Ridley High School Senior Research Paper Guidelines Podcast By: MarySue Fachet March 1, 2010

MLA Heading ( On the First Page Only) Mallory Smith (Your Name) English 12 CP (Subject/Class) Miss Fachet (Teacher’s Name) 1 March 2010 (Date) –Paper must be typed, Size 12 Font in Times New Roman or Arial, Double Spaced, and the header must contain your last name with page number on each page, a centered title on the first page, and a Works Cited Page as the last page.

Gathering Materials Note Cards –Seventy-Five to One Hundred (Depending upon the level of the course) –Numbered in order of appearance in the paper Source Cards –Five Total Sources Three Books Including the CQ Researcher Two Credible Internet Sites

Seven Sections of the Research Paper I. Introductory Paragraph: –G–General Statement about a debated topic/controversial issue in society –I–Include stories, questions, facts or quotes –E–End with thesis to support your opener

Section II. Examples of the origins, history, and causes of the problem –W–When/How/Why did the issue start? –W–Who is arguing over this issue? –D–Discuss current facts or statistics.

Section III. Briefly state the other side’s opinion –Show where the controversy lies Examples: –“Some misguided people might say that…” –“People should be aware of the symptoms and long-term effects of…”

Section IV.Section V. Prove your thesis is as many paragraphs as necessary: –Present facts, statistics, charts, quotations, etc. to support what you believe. Be Specific! –The most supporting points you make, the more convincing your argument will be! Solution –Offer all possible solutions that you have discovered in YOUR research

Section VI. Conclusion Paragraph –R–Restate your thesis. –S–Summarize the main points already mentioned. –S–Stress what points you want the reader to remember. –E–Express one last opinion to tie your ideas together.

Section VII. Works Cited Page Information –O–On source cards include bibliographic information for the books, encyclopedias, websites, magazines, etc. which you actually used to write your paper. –O–Only include sources that you actually included in your paper!

Additional Information In order to write a good research paper, one must first do good research! Organize facts in sequential order A piece of writing must contain these elements: the thesis, body, and conclusion, also referred to as the clincher. Essentially, the idea is: Tell us what you are going to tell us, tell us, and then tell us what you told us.