place of publication, and the page numbers where you got your notes. GET THIS WHILE YOU ARE IN THE LIBRARY!! • Once you have this information, put your authors in alphabetical order.

16. Works Cited cont. • You will put all your sources in a list at the end of your paper. • This will be your Works Cited page. It should be the last page of your paper. • There is a VERY specific way to list these entries. • It all matters – every period, comma, everything!

17. Here are some examples:

18. How to Create Works Cited Entries • Books Pinker, Steven. The Blank Stare: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. New York: Viking, 2002. • An Unsigned Article in a Reference Work “Chaos Theory.” Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th ed. 2001. • An Article in a Magazine Crawford, Craig. “Kerry’s Vietnam War Record Draws Supporters from Both Sides.” CQ Weekly (Congressional Quarterly) 21 Feb. 2004: 464-65.

19. More Works Cited Entries • An Interview Reagan, Ronald. Telephone interview. 8 Aug. 1986. • An Online Journal or Professional Website Banned Books Online. Ed. John Mark Ockerbloom. 1993-2003. Online Books Page, U of Pennsylvania. 18 Mar. 2004 <http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/bannedbooks.html>.

20. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE WIKIPEDIA AS A SOURCE!

21. Parenthetical Citations • In MLA style, in-text citations, called parenthetical citations, are used to document sources within a paper. • You do not need a citation if the information is considered general knowledge. • The citations direct the reader to the Works Cited page at the end of the paper.

22. Parenthetical Citations • The citations include the author’s last name and the page number where you found that information. NO COMMA! • If you do not have citations, you will get a 0 on your paper. • Without them, you are committing plagiarism. • There is no such thing as having too many citations. • When in doubt, cite!

23. Here is how your citations will look in your paper. Both the federal government and the National Education Association (NEA) agree that schools have this dual responsibility (Benninga 449). “The federal government authorized nearly $25 million for character education in the No Child Left Behind Act” (Hudd 28).

24. Another way to do a citation is to use a signal phrase. Suzanne Hudd points out “Character educators contend that we are experiencing a national ‘crisis of character’ that necessitates the inclusion of formalized curricula in character in public schools” (28).

25. When you have a long citation, you must indent the entire quote. It should have a signal phrase, no quotation marks, and the page number at the end.

26. Last Minute Details • You must do your heading to MLA guidelines – you will be shown this! • Margins must be no larger than 1.5 inch. • Do not center align your paper. • No crazy or weird fonts. • Use 12 point font – no bigger. • Use quotation marks correctly. • Use transition words – therefore, although, also, for example. • Underline titles or italicize. • Do not write in first person! • Alphabetize your Works Cited page. • Do your best!