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JUNIOR THESIS:

GUIDELINES, SCHEDULE, METHODOLOGY,

ODDS & ENDS

Dr. I. Ibokette

Department of History and Social Sciences

2014/15

The "Junior Thesis"

At Newton North High School

As part of our American History course every student is required to write a major research paper. This paper has come to be known as “the junior thesis.” What follows are some general principles and policies related to the junior thesis.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

We believe that students of good will on all three curriculum levels are capable of writing a good research paper if the process is broken down clearly enough into manageable steps. We do not respond to slower or less able students by changing the essential nature of the assignment; we support them by offering more structure and assistance around the assignment.

A good junior thesis is built around a thesis statement that is interpretive, not just narrative. This is a challenging concept to teach and to learn, and what constitutes an acceptable thesis statement will vary by curriculum level. However, a thesis statement that is simply factual or narrative is unacceptable on any curriculum level.

A good junior thesis uses a variety of sources, and makes use of at least one primary source. Internet sources are acceptable, subject to careful screening and consideration of source and quality.

POLICIES

Graduation: The junior thesis is a graduation requirement. Students must pass American History in order to graduate from Newton North, and in order to pass American History, students must pass their junior thesis. A student who has successfully completed all course requirements except the junior thesis will receive a final grade of “I” or “incomplete.”

Length: Length requirements differ by curriculum level. These length requirements are strictly enforced in the competition for the Kennedy Prize, which is awarded to the best junior thesis on each curriculum level in the spring. In grading the junior thesis in any particular class, individual teachers are free to allow students to write papers longer than would be considered in Kennedy Prize competition if they wish. Paper length is judged by word count, not by page count. Most appropriately typed papers have approximately 250 words per page.

A.P. length: 3000-4500 words

Curriculum One length: 2,500-3,500 words

Curriculum Two length: 1,500-3,000 words

Topics: Students may write on any topic in American History. The paper must take a historical approach, and may not be a report or investigation of a purely contemporary topic. Before beginning the junior thesis, American History teachers will require their students to note what topics they researched for their tenth grade history projects. Any overlap or double-dip requires approval of the junior year teacher.

Documentation of Sources: History teachers may require their students to use any of the three commonly accepted documentation systems (parenthetical, footnotes and endnotes). Teachers may offer their students a choice or may require a single system for all their students. A junior thesis that does not cite and document sources shall receive a failing grade.

Supplementary Information: Every completed junior thesis must include a word count written on the last page and a one to two page reflection essay. This essay describes the process the student went through to write the paper. How was the topic chosen? What sources were used in what order? What was fun? What was not so fun? In short, it provides an opportunity for students to reflect on the process of writing the paper. These essays are generally a lot of fun to read.

GUIDELINES & SCHEDULE:

(Advanced Placement United States History, 2014/15)

Due Date: Monday, Feb, 23, 2015

Length: 3000-4500 words (approx. 12-16 pages) typed and double-spaced using 12 or

13-point font)

This is a major research paper in which I expect you to demonstrate appropriate and sophisticated writing and research skills. In the course of the next fifteen weeks, I will work with you to draw your attention to the essentials of a scholarly research paper.

The final product will be analytical in content and historiographical in scope. I expect you to utilize diverse source material (primary, secondary and oral) and the footnote format of citation in this project. My final assessment of your project will be based on the scope of your research, diversity of source material, mastery of your chosen topic, and overall writing skills. It is very important that you choose a topic that is of interest to you but also meets the departments’ criteria.

Key Dates:

Fri/Oct 10 Introduction to Junior Thesis

Fri/Oct 17 Library Research: Focus – Thesis Topic/Library Resources

*Refer to “Selecting a Topic” (p. 8-11) for some useful information on this phase of your work.

Mon/Oct 20 Due Date for “Topic Proposals” (10 pts). Please turn in two or three proposals (in order of preference).

a) Topic or tentative title:

b) Purpose: (State the purpose or focus of your work)

c) What specific issues do you hope to explore?

* Match each of your proposals with the “Suggested Kinds of … Paper” (see p.9-11)

Tue/Sept 23 Library Research

Fri/Oct 31 Due Date for “Thesis Proposals.” (20 points).

