What is a Research Paper?

A research paper is like a report.

Before you write it, you use books,
articles, the internet, and other sources
to gather information about your topic.
You GATHER information from these
sources and use that information in
your paper to tell your readers about
your topic.

WAITWHAT???

A research paper is actually a WRITTEN piece of

WORK IN YOUR OWN WORDS that fully
discusses a topic that you have spent time learning
about. It is to be in depth and intelligent, with
support from credible sources. This paper will be
YOUR work, but you have based your knowledge on
the credible work of others.

Magazine
or
Newspaper
Articles

Journals

Books

Internet
Web

Choosing a Topic
Pick a topic
You will receive a list of topics you may choose from.
These are simply ideas to start with. You may add
your own topic if you would like, but it must meet
topic requirements.
Choose something you are interested in.

Things to consider when choosing a topic

After you have

chosen a
general topic,
you must
narrow it so
that it becomes
more specific
and easier to
research.

Things to consider when NARROWING a

topic
Do some general reading on your topic so that
you become familiar with various aspects of it.
Establish the purpose of your paper. What
will you be informing the reader about? Be
sure your topic can be handled within the
assigned length.
Focus on a particular aspect of your topic that
will lend itself to the sources available.

GENERAL TOPIC:
1. Alcoholism

NARROWED TOPIC:
1.Causes of Alcoholism

2. Scientists/Mathematicians 2. Albert Einstein's Impact

on the 20th Century
3. Drugs

3. Effects of Drug Use Teens

4. Elizabethan England

4. Health Concerns in
Shakespeare's England

5. Tennis

5. The Rise in Popularity of

Women's Tennis

After you narrow your topic, then what?

We will then narrow our topics even further
into sub-topics. Consider your sub-topics the
same thing as your reasons in the body
paragraphs of your persuasive essay. This will
not take place for a while.

Example: How to Narrow Topic to Sub-Topics

GENERAL TOPIC: Eating Disorders

BROAD TOPIC: Anorexia Nervosa
SPECIFIC TOPIC: Physical Effects of Anorexia Nervosa

Sub-Topic 1: Depletion of Vitamins and Minerals in the body

Sub-Topic 2: Negative side effects on internal organs
Sub-Topic 3: Heart issues

When I start researching, how do I know

if a site is CREDIBLE?
You should know that only a few select sites can be credible.
Follow this checklist to ensure that you can actually use the
source.
1. Know the name of the AUTHOR of the site, and their credentials
(Dr., Researcher, Journalist, etc)
2. Know what company or organization this site affiliated with.
3. Know WHERE this site exists. (Usually AngleFire, MySpace or
blogger pages and their like ARE NOT credible).
4. Know what type of information is being conveyed.
5. There must be useful information you can gather for your study.
6. Know when the site was updated last.

Examples:
http://www.HoughtonMifflin.com/historical/vampire/ht
ml
Borne From Gaves and Charnel Houses.
by: Dr. Julian Smithee PHD of Supernatural Lit,
Cambridge College.
Following the strange trails of the vampire
through history leads down any number of false dark
alleys and real dark corridors. However they are
regarded, stalker or carrion rogue, the vampire seems to
permeate every society in the world in one form or
another. Yet where do these creatures originate from?
Why do they differ in appearance and behavior from
country to country? And above all, why are such
murderous creatures so terrifying yet so attractive to us
at the same time?
To explore the true birth place
of the vampire, we must look at two of the greatest
empires in the world and their sub-cultures. The Greeks
and the Egyptians were simultaneously the most
powerful and populace empires in the known world.
Thus, it is only fitting that from such great societies
come the worlds most renowned fiends. Somewhere
around eighty years before the birth of Christ, we find
the first written evidence of vampiric happenings in
Greek grave yards and Egyptian tombs.
pg. 1

http://www.geocities.com/MorganLF/vampires.html
Vampires are undoubtedly the coolest creatures out
there. In comparison to werewolves or ghosts,
neither is more real or more powerful than the
vampire.
I myself am a vampire, and so it is with pride I tell
you about myself to scare you a little morepeople
taste better when theyre scared.
I, like all vampires, originate from Los Angeles.
Some people think vampires are from other places,
but the true vampires are seen only in LA clubs. Ive
been to N.Y. clubs, and theyre just posers.
Despite popular belief, vampires have been around
as long as humanslonger, actually. We began as
angels, fallen like the demons, but we made our way
from Hell to earth where our lesser forms developed
into humanity. Real vampires do not develop, we
feed and continue.
pg. 1

 From the good site you could clearly see WHO wrote the article,
WHY they were a credible source, and INFORMATION that
would actually help you with your research. Furthermore, look at
the WEB ADDRESS, (Houghton Mifflin is a school textbook
company, thus a trustworthy source).

