English 112 Research Paper: Requirements and Steps

Task:

The research paper is a requirement for English 112, and it counts as 20% of your final grade for the course.  If you do not write a research paper, you will not receive a passing grade for this course.   However, if you write a research paper, but you receive a low grade on it, you can still pass the course.  In other words, you have to try.

Directions:

The research paper topic should be something that is related to the theme of our course. You can pick any form of discrimination, prejudice, social injustice, inequality, etc. to develop your research question. You can also choose one of my topic questions on the research topic options list. Be sure your research question is specific enough for you to cover in a thorough way.

For example, a question like - In what ways do American women continue to experience inequality in the workplace in today’s society? is a good research question because it is specific enough to help you focus on a particular issue, but it’s general enough for you to find sources. If you did this topic, your thesis could be –

Women continue to experience inequality in the workplace in today’s society.

Then, you would look for articles that describe that problem. In what ways are they treated unequally?

Steps for the Research Paper:

1.You must have a research question that I have approved in advance –like:

In what ways do American women continue to experience inequality in the workplace in today’s society Do research on the topic in the library databases and on the computer in the lab to try to answer the question

2.Skim the articles and sources that you found.  Each time that you see an idea that relates to your point, (in this case, one way that women experience inequality in the workplace), highlight it and write notes in the margins (annotating).  You can also copy these quotes into a separate document, but make sure you note the author and page number of the quotes so you don’t have to try to find them later.

3.After you have skimmed and annotated the sources, look back at the notes and see if you can
find common ideas or points that more than one author makes.  For example, if several authors stated that women are paid less than men, then each time that you see this point, write a word in the margin like “pay.”  If several authors stated that women have unfair dress codes compared to men, then each time you see this point, write a word in the margin like “dress.”  Each of these common ideas can be one paragraph in your research paper.  OR If you prefer, you can cut out the quotes and tape them onto notecards or write them on notecards (make sure you write the author and page on each notecard as well).  This makes it easier to see common ideas among authors and quotes.  Look at each notecard one at a time and decide what the theme or main point is for that card.  Try to find other notecards with a similar theme or main point.  Label each notecard with a keyword and then put notecards with similar ideas in stacks together.  Each stack will become a paragraph.

4.Fill in the outline of what idea you will report in each paragraph and which quotes and authors
you will use.  In the above example, the topic sentence for paragraph two might say something about equal pay.  Then, you would look back through the articles and look for your note “pay” in several of your sources (or you would just look at your stack of notecards with the keyword “pay” written on them).  You would then note in the outline which authors you would use in this paragraph.  You need to use AT LEAST two sources in each paragraph (but you don’t need to have all of your sources in every paragraph).

5.Write a draft of your paper by following your outline and referring back to your notes; use an in-text citation every time you paraphrase, summarize, or quote.

6.Write a works cited page in the correct format using the MLA booklet that is posted in Blackboard under Weeks 2 and 3.

7.Revise your paper and fix the grammar before you turn it in.

Format:

The first page of your paper should have on the left margin – your name, my name, the class and section number, and the date, and you should center a title for your paper right before the introduction begins.

On the right top, you should have your last name and the page number (go to page numbers and insert page numbers. Select top of page, right. Then go into edit header and type your name before the page number.)