 They have the same structure as a regular Essay.  You have to look up information to include in them.  You have to put the information on note- cards before you put it in the paper.  They have parenthetical documentation that tells where you got your information. (author’s last name, pg___)  They have a Works Cited Page at the end.

 Begin with an “umbrella topic”  Narrow your topic to something specific  Then decide the three things you want to talk about  Write a pre-thesis. (it may change as you research)

 Umbrella topic: Famous inventors  Narrowed topic: Thomas Edison  Three things: the Light Bulb, Phonograph, Kinetoscope  Pre- thesis: Thomas Edison, a famous 20 th century inventor, created the indispensible Light Bulb, Phonograph, and Kinetoscope.  (This pre-thesis may change as I investigate Thomas Edison’s inventions, but I have somewhere to start.)

 You will go to the library and look up information on your topic.  For each SOURCE you will make a SOURCE CARD. It explains where you got your information; the title of the document, the author, publisher, page numbers, etc.. The Source Cards will turn into your Works Cited Page.  For each source, you will make NOTE CARDS that will have the information you are using in your paper on them; There are 3 kinds of Note Cards: Quotation, Summary, and Paraphrase

 You have to write the Source and Note Cards Exactly how they are laid out on the example.  NO VARIATIONS!!!!!

 Each different TYPE of Source has a different way of writing its Source card. Use your booklet to make your source cards for each different source.  For Your Paper: You will have 5 sources.  1. Book  2. Reference Book (Encyclopedia)  3. Magazine (Red Reader’s Guide)  4. Internet site (non-bias)  5. One of your choice

 A research paper is strictly informational. It does not have an agenda. So when you select informational sources, you must choose sites without an agenda (strong opinion).  For example, if you were doing a research paper on “Religions of the World”, you wouldn’t use an internet site put out by The Anti-Buddhist Society of Upper- Sandusky. Their information has an “agenda”.  No Wiki sites or Ask/Answers.com sites allowed

 Quotation: Information you directly copy from the source  Summary: Information you put in your own words. (Close the book!)  Paraphrase: Information you put in your own words by changing a phrase here and there. (leave the book open)

 You will have a quotation, summery, and paraphrase note card (all different information)for each of your 5 sources.  So, 5 source Cards + 15 note cards (3 per source) =Total of 20 cards

 Using the information you have gathered, you will write a “Research Paper.” which is a “Research Essay,” and you already know how to write essays.( Oreo, Sentence Pathways, color coding) But, you will use the information you gathered to write it.  When you use one of your “direct quote” note-cards in your paper, after it you will put parenthetical documentation after it like you did in the Rikki Tikki Essay. (Author’s last name pg _#___)

 A Works Cited Page is just a list of ALL your Source Card information placed in alphabetical order. (bibliography )It tells what your sources are and where to find them.  You will attach your Works Cited page to the back of your FINAL copy of your paper.  Use: workscited4u.com This site, LUCKY YOU, puts your Works cited together for you.

 A research paper is all about scheduling. You need to finish with a source everyday or you will fall behind.  You will have to work on this paper a little every night.  Do Library sources first, then the internet. Especially if you can do an internet source from home.  Remember: Magazines you have to see librarian for and you may have to look for secondary information here.

 Outer Space  The Renaissance (English or Italian)  Ancient Civilizations  Insects  Weather (tornados, volcanoes, etc..)  Mysteries ( Bermuda triangle, UFO’s, Anastasia, Sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald, crystal skulls, Bigfoot, Lock Ness…etc…)