An Intro to Research Papers, Starring The Thesis AND WHY YOU SHOULD LOVE YOURS

Prompts In order to give us a point of reference, I’ll start us off with the prompts you may choose from for the paper. 1. One of the major purposes of mythology is teaching a lesson. Often, we can learn from this lesson what values were important to the culture the myth comes from. Choose one mythological hero, god, goddess, or monster. Research myths that figure has played an important role in. Then analyze the myth and explain what you think that figure symbolizes. Consider any natural phenomenon it may explain and any lessons it might teach, and how this was important to the culture that created it. 2. Choose a modern hero. This can be a hero from a book, movie, comic book series, television series, etc. Then compare and contrast it to an ancient hero, god, goddess, or monster. Don’t just compare and contrast the surface level differences and similarities – make sure to discuss what the different heroes represent/symbolize.

What’s a Thesis? An excellent question, Mr. Grana! But first we need to establish a few things…

The Elements of a Research Paper 1.Topic 2.Thesis 3.Evidence 4.Works Cited Page/Bibliography

Topic The topic of your paper is NOT YOUR THESIS. The topic of a research paper is the paper’s general subject, or what you’re arguing about. For example, if the argument of my paper (or my thesis), was the one below… Chipotle is the superior American fast food experience, offering an ambrosial yet simplified menu that cannot be matched by Taco bell’s bloated and bland menu. …Then my topic is Tex-Mex fast food chains. My topic is NOT that Chipotle is better than Taco Bell.

Thesis Your thesis is the most essential element in your research paper. Think of it as a map that your paper will follow on a fantastic adventure (which would make the topic the land you’re travelling through). A thesis does the following things: 1.Directly answers the questions asked by the prompt. 2.Is specific enough to answer the prompt, yet not too broad. 3.Makes a claim about the topic of the paper, and can be argued for. 4.Is supported by evidence, or the result of research.

Thesis cont. So let’s say we’ve decided the topic of our paper will be the Harry Potter books. Our imaginary prompt will ask us to discuss what inspired J.K. Rowling when writing the books. We’ll look at 3 possible theses, and each is better than the last. 1. The Harry Potter books are imaginative. 2. J.K. Rowling draws on inspiration from Ancient Greek, Nordic, and other traditional cultures of Europe to create the imaginative world of Harry Potter. 3. By drawing inspiration from Ancient Greek, Nordic, and other traditional cultures to create the imaginative world of Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling manages to instill comfort and familiarity in readers when they discover the novel’s more fantastic elements. This allows the reader to easily relate to Harry’s sense of belonging in the wizarding world, and thus relate the major themes of the series much more effectively.

Evidence Evidence for a research paper can come in a wide variety of forms. Evidence makes up the bulk of your paper; without it, you cannot base your arguments on anything, which means you cannot support your thesis, which means your grade point average will be very sad. Books, newspaper stories, movies, television shows, plays, scholarly articles, and more all count. Here are some guidelines on how to gather evidence. 1.Always cite evidence in the correct style (MLA style). 2.Always use correct style for in-text citations. 3.You can use your evidence to help you argue for something, or you can use evidence to present an idea you can argue against. 4.The internet is an excellent resource, but always be wary of where your sources come from. Wikipedia can be a good starting point, but you should NEVER cite it; instead, look and read the sources the article itself uses.

Evidence cont. IN-TEXT CITATIONS Whenever you want to quote a source in your paper – and you will want to – you must use a specific format. Here’s an example below. Chipotle’s guacamole has been described as “flipping amazing” (Ramsay 143). In his latest book, renowned chef Gordon Ramsey described Chipotle’s guacamole as “flipping amazing” (Ramsay 143). WORKS CITED PAGE At the end of your paper, you will list all the resources you used to argue for your thesis. Here’s an example blow, with the format. Ramsay, Gordon. Chipotle is Life. London: Random House, Print. Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication. Different sources (books, movies, websites, etc.) all have slightly different formats. But don’t fret! I have a solution later on.

General Tips Spell check is your friend. Read your paper out loud to yourself, or have somebody else read it out loud. NOT in your head; read it out loud. Reading things out loud helps us catch punctuation errors. For citation, use this website as a guide: Then use this website to help you create your citations: Never EVER EVER EVER EVER start a sentence with “I think…” or “In my opinion…” I already know it’s your opinion, I’m reading your paper! Think Nike. Just write your ideas down and get to the point.

Thesis Assignment On your index cards, you will write your name and heading. Then you will write Topic, Thesis, and Sources on it, leaving a few lines of space for each category. In the next ten minutes, decide on a topic. Then write a thesis. Don’t worry, you’re not marrying it – this is just a rough point to start with. Over the Thanksgiving break, you will conduct research on your topic. This may cause you to change your thesis, which is absolutely fine. You must find three sources for your paper. Using the websites I provided earlier in this powerpoint, you will correctly cite them on your index card. This is the first part of writing a research paper. Once you do all of this, the hard part is done.