1. Purpose and central focus or theme: Spell out the main purpose, central focus or theme of your thesis. You may start out with statements such as:

a) This thesis examines the events which led to the American War of Independence.... OR

b) This thesis examines the politics in the development and use of the atomic bomb. It questions the conventional view that the use of this weapon by the United States' during World War II was essential to bringing that war to an end.... OR

c) This thesis is a pioneering work on identifying the main impetus for prison reforms in the pre-Civil War period....

2. An overview of my junior thesis (max. of 250 words): Give a brief summary of what you know to be important issues on your topic. This may include time-frame, background information, context, key characters and/or main issues.

3. Tentative conclusions: What conclusions do you hope to draw from this discussion or body of evidence?

4. An annotated bibliography: Your Thesis Proposal must include an annotated bibliography of at least five key sources (not including encyclopedias and other general references)

List all the sources (primary and secondary) that you have already identified and annotate at least five of the key sources.

An annotated bibliography is a bibliographical citation that includes a brief statement on the significance of the source to the paper.

*Please adhere to the required MLA format of bibliographic citation. I will not accept any other format.

Fri/Nov 14 Due Date for “Revised Thesis Proposal” (20 pts).

This is a more realistic and less tentative proposal, one that incorporates the conversations that we would have had and the comments on your earlier proposals. This proposal includes:

(a) Purpose and central focus or theme;

(b) An overview of your paper.

(Items ‘a’ and ‘b’ combined should not more than 750 words); and

(c) An annotated bibliography of all your source material. This should comprise a minimum of seven key sources and must include book-length and primary sources, and articles from scholarly sources.

Wed/Nov 19 In-Class Activities: “Doing the JT Outline”

* See some useful information on “Outlining” on p.12.

Fri/Dec 5 Due Date for Preliminary Thesis Outline (30 pts).

This outline includes

(a) a 250-word thesis paragraph(s)

(b) a bulleted outline of the main sections of your paper

(c) a revised annotated bibliography

Fri/Jan 9 Due Date for First Draft/Final Thesis Outline (40 pts).

This includes

(a) a 1000-word summary of your paper (including thesis paragraph/s)

(b) a more detailed version of a bulleted outline of your paper

(c) an annotated bibliography (the final version.)

Mon-Fri/Jan

26-30 Oral Presentations

Fri/Feb 13: Due Date for Final Draft (60 points)

(For specific instructions on this refer to the “Final Checklist” handout)

WHY RESEARCH PAPERS?[1]

In history and the social sciences the research paper is the primary means of communicating knowledge. It is an important part of the learning process. The word history comes from ancient Greek. It means to investigate the past, to relate or narrate a story about the past that contains meaning and lessons for how we should live. In social science, psychology, for example, the research paper is a way of investigating a problem in society or human behavior. The effects of dreams on sleep patterns, or studying methods of combating drugs are social science research topics.

The Junior Thesis is not just an example of how teachers make life difficult for high school students; it is an important step in learning to master the skills and content of social studies. It is also very important training for college because the research paper is the primary writing assignment in college courses. In professional life many positions require people to write reports and so these research and writing skills can be seen as a form of job training too.

To summarize, doing research:

Ø encourages critical thinking, analysis and a questioning attitude

Ø develops your inquiry and investigative skills, develops your understanding of different sources - primary, secondary, oral and written

Ø helps you evaluate conflicting views and arguments

Ø helps you learn to understand the process whereby knowledge is transmitted and shared with others.

There Are Important Skills To Be Learned In Writing Research Papers:

Ø Selecting a topic that is manageable in size, interesting to work on, and where source materials are available.

Ø Developing a thesis or question about your subject

Ø Using time efficiently and effectively - meeting deadlines and planning to write your project in stages

Ø Finding and using library materials, taking notes and collecting data.

Ø Using materials honestly and being faithful to your sources. It is important not to distort your story or data, and it is important to do your own work and avoid plagiarism.

