Learning to Love … Research PaperS

1. Learning to Love …Research PaperS Or… at least learning to do it well!

2. Just a thought on writing… If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them. -- George Orwell

3. Complete this thought… • Writing is ________ in my life.

4. The dreaded question I hear every year… Why do we have to write a research paper? NO! I am not trying to ruin your life!

5. THE PURPOSE OF WRITING • Writing is communicating IDEAS to others. • Your goal: to infect the mind of your reader with your idea, like a virus • Engage your reader! • Better writing skills! • Future endeavors! The greatest ideas are (literally) worthless if you keep them to yourself

6. Effective Writing Components • Ideas • Organization • Voice • Word Choice • Sentence Fluency & Variety • Conventions • Presentation

7. Ideas • THE MAIN MESSAGE • What is my message? • Is my message clear? • Did I try hard to make it interesting? • Do I have enough information?

8. Organization The internal structure of a piece of writing, the thread of central meaning, the pattern • How does my paper begin? • Did I tell things in order? • Does everything link to my message? • How does my paper end?

9. Voice • It is the heart and soul of the writing, the magic, the wit, the feeling, the life and breath.” • The personal tone and flavor of the writing • Do I really like this paper? • Does this writing sound like me? • How do I want my readers to feel? • My favorite part is ____.

10. Word Choice • The vocabulary the writer choose to convey its meaning • Have I used some words that I really love? • Can my reader tell what my words mean? • Have I used any NEW words? • Did I try not to repeat words too many times?

11. SENTENCE FLUENCY • Sentence fluency is the rhythm and flow of the language. • Did I use sentences? • Do my sentences begin in different ways? • Did I use some long and some short sentences? • Does my paper sound smooth as I listen to it?

12. CONVENTIONS • The mechanical correctness, • the grammatical structure and form • Did I leave spaces between words? • Did I use a title? • Did I use periods or question marks? • Did I use capital letters in the right places? • Did I spell words correctly? • Could another person read my paper?

13. Presentation • How the writing looks on the page • Did I use MLA style correctly? • Did I use 12 point font? • Did I double space? • Did I use Times New Roman font? • Did I use the correct margin size?

14. Now that we have talked about the basics… LET’S TALK ABOUT… COMPARE/CONTRASTRESEARCH PAPERSand your assignment. You knew this was coming, right?

15. Your research paper will be about… FAHRENHEIT 451 By Ray Bradbury

16. THE QUESTION GUIDING YOUR RESEARCH… • Ray Bradbury, in 1954, made several predictions about the future of America society and culture. Bradbury illustrates a future that is remarkably similar to our current society. His science fiction tells the story of a community that relies on technology advancements to guide them in their everyday lives. His characters live in a fast passed society where they don’t read books, watch a lot of TV and drive very fast… • Does this sound familiar? Were Bradbury’s predictions from sixty years ago ironically similar to our current society just by chance? Or was he right in predicting our future?

17. Comparing & Contrasting our society to Montag’s World

18. Materials for your Project • File folders (in the classroom) • Individual Writing Plan (IWP) • Highlighters • Citation/source information table • Outline • Works Cited • Flash drive for saving progress • paper

19. researching • You will need a variety of works to support your ideas & thesis • You are required to have a minimum of 5 sources total: • 2 sources from a database • 1 website source • 1 additional source of your choice • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

20. Researching Specifics • ALL INTERNET and DATABASE SOURCES MUST BE PRINTED OUT AN PUT INTO YOUR FOLDER • YOU MAY NOT USE WIKIPEDIA! • YOU MAT NOT USE SUMMARY WEBSITES! • Cliff’s Notes • BookRags.com • Sparknotes.com

21. Required Assignments • Not only is you final published work important, so is the PROCESS. • Paper • Thesis • Research Citation Table • Works Cited • Outline • Rough Draft • Final Paper • Research Process Quizzes • Quizzes in the 90% • Are you learning to research & to follow the steps effectively?

22. EXPECTATIONS • Materials MUST be brought with you DAILY to class. • Calendar of assignments due dates and quizzes have been handed out. • Process assignment must be handed in at the BEGINNING of class to receive full credit • Any evidence of PLAGIARISM will result in an F for the project. • Any papers turned in without citations or a works cited page will result in an F.

23. FINAL PAPERS ARE DUE:Thursday, NOVEMBER 17 • NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED! • Folders must be handed in with paper • Worth 100points • Computer problems – NOT AN EXCUSE • Printing issues – NOT AN EXCUSE • EMAILED PAPERS – Not accepted • MUST HAND IN A HARD COPY when class BEGINS

24. To write a compare/contrast essay, you’ll need to make NEW connections and/or express NEW differences between two things.  The key word here…is NEW • Sample thesis statement for contrast paper:  In terms of social networking sites, Facebook focuses on presenting your daily life to others, whereas MySpace allows you to focus more on demonstrating your personal style. • Sample thesis statement for compare/contrast paper:  While both Facebook and MySpace allow you to meet other users who have similar interests, only MySpace allows you to demonstrate your personal style.        • Are these 2 things similar and/or different, in at least one meaningful way? • If you want to write a successful compare/contrast essay, you'll need to avoid writing about really obvious differences and similarities.  For example: • We all know that horses are larger than cats. • We also know that basketball teams contain less players than football teams. • Tell us something we don't know (or might not notice)! • It would be better to write about how sensitive both horses and cats are to human needs and emotions.  You could also suggest that though both basketball and football require a lot of teamwork, basketball players are expected to be a lot more versatile than football players. • You don't have to be a genius to write an interesting compare/contrast essay--you just have to look at ordinary things in a new way!

25. Organizing Your Compare and Contrast Paper • There are two primary ways to organize your compare and contrast paper. • Chunking: placing all of the information for each individual subject in one place (chunk), and then using similarities as transitions. • Here’s a sample outline: • Jane is distinct because… • Jane is similar to Alice in these ways • Alice is distinct because… • Piecing: giving pieces of the information for each individual subject in each paragraph—arranging the information by topic rather than by subject. • Here’s a sample outline:    • Differences and Similarities in Jane and Alice’s appearances • Differences and Similarities in Jane and Alice’s backgrounds • Differences and Similarities in Jane and Alice’s interests • Sample Papers