Research Paper

REQUIREMENTS

• Length (double-spaced, not including the Works Cited page):
  • English 9 = 1.5-2 pages
  • Honors English 9 = 2-3 pages
  • English 10 = 2.5-4 pages
• At least three reliable sources, one of which must be considered a "print" source (an actual book, a PDF, or an online newspaper/magazine/journal)
• ​MLA style (using the Purdue OWL) with Works Cited and parenthetical citations

NOTECARDS

Use these formats to create your cards:

Blank One Reason Card

One Reason Card

Fact Card

Source Card

One Reason Cards

• 3-5 (one for each reason)

Fact Cards

• minimum number:
  • English 9 = 15
  • Honors English 9 = 20
  • English 10 = 25
• one fact, quote, statistic, or anecdote per card
• at least three for each reason
• Feel free to use colored pens, highlighters, shapes, etc., if they help you organize your thoughts.

Source Cards

• one for each source
• These don't count as part of your minimum number of fact cards.

MLA FORMAT

• One-inch margins on all four sides
• Font size 12, in Times New Roman
• Your last name and page number on every page, including the first page

• ​MLA-style heading only on the first page:
  • Your name
  • My name
  • Course name
  • Date ("12 February 2020")

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Click each image below for a larger version or for more information.

First page

Works Cited page

Whole paper with explanations

All-in-One Poster

IN-TEXT CITATIONS

When you cite your sources, go in this order:

• ​Author (Johnson)
• Title of article ("How to Write")
  If the title is long, just use the first few words.
• Name of website (jbjclass.com)

If there's no author, give the title; if there's no author or title, use the URL.

If you put the author's name in the sentence, you don't need a citation, unless it's a book with page numbers.

Important: The citation must be the SAME THING that's on the first line of the Works Cited entry.

Click here for some more examples of how to do it.

Click to enlarge.

WORKS CITED

We'll go over this later, and I'll update this page.

INTRODUCTION

Introduction (▼ = broad to narrow)

• Spark my interest.
• Give me some background information.
• Tell me why it's important.
• End with your "Thesis Statement" (which we'll discuss later).

QQSS:
These are some good ways to write the FIRST sentence.  Don't do ALL of these; just pick one to begin your paragraph.  Then you narrow it down to your specific topic.

• Q = Quote [“We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion” (goodreads.com).  This was Mother Teresa's view and is the view held by many people today.]
• Q = Question [How many babies have to die before society realizes there's a problem?]
• S = Statement [No one should have to live in constant fear.]
• S = Story [This is harder to do, but it's usually a very short, real-life example of something related to your topic.]

Here's a sample introduction:
     ​No one should have to live in constant fear.  What kind of life would that be, to always be looking over your shoulder and wondering if someone is about to harm or even kill you?  Schools, especially, are places where people shouldn't have to wonder whether today is the day that they're going to die.  But with school shootings becoming more and more common, that kind of anxiety is also becoming prevalent.  Many people hold that giving teachers guns would help alleviate that fear, and that makes sense.  Trained teachers should be allowed to carry guns at school because of students' anxiety, the ineffectiveness of existing security measures, and the growing frequency of intruders at schools.

Feel free to look online for other ways to do an introduction.  These are some good suggestions but not the only ways.

CONCLUSION

Conclusion (▲ = narrow to broad)

• Begin by re-stating your "Thesis Statement," but not in the exact words you used before. [Restatement]
• Predict what bad things could happen if we don't enact your policy and/or what good could come if we do. [Prediction]
• Tell me what you want me to do about it. [Call to action]

One way to think of the entire paper is PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE:

• The introduction talks about the past, like background information.
• The body paragraphs ("one-reason") discuss the present state of things.
• The conclusion tells what might happen in the future if we do/don't enact this policy.

Here's a sample conclusion:
​     Because of increasing levels of anxiety among today's students, the lack of adequate security measures at many schools, and the increasing numbers of intruders, ​​teachers with sufficient training should be allowed to carry a gun while at school.  Of course, no one ever intended for society to get to this point; in a perfect world, children could go to school and know that they were completely insulated from any chance of harm.  But that's unfortunately not the state of today's world.  Gun control laws have proven ineffective at stopping bad people from obtaining guns, and as long as these criminals see schools as easy targets, they will continue to endanger the lives of innocent children.  It's time to begin allowing the good guys to carry weapons and protect those who can't protect themselves.

BTW, I don't necessarily agree with this.  It's just an example. :-)

Feel free to look online for other ways to do a conclusion.  This is not the only way.

EDITING / PROOFREADING

Common Mistakes
(in no particular order)

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• using 1st person
  (I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, or ours)
• allowed/aloud
• who/whom
• there/they're/their
• fewer/less
• lose/loose
• good/well
• quite/quiet/quit
• who's/whose
• to/two/too
• then/than

• literally/figuratively
• it's/its
• affect/effect
• could have / could of
• you're/your
• incomplete sentences
• run-on sentences
• whether/weather
• accept/except
• a lot / alot
• definitely/defiantly
• waste/waist
• which/witch
• not spelling out single-digit numbers

Proofreading Symbols

[Click the picture to enlarge it.]

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Of course, you may ask me to clarify anything I marked on your paper.  I'm hoping to have time during class to go over them with you, but you're also welcome to come in during 2nd block, 5th block, or Seminar.

PRINTING on two sides

AFTER you make sure the formatting is right and AFTER you correct any errors you can find, then print the paper.  You'll get extra credit if you print on BOTH sides of the paper.  Here's how:
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Pages & Google Docs

Microsoft Word

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