Steps for the Research Paper

The Research Paper (Honors)

I. Choosing the Selection

Choose your topic from the list. Novels. You will be spending quite a bit of time reading and writing about these works, so it should be a topic you like. Refer to the Research Paper Guide for more help with topics

Explore this site for getting started on finding information: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/meyer/bedintrolit/content/xdx_menu.htm

For a wonderful step by step tutorial: http://www.bedfordresearcher.com/tutorials.cfm

II. Brainstorming Questions
As you read the work, write down questions you have about it. You should keep a running list. This will help you as you read to know what to look for.

III. Thesis

After you’ve finished the book, start thinking of a direction you want to go with it. Remember, this paper is a literary analysis of the book, or some aspect of it, not a synopsis. You need to focus on a main point, such as theme, character, setting, or symbolism (or any combination) and then write about that. Now you need to start brainstorming again.

IV. Quotations & Paraphrases

You need to do the Quotations Exercise now, so that you will be familiar with how to quote, paraphrase, and document your essay correctly. Read the sample that is posted, and then do the exercise and send it to me. Knowing how to correctly format your paper is a very important part of doing the paper. It is worth 50% of your grade, as well.

V. Documentation

This is critical. You need to know how to thoroughly document your paper. Remember that your novel is one of your sources and must be listed in the Works Cited Page along with your other sources. Be sure you learn how to prepare the Works Cited List (See MLA guidelines). You must also provide photocopies of all your sources, including the pages you have quoted from the novel you are writing about! Failure to turn in the photocopies with your paper will result in a grade of “F” for the paper. You don’t want that to happen!

VI. Using the Internet and other sources responsibly

You must learn what is a credible source from a non credible source. For this particular paper, use the following databases:

To document online sources: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite5.html#1

http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities/literature.html#web_resources

http://www.browardlibrary.org/validate/val_galelr.html

failing being able to log in to this site, you may do a search using www.google.com and clicking on "Advanced search" and typing in the author's name. You will have to be selective here, though, to be sure you come up with literary articles, and not just Jane's high school paper posted to a website. In either case, you MUST copy the sources you used, and paste them into your paper at the end as separate pages.

You may also use books and journals from the library, but you will have to scan these and attach them to your paper. You are not to use book reviews (unless they are from the NY Times Book Review) or Cliff’s Notes, Monarch Notes or Baron Notes, or Plot summaries of any kind. This includes anything by BookRags.com, Classic Notes.com, Grade Savere, Master Plots, Term Papers.com, or any sort of plot summary or anything from the web EXCEPT for bonafide reviews and critical articles. You MUST include the copies of your articles when emailing me your paper. You can copy from the internet, paste into a Word document. You are to read the book yourself, and then write what YOU think the book was really about (see suggested topics below). I am very familiar with the kind of writing on plot summaries, and can usually tell if you’ve actually read the book or not.