Research Paper Writing

Purpose The research paper requires you to search for support to back up your idea about something. For example, if you are trying to show that color symbolism is relevant to The Great Gatsby, then you will try to find professional critics (writers, professors) who support your idea. You will include their discussion, paired with your observations and specific references to the text, to support your topic.

Basic Steps Choose your topic Gather sources Create source cards Research information Photocopy sources Organize information Begin writing outline Begin first draft

Gathering Sources Begin locating sources that contain relevant information about your topic. Skim source to determine if it will be useful. Determine format appropriate for source information. (We will use MLA 8).

Gathering Sources cont’d. Be sure that the source is valid. Sources written by students are not valid. Wikipedia, CliffsNotes, and Sparknotes are off limits. Valid internet sources generally end in “edu.”

Novels for Students, Short Stories for Students, Poetry for Students The Readings on Series Bloom’s Notes Discus

Bibliography Format Arrange on index cards. Double space. Use hanging indentation. Use correct format according to handouts/MLA handbook.

Gathering Information Skim sources for relevant information BEFORE photocopying. Staple your source card to the photocopied/printed source it matches. Highlight information you will use in your paper. Use different colors to help organize.

Drafting Write your thesis first; save your introduction and conclusion for later. Determine whether you will paraphrase or quote information. Document your sources within your paper!

Parenthetical Citation In parenthesis End of a sentence Book source: author’s last name and page # Example: (Smith 42). Internet source: same as book source unless no author given (use title of article)

Works Cited After revising and composing your final draft, make a list of works cited from your bibliography cards. List entries alphabetically. Double space. List only those works used in your paper.

Mla 8 Author. Title of Source. Title of Container, Other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location.

Commonly used citations Previously published work: Johnson, Barbara. “Symbols in Of Mice and Men.” Novels for Students, edited by David Galen, Gale, 2004, pp. 45-55. Originally published in Diacritics, vol. 11, no. 3, 1978, pp. 77-90.

Book by one author Steinbeck, John. Of Mice and Men. Penguin Publishers, 2000.

Book by an editor Bloom, Harold, editor. Bloom’s Notes: To Kill a Mockingbird. Harcourt- Brace, 1999, pp. 15-17.

Article or essay within a collection of critical essays Smith, Bobby. “Color Imagery in ‘The Masque of the Red Death.’” Short Stories for Students, edited by David Galens, vol. 3, Gale Research, 1998, pp. 16-17.

Book in a series Whelhan, Piper, and Sam Kuehnel. The Great Gatsby Lightbox Literature Studies Teacher Resources, Smartbook Media Inc, 2017, pp. 9-10. Lightbox Literature Series.

Sample Works Cited Page Works Cited Bailey, James. The Battle Within. Hartford, CT: Glencoe, 2000. Print. Lee, Margaret. “Chaucer’s Pilgrims.” 19 Sept. 2006. Web. 10 February 2014. Wilson, Lynn. “Medieval Times.” 21 Sept. 2006. Web. 10 February ***Consult the OWL Purdue site for further information on how to cite specific sources.

American Authors Nathaniel Hawthorne Mark Twain Emily Dickinson Walt Whitman Jack London Henry David Thoreau Ralph Waldo Emerson Edgar Allan Poe

American Authors Kate Chopin F. Scott Fitzgerald Langston Hughes Lorraine Hansberry Arthur Miller William Stafford Maya Angelou Robert Frost

Ernest Hemmingway Kaye Gibbons Anne Tyler Harper Lee Toni Morrison Edwin Arlington Robinson Lorraine Hansberry Arthur Miller

There are definitely others. Use wisdom when choosing There are definitely others! Use wisdom when choosing. It is often very difficult to find reliable information about works written recently (after 2005)