I will grade your papers on the basis of how well you have learned and utilized these skills

SELECTING A TOPIC

In general there are two ways to approach Junior Theses. The first approach is to write a summary that does little more than lay out facts and events in a chronological sequence. The second approach is more useful; it also involves laying out facts, but it does so in order to come to a deeper understanding of a given historical event or personality.

This booklet will teach you how to pursue the second approach. For now, be aware that the following kinds of papers are neither very useful for students to write nor very interesting for teachers to read.

A. PAPERS TO AVOID

Papers that appear to be straight out of an encyclopedia.

Example: What and when was the American Revolution?

Papers that are chronological narratives of the lives of famous people.

Example: The life of George Washington.

Papers written about topics that are too broad.

Example: World War II

Papers that substitute multitudes of cover sheets, drawings, Xeroxes, and charts in place of actual written work based on solid research.

B. PICKING A TOPIC

When writing a paper, the first task is to pick your topic. How do you make the choice? It may be as simple as having a particular topic that is of interest to you from the start. If several topics compete for your interest, a trip to the library will be helpful. There you can evaluate the quality and quantity of sources available for each topic. If you feel you have no basis on which to choose one topic over another, see your teacher who will help you find a topic which matches your interests. Here again, browsing library shelves might be helpful.

Having chosen the topic, the more difficult task of shaping it begins. Many history course topic sheets tend to be rather general. You are handed a list of topics such as: The Causes of the Civil War, The Administration of Andrew Jackson, The Women's Suffrage Movement, or the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. An overly general topic will probably inspire you to write little more than a narrative summary of the person or event. You may end up with a well-written and thorough summary, and it may be exhaustively footnoted. But a summary it remains. Even twenty tediously accurate pages cannot change the fact that little of your own thinking was involved. At best you did a good job of repeating someone else’s research.

A meaningful study of history requires more than mere repetition. It involves thought and analysis: students must uncover causes, weigh evidence, evaluate sources, make arguments, and reach conclusions. Above all, the study of history involves trying to figure something out.

In order to figure things out, one must approach history with questions, and the better the questions the more one is likely to learn. The art of writing history involves using good questions to sculpt a topic down to a more manageable size and to a more particular shape. The image of a potter's wheel comes to mind here. But as that topic “turns” in front of you as you shape it, how do you proceed? The following suggestions should help you to refine your topic.

C. SHAPING YOUR TOPIC

Take your general topic and below it write down several questions which you would like to find out more about. Force yourself to write down questions that begin with "how" and “why”, and not just with “what”.

For example:

Topic: The Lawrence Strike of 1912

1. Why did the strike occur?

2. What role did unions play in the strike?

3. How did the wealthy and powerful view the strike?

4. How did Progressives view the strike?

5. Did the strike have any national impact? Was it a success?

6. What role did the press play in the strike?

Questions such as these will help to give your paper shape and focus. A paper organized around such questions will be better than one which only gives a general overview of the topic. Another option is to select the question or issue that you prefer the most, and make that the topic of your paper. Often times, narrowing the focus to one or two key questions will deepen your understanding of an aspect of an event, will require more sophisticated and thorough research, and will give your paper a sense of purpose, a “point”.

One word about how to formulate good questions: As you become more experienced in historical study, formulating useful questions will become easier to do. You will learn to “look for things” common to the study of many different periods and topics. For example, most periods are characterized by conflicts between liberty and authority, rich and poor, conservatives and reformers/radicals; issues of control; the role of ideas and ideals, etc. But for now you must rely on background you have learned in class and preliminary reading and research you have done for your paper. Teacher conferences can also be useful in learning how to get started. Above all, a student must start with the following query: What do I want to find out?

D. SUGGESTED KINDS of HISTORY PAPERS: Formulating questions as a way of refining your topic will lead to one of the following kinds of papers:

1. The Conflict Paper

Such a paper centers on a conflict of a particular kind: between ideas and practice, between myth and reality, between historical and contemporary accounts.

Initial Topic: The Life of Thomas Jefferson

Reworked Topic: Contradictions Between Jefferson's life and the ideas

expressed in his writings.