The bad site is quite opposite. It is based on opinion, I am a

vampire. Has irrelevant quotes as to helping you, and has no
credible author or company to back them up. Furthermore, look at
the address. Any time it is from Geocities, Angelfire, Tripod, a
personal blog, or any other company that allows any and all
individuals to make personal web pages, it is usually NOT a
credible or accepted source.

Once I start researching my topic, what

do I do with the information?
STEP 1:
Print the information OUT. Be sure to print
out the information from the website.
I encourage you NOT to copy and paste it into
Microsoft Word because you will lose
valuable information, including who wrote it,
when it was published, etc. You will need this
information when we create our bibliography.
REMEMBER: The first step is to just get
familiar with your topic. You are simply
using any search engine to research your topic
to see if you are interested in writing about it.
More serious evaluation and gathering of
information from credible sources will take
place next week in the library.

Once I start researching my topic, what

do I do with the information?

STEP 2:
YOU MUST READ your
information.
After you have printed out a
valuable piece of information about
your topic, highlight important
information.
Decide if this is the topic you want
to write your paper on. Dont be
surprised if your opinion changes.
We will begin a thorough
evaluation of sources in the library
next week.

How will you write this paper once youve finished

researching and gathering our sources?

INTRODUCTION:
HOOK Your Attention Grabber
Brief discussion/explanation of topic
Thesis Statement clearly stating opinion
or point of view on topic

How will you write this paper once youve finished

researching and gathering our sources?

BODY PARAGRAPHS
(each sub-topic will be 2 paragraphs):

Explanation of Sub-Topic # 1
Supporting Evidence (supporting evidence may require the
use of more than one paragraph to explain a sub-topic)
Explanation of Sub-Topic # 2
Supporting Evidence (supporting evidence may require the
use of more than one paragraph to explain a sub-topic)
Explanation of Sub-Topic # 3
Supporting Evidence (supporting evidence may require the
use of more than one paragraph to explain a sub-topic)

How will you write this paper once youve finished

researching and gathering our sources?

CONCLUSION
Rephrased Thesis Statement
Briefly discuss main points (sub-topics) again
Think Big Picture Attention Grabbing
Statement. Leave the reader with a thoughtprovoking sentence or question for closure.

How will you write this paper once youve finished

researching and gathering our sources?

MLA BIBLIOGRAPHY
MLA stands for Modern Language
Association. It is a specific format we will
follow. This will all be explained to you in
class.

 Plagiarism is when you take someone elses works, ideas or words and
use them as your own. Whether it is a sentence, a part of a sentence or
an entire paper, it will ruin your grade.
It is an academic crime and an ethical offense. Plagiarism is stealing
someones intellectual property.
If you plagiarize in ANY class, you are usually expelled from the
college, cannot reapply EVER, and the infraction is placed on your
permanent record.
Why is it an academic crime? It is an academic crime because you are
stealing another persons ideas. It is illegal and immoral.
If you are thinking about it, dont chance it.
If you ever need to help summarizing, properly quoting or
paraphrasing, see me! Its better to ask for extra help than take the
sneaky route and copy someone elses writing. I will have more respect
for you if you ask for help. We will discuss how to avoid this much more
in class.

EXTRA SLIDES

Integrating Sources
Use a variety of lead-ins to introduce concepts or findings from
researchers:
1.

According to Smith (2001), the presence of a television set in

the home even changed eating habits; frozen TV dinners, TV
trays, and TV tables altered the physical and social contexts
of family meals.

2.

By the early 1960s, 90 percent of all households had at least

one television set (Bishop & Marx, 2006, p. 2).

3.

Television programs and commercials reinforced rigid gender

roles and promised consumers material wealth if they could fit
the roles. One social critic from the era remarked that
television certainly nurtured both consumerism and
conformity (Cole, 1966, p. 24).
Student Learning Center

23

Questions
Now you should come up with some
questions you can research about your
topic:
When was the first Thanksgiving and why
was it held?
What happened at the first Thanksgiving?
How has this celebration/event changed over
time?