Topic of the paper: How several different writers address and treat a limited topic of your choice.
Requirements: 1. Read a variety of primary sources from several different genres: novels, plays, memoirs, short stories, poems, and perhaps even music (you must include discussion and citation of at least three different genres in your paper). 2. Study a variety of secondary sources (at least 3 must be cited in your paper) 3. Turn in brainstorming work, which includes a statement of topic and potential primary sources 4. Turn in a working bibliography 5. Turn in short reflection papers on primary sources (3) 6. Turn in source notes (3 sets) 7. Turn in a working outline 8. Turn in a rough draft 9. Turn in a final draft 10. Share your research with the class
The process:
BRAINSTORMING:
Brainstorm a topic in which you are interested. This can be a fairly broad topic to begin with (Religion? Equality? Human rights? War? Humor? Music? Relationships? Media? Etc)
Brainstorm subtopics of that broad topic. So, for instance, if you choose “World War I”… your brainstorm might look something like this:
WORLD WAR I Changing warfare experience of young men world involvement Patriotism
heroism and glory Survivors’ guilt l oss of life psychology
I. Brainstorm questions about one of those subtopics. So, for “heroism and glory” I might come up with these questions: i. What defines a hero in war? ii. Does going to war make a person a hero? iii. Are some people better suited to fighting and surviving a war than others? iv. Can one who kills in the name of freedom be considered a hero? v. Is heroism a trait from within or a label from without? vi. Were there truly heroes in World War I and what defined them?
II. NARROWING AND REFINING:
Begin with the question that seems most workable, and start to narrow it.
If I pick the question “Can one who kills in the name of freedom be considered a hero?” I will need to narrow my question to indicate just WWI and perhaps a limited subset of that… maybe American soldiers or young men or under 20, etc?
Once I’ve decided those things, I’ll develop my “WORKING ESSENTIAL QUESTION,” which will probably change over time, but which will start to guide my selection of primary sources and then later secondary sources.
For example, I might narrow and refine the above question to something like this: Can young American soldiers who fought in World War I truly be considered heroes?
III. FINDING AND CHOOSING PRIMARY SOURCES:
Now it’s time to find novels, short stories, plays, and poems (limited music, too) that you can read to start addressing your essential question.
“In Another Country,” “War is Kind,” WWI poets (Sassoon, Owen, etc), All Quiet on the Western Front, Hemingway, Kipling, Wells, Hardy, etc.
I start to search online to see what kinds of indexes I can find. I find one: (www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/) that lists writers of WWI. This seems a good place to start looking. I find another excellent site from BYU that explains writers and views of World War I. This is a great site. I can also ask Mrs. Hamilton or Mrs. Walsh for guidance on which writers and works might be good for me of those I find.
Remember, you are looking for a range of sources. Your paper, in the end, will be about how different writers go about addressing the question you have chosen. So the topic of your paper may become: “How _, , and_ depict the paradox of “heroism” in World War I.” Your thesis might be that “Through their writing_, , and __ show that true heroism was an impossibility in World War I.”
You must read MULTIPLE WORKS. Mix up the use of poems, short stories, plays, and novels.
Primary Source Choices:
1 Novel or Play = 3 short stories = 9 poems = 9 songs
1 novel or play 1 short story 3 poems or 3 songs
3 short stories 3 poems 3 songs
9 poems 1 short story 3 songs
9 songs 1 short story 3 poems
OUTLINING:
Next Step: Work out your plan for your paper.
1. Go through all of your reflections and source notes and mark the places where good ideas emerge (use a highlighter or colored pencils or just a pen). Remember that you are looking for the ideas that will help you to prove a point.
2. Rewrite your thesis statement. You may need to go broader or narrow in, depending on where you started. Remember that the goal in your paper is to “prove” something about your topic. For instance, if your topic is the rewriting of fairy tales in our modern culture, you might decide to focus your paper around proving what the writers of those modern fairy tales are trying to do, based on the evidence you’ve gathered from your fiction and your secondary sources. So you might choose to say that Modern writers rewrite fairy tales to reflect stronger female characters and the realities of modern life. (Alternate options could be The fascination with fairy tales in modern culture is because we idealistically want a happy ending, even if it isn’t realistic or that fairy tales give us an archetype (a model) in stories that makes us feel comfortable because we know what to expect,etc.). Type this thesis statement big and bold; it will guide the rest of what you do.
3. Organize your information into categories/subtopics. Look for ways to group your information. What are the clumps of information you can use to prove this thesis statement? Remember that each subtopic becomes a mini argument of its own. (The more you have an argument/something to prove, the easier it is to write your paper. When you state the obvious or the “known,” it’s hard to find direction).
4. Write your outline, including topic sentences for each subtopic and the list of primary and secondary source information you will use for each subtopic. Keep in mind that subtopics are made up of multiple paragraphs.
Sample Outline
I.Introduction
A. general statement about topic or anecdote B. statistics or quote – indicate what you’ll use C. Possibly an acknowledegment of the “other viewpoint” D. Thesis statement: While classic fairy tales usually involve a weak female central character who ultimately finds happiness because of a man and a “princess ending,” modern writers ,_, and ___ have rewritten fairy tales to reflect stronger female characters and the realities of modern life.
