RESEARCH PAPER
Research Papers have three main parts, all about a topic of the writer's choosing. Those parts include a claim, evidence supporting that claim, and the ramifications of that claim. A claim must be clear, evidence must be logical, and ramifications must be meaningful.
YOU WILL BE USING THE TOPIC YOU RESEARCHED FOR YOUR ANNOTATED BIBLOGRAPHY AS THE TOPIC FOR YOUR RESEARCH PAPER.
• Two exceptions:
o If I tell you that you need to change your topic, it would be wise to change your topic
o If you want to change your topic, you can. However, this will mean that you are required to do new research in order to meet the requirements of the Research Paper.
THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE RESEARCH PAPER:
• 1500 words minimum
• Four outside research sources
o Sources must be valid
o Both popular and academic sources are allowed, and there is no specific requirement. However, I recommend that at least half of your sources be academic. This will help improve your paper.
• Proper formatting and MLA citations
o A citation must appear both in-text and in the Works Cited for it to count.
o Proper formatting is outlined on the course syllabus.
TIPS:
- You are working with a three-part structure, but don't feel like "part 1 is intro, part 2 is body, part 3 is conclusion." While that should be the general form, it's more flexible than that. The claim can bleed into the body and the ramifications of the claim can appear before the conclusion. They simply must be emphasized in the conclusion.
- A specific, narrow topic will always lead to a better paper. I'd rather you tell me a great about of detail about one specific thing than a small amount of detail about many things.
- Your research should be used to support your claims; you should not be supporting the claims of your research. Too much quoting or paraphrasing will make it seem like your writing is secondary to your sources.
o Additionally, if you put too much emphasis on your sources, your paper will seem like a report ("Here's what I learned from my research") rather than a research paper ("Here's my claim and its evidence"). Reports will not get high grades.
- High-grade papers will include a strong, clear claim, logical evidence with good transitions between examples, and an intelligent viewpoint on possible ramifications
- All citations must be in MLA 8th edition format.