Research Paper

12th Grade

Research Paper

• Biography of an famous person.

• This paper is a biography of the person.

• This is NOT an opinion paper.

• In this paper you will compile information (from different “sources” about your person.

• Therefore, you will NOT use I, etc.

• Use third person, ex. He, She, etc.

Step 1: Pick Your Person

• Make a list of at least 3 people that your are interested in and bring the list to the library.

• Order your list 1st choice, 2nd choice, and 3rd choice, etc.

• On the 1st day you will begin researching this person. Make sure you can find enough information on your first choice, if not move to your second choice, etc.

What are Sources???

• In order to write your paper you will need information about your person.

• The information you will need to write your paper will come from SOURCES !

• A source is a document where information is obtained from an EXPERT on the subject.

• Sources are where you will get your RESEARCH INFORMATION for your paper.

Examples of Sources

• Examples of sources are:– Books– Magazines– Newspaper Articles– Electronic Databases– Websites

• You will need 4 DIFFERENT sources for your paper.

Sources

• Once you have chosen your person, you need to find the 4 SOURCES where you will get information about your person.

• Mostly you will want to use websites from the Internet and possibly books from the library.

• You DO NOT want to use books written BY your person; you want to use books OTHERS have written about your person.

Source Cards

• When you find a source that has a lot of information about your person you should make a source card for that source.

• You will need 4 source cards TOTAL. • Therefore, you will get DIFFERENT

websites or books.• Source cards are index cards on which

you will put all of the information you will need about all the sources you use.

Why Do I Need To Make Source Cards?

• They will help you: Identify the sources of your quotations and ideas for citing your sources later (giving credit to your sources.)

• Find sources again if you need them.• Make your works cited page (a list of the

sources from which you used borrowed material in your project).

• And if all of that does not make sense yet, just because I am telling you to because it will make this project a lot easier.

SOURCE CARDS

• DO NOT START WRITING DOWN INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR PERSON UNTIL ALL 4 SOURCE CARDS ARE FINISHED!!!!!!

• In order to do your note cards correctly, you need to have to complete your 4 source cards first!

Step 2

Making your 4 source cards.

Once you find a good source you will need to make a source card for it.

The following slides show how to complete source cards for books, and Internet sources.

How To Make A Source Card?

• When you find your first source you are going to use for your paper you should:

• Get out an index card and number it 1 in the TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER.

• On your index cards, use only one card per source.

Book Source Card

1

Pettit, Jayne. Martin Luther King Jr.: A Man With a Dream. New York: Franklin Watts, 2001.

Book Source Card

• The book source card has the following information:

Author’s last name, Author’s first name. Title of the Book. City where published. Publisher, year of copyright.

Internet Source Card

2

Vernon, Thomas, S. “Thomas Alva Edison.” 21 Feb. 2010. Online. Internet.

www.biography.org

Internet source Card

• The Internet source card has the following information:

Author. (If known) “Title of Article or website.” Date of Search. Internet address or URL.

Internet Source Card

• Most, if not all, of your sources will come from a book or the Internet.

• For Internet sources look for an include:– Author (There may not be one)– Title of the Article or Website– Date your are making source card– Address Ex. www.website.com

Internet Source Card

• If your web address is long

• Ex. www.biography.com.htm/44/678/onlinesource/987/authorname/etc.

• Shorten the address to:

• www.biography.com

Source Cards

• You should be able to do all 4 source cards by yourself if they come from a book or Internet.

• However, if you find a different kind of source and do not know how to make a source card see me.

• Ex. Magazine article, newspaper article, encyclopedia, essay, etc.