2. The Interpretation Paper

Here you focus on existing interpretations of an event, how they conflict, and which one makes the most sense to you based on your examination of the evidence.

Initial Topic: The Progressive Movement

Reworked Topic: The Nature of the Progressive Movement: Kolko's Interpretation vs. Hofstader's.

3. The Inter-Disciplinary Paper

In this kind of paper, you use the study of another discipline (art, literature, etc.) to better understand the history of a particular event or era.

Initial Topic: American Expansionism at the Turn of the Century.

Reworked Topic: American Expansionism: What Was Its impact As Seen Through the Work of Cartoonists, Poets, Authors, and Composers.

4. The Analytical Paper

Here you are trying to create your own interpretation of a particular event, based - if possible - on an examination of primary sources.

Initial Topic: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case

Reworked Topic: The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case - Was Hauptmann Guilty?

5. The Excavation Paper

In some cases researching what happened - as the sole focus of a paper - is valid and even challenging. While the resulting paper may be a general summary, still the effort was justified because of sharply conflicting accounts or because information, concerning the person or event is very hard to find.

Initial Topic: The Home Front During World War I

Reworked Topic: The Green Corn Rebellion - What Really Happened?

6. The Biographical paper

For too many students, the attempt to write a biography results in a “born-died” (with a few facts in between) paper which really does not advance one's understanding of what made a particular historical figure tick. Here too, a meaningful report depends on the questions asked and the focus established. Some interesting questions might be:

a) What were the decisive experiences which shaped this person's beliefs?

b) How did this person's life reflect the social/cultural/political trends of the time?

c) To what extent did this person shape his/her times, and to what extend was he/she

shaped by them?

Initial Topic: The Life of Anne Hutchinson.

Reworked Topic: Anne Hutchinson - The Making of an Outcast

7. The Non-Traditional Paper

All historical research papers should be creative, but sometimes creativity is facilitated through the use of non-traditional approach. Non-traditional forms include: historical fiction, oral histories, and first person accounts. Whatever form this kind of paper takes, the effort must rest on thorough historical research. Such an effort should also be cleared first with your teacher.

PREPARING YOUR RESEARCH PAPER

When you have selected a topic and developed some questions about it, the next step is to begin preparing your paper. This process is similar to the designing of a blueprint for building a structure. There must be a concept or idea: a basic drawing, and details. The preliminary version of this blueprint – “a working thesis” is best articulated after some initial research on your topic. You will fine-tune or significantly modify it in the course of researching and writing your essay.

Articulating a Thesis.

A thesis is a point of view, a position or argument that you want to develop in your paper. For example if you are writing about World War I, your thesis will be what it is you want to say about the war. What idea or position are you going to emphasize? What aspect of the war are you focusing on? Your answer to any of these questions becomes your thesis. This could be a few sentences or a full paragraph. It is like a blueprint which outlines the intentions behind your paper. It should contain phrases like “in this paper I will be concerned with...,” or, “This paper argues that....” Once selected, the thesis becomes the most important part of your paper. If you are writing about the role of women in WW I, for example, by formulating a thesis (statement) that asserts that women’s extensive contributions to the national war efforts was the key catalyst to the enfranchisement of women barely two years after the war, you have right away narrowed down your reading and research.

The thesis is the main idea in your work; it guides your research and your reading. If you are not sure what your thesis will be but you are clear on a topic, then get to the library and begin looking for books. As you read and take notes, an interesting thesis should soon come to you.

USING THE LIBRARY/INTERNET

(Please contact the library staff for the latest information on the current status (and accessibility) of the resources in the Newton North Learning Commons.)

TAKING NOTES

Glance through or skim all the material you have gathered. Note the table of contents in the books, magazines and journals, and the headings and subheadings in the chapters and articles. Gather information as you go. Make a list of questions or topic headings relating to your information. For example, if your topic is “Poverty in America”, what groups are most afflicted by poverty and why? What is the role of the government in the problem? Is the situation getting better or worse?

You are now ready to reread the information, choosing the facts which relate to the questions or topic headings that you noted when skimming through your materials. Be sure to take notes only on the information relating to your thesis.