II.Subtopic One: More independent women
A. Topic Sentence: Modern fairy tales often portray women who are independent and strong rather than dependent on a man
B. Stories/novel/poems to discuss: “Snow,” “Bones,” and “Wolf,” Anne Sexton poem, Beauty and the Beast
i. Give brief summary of the stories
C. Source Notes to use: · “difdf’ fjifkd sss kdkjdla;de dd’” (Smith) · “piopautir fiajkdjdjfoa apeomc” (Jones) ·
III.Subtopic Two: Women who are more concerned with education and careers than with domesticity
A. Topic Sentence: Whereas in older fairy tales, the plot often revolves around a female character who is concerned with finding a home, in modern fairy tales, the women are concerned with a career and education.
B. Poems/stories/novel to discuss:
C. Source Notes to use:
IV. Subtopic Three: The ending isn’t always happy.
(FILL IN ALL DETAIL AS ABOVE)
V.Subtopic Four: The conflicts the characters face are more reflective of today’s issues (FILL IN ALL DETAIL AS ABOVE)
GUIDELINES:
RESEARCH PAPER 2011Topic of the paper: How several different writers address and treat a limited topic of your choice.
Requirements:
1. Read a variety of primary sources from several different genres: novels, plays, memoirs, short stories, poems, and perhaps even music (you must include discussion and citation of at least three different genres in your paper).
2. Study a variety of secondary sources (at least 3 must be cited in your paper)
3. Turn in brainstorming work, which includes a statement of topic and potential primary sources
4. Turn in a working bibliography
5. Turn in short reflection papers on primary sources (3)
6. Turn in source notes (3 sets)
7. Turn in a working outline
8. Turn in a rough draft
9. Turn in a final draft
10. Share your research with the class
The process:
WORLD WAR I
Changing warfare
experience of young men
world involvement
Patriotism
heroism and glory
Survivors’ guilt l
oss of life
psychology
I. Brainstorm questions about one of those subtopics. So, for “heroism and glory” I might come up with these questions:
i. What defines a hero in war?
ii. Does going to war make a person a hero?
iii. Are some people better suited to fighting and surviving a war than others?
iv. Can one who kills in the name of freedom be considered a hero?
v. Is heroism a trait from within or a label from without?
vi. Were there truly heroes in World War I and what defined them?
II. NARROWING AND REFINING:
III. FINDING AND CHOOSING PRIMARY SOURCES:
Primary Source Choices:
1 Novel or Play = 3 short stories = 9 poems = 9 songs
1 short story
3 poems or 3 songs
3 poems
3 songs
1 short story
3 songs
1 short story
3 poems
OUTLINING:
Next Step: Work out your plan for your paper.
1. Go through all of your reflections and source notes and mark the places where good ideas emerge (use a highlighter or colored pencils or just a pen). Remember that you are looking for the ideas that will help you to prove a point.
2. Rewrite your thesis statement. You may need to go broader or narrow in, depending on where you started. Remember that the goal in your paper is to “prove” something about your topic. For instance, if your topic is the rewriting of fairy tales in our modern culture, you might decide to focus your paper around proving what the writers of those modern fairy tales are trying to do, based on the evidence you’ve gathered from your fiction and your secondary sources. So you might choose to say that Modern writers rewrite fairy tales to reflect stronger female characters and the realities of modern life. (Alternate options could be The fascination with fairy tales in modern culture is because we idealistically want a happy ending, even if it isn’t realistic or that fairy tales give us an archetype (a model) in stories that makes us feel comfortable because we know what to expect, etc.). Type this thesis statement big and bold; it will guide the rest of what you do.
3. Organize your information into categories/subtopics. Look for ways to group your information. What are the clumps of information you can use to prove this thesis statement? Remember that each subtopic becomes a mini argument of its own. (The more you have an argument/something to prove, the easier it is to write your paper. When you state the obvious or the “known,” it’s hard to find direction).
4. Write your outline, including topic sentences for each subtopic and the list of primary and secondary source information you will use for each subtopic. Keep in mind that subtopics are made up of multiple paragraphs.
Sample Outline
I. Introduction
A. general statement about topic or anecdote
B. statistics or quote – indicate what you’ll use
C. Possibly an acknowledegment of the “other viewpoint”
D. Thesis statement: While classic fairy tales usually involve a weak female central character who ultimately finds happiness because of a man and a “princess ending,” modern writers , _, and ___ have rewritten fairy tales to reflect stronger female characters and the realities of modern life.
II. Subtopic One: More independent women
A. Topic Sentence: Modern fairy tales often portray women who are independent and strong rather than dependent on a man
B. Stories/novel/poems to discuss: “Snow,” “Bones,” and “Wolf,” Anne Sexton poem, Beauty and the Beast
i. Give brief summary of the stories
C. Source Notes to use:
· “difdf’ fjifkd sss kdkjdla;de dd’” (Smith)
· “piopautir fiajkdjdjfoa apeomc” (Jones)
·
III. Subtopic Two: Women who are more concerned with education and careers than with domesticity
A. Topic Sentence: Whereas in older fairy tales, the plot often revolves around a female character who is concerned with finding a home, in modern fairy tales, the women are concerned with a career and education.
B. Poems/stories/novel to discuss:
C. Source Notes to use:
IV. Subtopic Three: The ending isn’t always happy.
(FILL IN ALL DETAIL AS ABOVE)
V. Subtopic Four: The conflicts the characters face are more reflective of today’s issues
(FILL IN ALL DETAIL AS ABOVE)
VI. Conclusion