Last Minute Tips for the Research Paper English IV Monteith

The First Page Make sure you have a “running header” in the upper-right hand corner of each page. You can create a header by: going to View, select Header/Footer, select right align, type your last name and press the space bar once, click on the # sign in the toolbar, click close. The header will appear in gray on each of your pages when you print preview. In the upper-left corner of the first page, type the following making sure to double space: Your name Mrs. Monteith English IV Date DO NOT skip extra spaces between the information above and the title or between the title and the beginning of your paper. Make sure your paper has an appropriate title (should have the title of the play as well as an idea of what the paper is about). Do not underline or bold the title. It should be 12 font. Do not italicize it either.

Introduction Your introduction should be at least eight to nine sentences long. You should have a clear designation between sections one, two, and three. Follow the triangle model. The play should not be introduced until at least the fourth sentence, but should be introduced before the thesis statement. Your thesis statement should be the last sentence of your introduction. Follow the proper structure for the creation of a thesis statement.

Quotes Do not plop direct quotes. You should have a qualifier for each and every direct quote. Ex.: He says, or It is described that, A comma goes before each direct quote. Ex: He says, No period inside the quotation marks. The period goes after the parenthesis. Ex: He says, “I hate this” (Morrison 13). Also, make sure to have a space between the last set of quotation marks and the parenthesis. Each quote from the play needs a work reference. This work reference needs to give a brief indication of what is occurring in the play at the time and must include Act and scene numbers. For summaries and paraphrases from the Literary Criticisms, do not transition into them by saying, Moller says, or A critic says, Use a transitional sentence that addresses the subject of your summary or paraphrase. Ex.: Racism is found in the novel The Bluest Eye through the tribulations of the black women in the community.

Citations Galenet sources do not use page numbers. You will list the critic’s last name only. If there is not a critic’s name, use the title of the criticism in quotation marks. You must use three quotes from the play and three quotes from literary criticisms. You will have a minimum of three sources used in your paper. You will list all three on your Works Cited Page and all will be used in your paper.

Works Cited Page Must have a header that is a continuation from the rest of the paper The entire page is consistently double spaced!! No extra spaces between entries. Works Cited should appear at the top (in the center) of your page. Do not put Page after Works Cited or underline, bold, or italicize it. 12 font. The works you cite should be in alphabetical order by author/critic name. If your source does not have an author or critic, use the title of the article. If any entry is longer than a line, indent five spaces Special rules: (1) omit articles: a, an, the (2) omit business designations like Co., Inc., Press, etc. (3) Generally use only one name (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston becomes just Holt) DO NOT NUMBER ENTRIES

General Information No extra spaces between paragraphs. If you set your paper up to be double-spaced from the beginning, that extra space will not appear All verbs must be in present tense. Verbs found in direct quotes do not need to adhere to this rule. Try to limit “be” verbs (is, are, be) and helping verbs (has, have). Watch out for was, were, been, and had. They are not only “be”/helping verbs, they are also in past tense!

Putting it Together Your paper will be printed on white copy paper with no extra marks on them or other information printed on them (using the back of something already printed out) Include previous graded drafts: introduction, 1 body paragraphs, conclusion, 1 peer edit drafts Behind your final paper, place the copy of the rubric and scoring sheet you received in class.