Taking notes is a process of collecting facts, opinions and quotations that support your thesis statement and main topics. Some researchers take notes on index cards while others use regular paper. You should use what you are more comfortable with. Write only one set of information on each card/page, identify your source (including page number/s), and indicate the question or topic to which it relates.

Keep in mind the different ways of taking down information on your research notes:

a) Summarizing: Writing down material from sources in a shortened form

b) Paraphrasing: Retelling information in your own words

c) Quoting: Using the exact wording of the author. Quotes must be exactly as written in the source material and must be in quotation marks.

Most information is presented in your paper by summarizing or paraphrasing information from your source material. Quotations are necessary only when the author's own words are essential for making a point in your paper.

OUTLINING

A research paper should have a beginning, middle and an end. The beginning introduces your subject and states your ideas about what you want to say about the topic you have chosen. This is your thesis statement, which may be articulated in several sentences. The middle or body of the report presents the information you have found which explains and supports your thesis statement. The end or conclusion summarizes the material you have presented, restates the focus of your report and comments on what you have learned. An outline is a plan for presenting the findings of your library research in a simple clear form, like making a sketch before doing a painting.

It is a way to organize your information before you begin to write and is composed of the main points in the order in which you intend to present them. The question or topic headings you have written on your research notes become the main headings of your outline. The subheadings provide more details about your main points.

* There will be a class lecture on how to outline your papers and I will provide you with sample outlines from previous junior theses.

WRITING YOUR PAPER

With your outline and notes completed, you are ready to write the first draft of your paper. This process should go fairly rapidly because the ground work and the main plan of your paper are complete. As you work on the draft of your paper, make sure to keep track of the direct quotations you use so you can footnote them and place them in your bibliography. Remember that when you use material directly from your notes, it may be a direct quote from one of your sources and should be footnoted. In addition, you may want to footnote a page or pages or even a chapter of a book which you have used closely even if you have not taken anything word for word (see the section below on “Literary Citations and Notations”). It is okay to use a lot of quotes so long as you work them into the narrative of your paper. Longer quotes of over three lines should be indented and not enclosed with quotation marks. These are called “block quotes”.

Once you have finished your first draft you should edit it. Get a rough count of how many words you have. Is it too long or too short? Should some of the paragraphs be rearranged? This process of proofreading is critically important. Papers with spelling and grammatical errors and jumbled organization are always graded down. We know you will want to say to your teacher, “But this is history not English, why do you care how well it is written?” The answer is that clear, coherent thinking and argument is impossible unless expressed in clear correct writing. A sloppily written paper will not get the interest or respect of your teacher. So proofread your paper carefully. Here is a good time to get a friend or parent to look it over to check for typos and make suggestions. You should also complete your footnotes and bibliography.

LITERARY CITATIONS & NOTATIONS

Giving the source of your information is required whenever you use someone else’s words, opinions or ideas in your papers. Trying to pass off someone else’s work, ideas, and viewpoints (even when these are restated or expressed in your own words) as your own is called plagiarism and is illegal.III (Please refer to the "Newton North Writing Handbook" on the school-wide policy on this mater.)

When you decide to quote someone directly in your essays, make sure you copy down the words exactly and enclose the entire quote in quotation marks. When you write out your paper, you must include a formal acknowledgement of the source of your quote. Such literary acknowledgement is usually done through the footnote citation format. A footnote is a note at the "foot" or end of the page that gives the source of the quotation, opinion or viewpoint. In other words, the footnote informs your readers where you got this information. You should keep track of all your sources, and match each of them with the information you got from each during the research and note-taking phase of your paper. This will save you time and reduce your stress when you are ready to start writing your paper.

When to cite your sources:

1. Always cite the source of a direct quotation or when you are copying exact words from a source material.

2. Cite your source when you rephrase someone else's idea that contains an opinion or a theory that is not considered common knowledge.

3. Statistical information that is peculiar and not common knowledge requires citation.

Example: In 1975 more baby girls were named Jennifer than any other name.

4. Statements that appear to be contrary to popular belief also require citations.

Example: Soft drinks are consumed by more adults at breakfast than is milk.

