Term Paper

English III

Prepared by Jenny MacDonald

Grade Level Expectations

Reading: F1, G1, H1, C2, A3, B3, C3, D3

Writing: A1, C2, D2, E3, B3, C3, D3

Listening and Speaking: A1, B2

Information and Literacy: B1, C1, A2

Grade Level Expectations

Why is a research paper important?

A research paper is important because we need to understand more about a subject to truly explain it to another. A research paper does this.

We complete a research paper because you will complete several in your remaining high school and college years.

It helps you understand what some of your interests may be even if you didn’t think it was an interest.

Why a Research Paper Is Important continued?

Finally, you will apply several concepts of the English language in your term paper, which proves to yourself that you can write well and utilize the English language correctly.

Examples of concepts include parallel structure, subject verb agreement, recognized fragments and run-ons, and completing clear, cohesive sentences, plagiarism, paraphrasing, and quoting.

Plagiarism is presenting the ideas or words of another as if they were one’s own.To avoid plagiarism a writer simply acknowledges the sources used in a paper.Plagiarism is found in direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries.

Plagiarism

Document all direct quotations (word for word from the text)Document information the writer has paraphrased or summarized from the text (this includes all ideas and expressions that are adapted from sources)DO NOT document common knowledge (the same information found in several different sources or if it is knowledge that people have)WHEN IN DOUBT-CITE SOURCE

Avoiding Plagiarism

Paraphrasing is the rewording the meaning expressed in something spoken or written, using other words, but retaining all the original ideas.

The key passages of a written selection are explained in a person’s own words.

This must have internal citation in an essay or in a research paper.

Paraphrasing

Locate the main idea.List the supporting details.Determine the tone of the selection (remember the tone is the writer’s attitude toward a subject- serious or angry)Rework the vocabulary: Rewrite each sentence in a person’s own words Make a list of all the ideas in the source and the write an original sentence containing these ideas.CREDIT THE AUTHOR USING INTERNAL CITATION

Paraphrasing Guidelines

A summary in a person’s own words, records only the main ideas of a passage.

A writer should use this method when pulling together general ideas from a source.

Summary

Look for the topic sentence or the main ideas.Write these down in one’s own words.Look for answers to questions, solutions to problems, and conclusions drawn from the information presented.Write these down.Look for key facts, statistics, and words.Make a list of these items.Reduce material by eliminating unnecessary details.Write the summary in one’s own words using the notes taken from the above used strategies.CITE SOURCES IN THE FORM OF INTERNAL CITATION

Guidelines for Summarizing

Skim material for a general idea of what it contains

Scan material looking for a specific piece of information

Slowly and carefully read selected information

While reading identify main ideas, relationships among the ideas, draw inferences or conclusions from the material

Guidelines for Reading Background Information

A thesis statement is the main point of an essay or a research paper.

The entire writing will support this statement.

It is ONE SENTENCE. The format for this sentence can be simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex.It is located in the introductory paragraph of the writing.

Thesis Statement

Lasers have had their most important and most dramatic effects in the field of medicine.

Sample Thesis Statement

A formal outline not only lays out main ideas and their support, but it also shows the relative importance of all the paper’s elements and how they connect with each other.

This research paper will use a topic outline format.

Every heading is a gerund phrase (Preventing abuse)

Formal Outline Information

II. Abusing issues of young children A. Facing problems 1. Recognizing a problem 2. Recognizing child-oriented myths 3. Discovering abuse 4. Helping after the fact B. Involving statistics of abuse 1. Increasing amounts of abuse 2. Showing specific examples 3. Helping without professional assistance 4. Preventing child abuse

Gerund Phrase Formal Outline Sample

On a separate card for each source include the following information:AuthorTitle Date of publicationPlace of publicationPublication companyEach source card has an alphabetical letter in the upper right hand corner

Source Cards

• A

• Anderson, J. (1982). There Was Harlem. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Source Card Example

Use note cards to record specific information.

Place one subject on a card

Each note card has an alphabetical letter to match the source card in the upper right hand corner along with a number of the card.

Each card has a categorizing label in the upper left hand corner.

Information includes: direct quotations (page numbers also), lists of ideas or words for paraphrasing or summarizing (page numbers also)

Note Card Information

• Teaching A 3

• “Savage felt her teaching was an important part of her legacy”(42)

Note Card Example

Finished Term Paper Example

Order of Paper

Title Page First

Final Outline (Must have header – your name with a lowercased “i” after it

Final Draft of Term Paper with A title

Each of your page must have a header on it (Header – your last name and the page number.

Works Cited Page Double-spaced

Your rough draft of your outline is next

Your rough draft (any information that contributed to your paper is your rough draft) is last.

All should be stapled together in that order when you hand it in on Wed., Mar. 28 at the beginning of class.

Samples of Pages

Example of a Title Page

Example of Outline Page

Example of Term Pager final draft

Microsoft Word Document

Microsoft Word Document

Microsoft Word Document

Assessment through scoring guides that are

handed to the students in term paper packet.

Career AreasBusiness Marketing

ProfessorsScientistsBiologists

Engineering