Within this page you will learn all about the 10th Grade English Paper of Doom (as it is sometimes affectionately called). This paper is an extensive research project that will help perfect both your writing and research skills. Please read the Paper Assignment Sheet to get a detailed description of the paper.
For this assignment, you will also be asked to obtain a Parent Signature to acknowledge the importance this paper will have on your final grade.
Please take a moment to read through the List of Movies for the research paper. You can choose a movie other than the ones listed, but you will need to get prior approval from Mr. Burklund
After we have explained the paper, you will take some time to do a little Preliminary Research on several possible movie choices. You will want to see how much information is available and how easily you will be able to find research on your topic. Some movies are more difficult to research and you will want to factor that difficulty into your research planning.
After some preliminary research, we will be signing up for movies in class. Each person must have a different movie topic.
Watching your movie
You should attempt to watch your movie within one week of starting the paper. As you watch your movie, please complete the Movie Research Notes and write down ideas for research.
database and power searching
Mrs. Lorentz will be walking us through a short refresher course on effectively searching the internet and databases for information regarding our movie topics. Please open the following documents in NeuAnnotate or other note-taking software (your notebook) and write down information that will help you find information online.
Many students struggle with this paper because they lose sight of the thesis statement. Remember, the thesis statement is what you are going to show a reader in your paper. You already know that you will be arguing whether or not your movie is accurate. However, once you have decided which way to argue, you need to consider what will PROVE your argument true. Think about big ideas and concepts. If you focus on minor details, you will not have enough support to convince the reader that your thesis is true.
Think of your paper as a scale. Does your information tip the scale into making the reader believe your thesis is true? Small bullet points won't add up to enough to tip the scale. You need to tell a well written mini story that convinces the reader. Your little details will help support that story.
Notecards and the research process
Bibliography Worksheet - As you begin researching, make sure that you use a bibliography worksheet to record all the necessary information for your sources. YOU ARE ADVISED TO WRITE DOWN BIBLIOGRAPHY INFORMATION BEFORE TAKING ANY NOTES FROM A SOURCE!!!!
You will be very sad if you find golden information and then forget where it came from!
Be sure to create a classification system for organizing your notecards. You will need to reorder your notecards later when we start building the outlines.
You MUST use some kind of notecard system. You are not allowed to write notes on a sheet of notebook paper. Remember the following will be used as a notecard check:
50=A 40=B 30=C 25=D
NOTECARDS - you can use this template notecard for notes or you can use index cards.
Your notecards are going to be the building blocks for your research paper. If you take poor notes, there is a good chance your paper will be of the same quality. Write full sentences and try to put the information in your own words. If you absolutely need to copy something word for word, you should be sure to use quotation marks on the notecard. This will help prevent plagiarism when you write your final paper.
REMEMBER: WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A SOURCE FOR YOUR PAPER!! You can use Wikipedia to find ideas for research, but do not write down any notecards or use this website as a source.
Outlines
You must create a Paper Outline before working on the final paper. This outline will be used to help you cover a wide range of information and organize your research into topics. Please complete the outline and print before we start the rough drafts of the paper.
For additional help on your bibliography and MLA style, visit the OWL Purdue Website for examples and rules regarding the creation of a bibliography.
You are more than welcome to use www.easybib.com for this research project. In fact, I would often times recommend using it to save time with the formatting. However, you should be aware of how easybib constructs bibliographies and the proper way to proofread them. Easybib is not right 100% of the time and most commonly the errors are due to users not putting information in the correct places. We will spend some time working with easybib in class but if you are unsure, ASK! Use the two handouts in this section to double-check your bibliographies for accuracy.
REMEMBER: You must use AT LEAST 6 of your sources in your final paper!
sample papers
Read through the following sample research papers and decide which is best, worst, and in between. Consider everything that we have talked about so far in terms of arguing a thesis. What does each other do well? What does each author do poorly? Be sure to justify why you gave each paper the ranking that you did.
It will be imperative for you to use a wide variety of research in your paper. You must cite at least 6 different sources from your research. In order to present your information correctly and in different formats, use the following Citation Guide as you begin to write the body paragraphs of your paper.
Editing
Editing the final paper is the final step in our paper-writing journey of fun. We will be completing several days of editing so be prepared to read and make revisions. Remember, you need to use AT LEAST 6 of your sources in your paper!
Read through the following Paper Rubric to see the exact point breakdown for the paper. Please note that this rubric is a guideline and the point scoring may be adjusted and will be announced in class.