Do not cite your sources when rephrasing information that is considered common and general knowledge.

Example: Dinosaurs have been extinct for over 70 million years.

How To Use The Footnote Citation Format:

Number each piece of information that you want to cite by placing a number (using a

superscript font) at the end of the sentence/s or statement/s containing this information. At the end or "foot" of the page which contains the information cited, write the number of the citation and provide the bibliographical information of the source of the information. All citations are numbered consecutively.

For example: Paul Johnson, in his book, A Shopkeeper's Millennium, gives a very powerful account of the religious reawakening in early nineteenth-century Rochester, New York. He asserts that this phenomenon reached its peak in the early 1830s and embodied the essence of a series of religious “revivals” that historians christened the Second Great Awakening.[2]

To re-cite a work that you have previously cited, you need not give the full bibliographical information again. Instead write the author’s last name and the new page number/s of the subsequent footnotes.

For more information on footnotes and bibliographies see the Newton North Writing Handbook, p.19-21.

SAMPLE NOTATION FORMATS

A book by one author:

Max Hasting, Victory in Europe (Boston: Little Brown and Company, 1985) 42.

A multi-volume book by more than one author:

George A. Rothrock and Tom B. Jones. Europe: A Brief History. 2 vols. (Lanham, MD:

University Press of America, 1982) 400.

An anonymous book:

The Times Atlas of the World. Rev. ed. (London: Times, 1984) 25.

An article from a magazine:

Clare Boothe, "MacArthur of the Far East," Life 8 Dec. 1941: 124.

An article from a newspaper:

Associated Press, "Russian Troops Seize Key Point," The Quincy Herald-Whig 17 Mar. 1942:1.

A pamphlet:

Theodore K. Rabb, The Origins of Modern Nations (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981) 11.

A Film, filmstrip slide program, or videotape:

City Under Fire: London, sound filmstrip, by Social Studies School Service, 1987 (2 filmstrips, 2 audio cassettes).

Victory at Sea, videocassette, by Social Studies School Service, 1988.

A personal interview:

John Smith, Curator of Alien Museums, New York. Personal interview, May 25, 1989.

Internet Source:

John Smith, "My Teenager Years", October 1, 2001. (wwwjohnsmith\)

These citations may also be collected at the end of your paper in the form of endnotes. In the latter, the format remains the same.

CHECK LIST ON DRAFTING, WRITING AND EDITING

Ten Questions to Ask Yourself[3]

1. Have I completely understood what I have done, read, or been told?

2. Are my research notes accurate and do they distinguish between my thought and words

and those of the author(s)?

3. Does my opening paragraph(s) prepare the reader for all that follows?

4. Does my writing flow smoothly and logically from point to point? Are there adequate

transitions between sentences and paragraphs?

5. Does each sentence make its case completely, concisely, and unambiguously?

6. Is every fact or opinion supported with a reference, example, or explanation?

7. Have I proofread and revised for spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors.

8. Are my tables equipped with suitable column headings (including units) and captions?

9. Do my footnotes or endnotes and bibliography follow the required format and reflect

extensive research?

10. Is the title of my paper an appropriate reflection of its content?

ASSESSMENT: AREAS OF COMPETENT

1. Thesis/Introduction and Concluding Paragraphs - 15%

2. Mechanics - 10%

3. Analysis - 30 %

4. Research - 45%

a. Scope and diversity- 30%

b. Usage of resources - 10%

c. Citation format (footnotes or endnotes and bibliography) - 5%

-----------------------

[1] Information from page 7-11 is drawn largely from Department of History and Social Science, "How to Write a Research Paper: A Compilation of Sources" (edited and revised)

[2] To Plagiarize: “To steal (the language, ideas, or thoughts) from (another, representing them as one’s own work.” Webster’s Desk Dictionary (New York: Portland House, 1990) p. 691.

[3] Paul E. Johnson, A Shopkeeper's Millennium (New York: Hill and Wang, 1978) 4.

[4] Culled and adapted from Richard Marius, A Short Guide to Writing About History (Boston: Scott, Foresman & Company, 1989)

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