RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES AND TOPICS



RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES AND TOPICS

ENGLISH

SPRING/VOGEL

Students: You are required to complete a typed research paper to complete the course-work for English. Please choose a topic that will interest you. You are welcome to choose any of the given topics, or you may choose your own. If you choose your own, please choose a specific and narrow topic and clear it with me.

REQUIREMENTS:

➢ 5-7 pages typed (AP English); 3-5 pages typed (English III)

➢ MLA format

➢ At least 4 sources

➢ A Works-Cited page

TOPICS:

➢ Discuss Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and how her characters embrace it or how they despise it.

➢ Choose an American author

➢ Research the Harry Potter phenomena and discuss its popularity, influence and controversy.

➢ Choose a modern musician/band

➢ Research a philosophy and discuss:

➢ Electronic music. Discuss its many uses.

➢ Social Commentary in Rock Music

➢ The decline in Native American culture

➢ Compare and Contrast Bluegrass Music to Country and Western

➢ Fashion

➢ Should Furs be fashion or be banned

➢ Movies’ influence in fashion design

➢ The evolution of denim jeans

➢ The most expensive film ever produced and why it was so expensive

➢ Hollywood's treatment of Vietnam and other wars

➢ The appeal of Marilyn Monroe

➢ Discuss censorship in television or movies. Should there be?

➢ Comedy genre in movies.

➢ Prominent action heroes and why they become popular

➢ The Jackie Chan phenomena

➢ Prominent Black authors

➢ Discuss the evolution of MTV from its origins to now. What prompted the change?

➢ Outstanding film techniques in The Matrix or other movies.

➢ Pro Wrestling

➢ How college sports are beneficial or detrimental to athletes and Universities.

➢ Why extreme sports have become so popular.

➢ The evolution of snowboarding.

➢ The Olympics

➢ The appeal and success of Dance Clubs

➢ The popularity of raves and why the drug "X" is the fastest growing choice among youth.

➢ How street racing has evolved and grown to elicit the demand for movies such as The Fast and the Furious. Is it dangerous?

➢ Eating disorders and their dangers

➢ Surfing

➢ Haunted Houses

➢ Life on other planets

➢ Celebrity Homes

➢ Medieval Times

➢ The Holocaust

➢ Lives of Models

➢ Capital Punishment

➢ Hitler and WWII

➢ Ballet

➢ Tattoos

➢ The war and how it began/evolved

➢ Comparison's of Religion/Culture

➢ Music Genres

➢ Counter Culture of the 60's and 70's

➢ Life and Times of Martin Luther King

➢ Liposuction and the desire to change our bodies

➢ Addictions like drugs/alcohol

➢ Interior Design

➢ DJ-ing and club music

➢ Engines for cars

➢ Graffiti Art- Is it Art?

➢ Haunted Houses –Are they real?

➢ Fragile X – a chromosome disease

➢ The Victorian Era

➢ Vert Ramps and Freestyle Bikes

➢ Mat Hofman

➢ Body Building

➢ Any Sports

➢ Athletes

➢ Assassination of JFK

➢ CIA

➢ Area 51

➢ Big Foot and other Urban Myths- Are they True?

➢ Aids

➢ Bill Clinton

➢ Big Bang Theory

➢ Organized Crime and Criminals

➢ Teen Pregnancy

➢ Hodgkin’s Disease

➢ Harlem Renaissance: Jazz, literature- Why it happened.

➢ Trends in Clothing

➢ Development of Sun Powered Cars

➢ Phobias- Fears and how they begin.

➢ Ancient Egypt

➢ Architecture

➢ How TV changed life

➢ Air Conditioning: Changes in Society

➢ Deaf People

➢ The history of Snowboarding

➢ The War on Terrorism

➢ Birth Disorders – Pick a specific disorder

➢ Dream Interpretation

➢ Shakespeare

➢ Depression

➢ Oklahoma City Bombing

➢ 80's Music

➢ Roller-coasters

➢ Magazines

➢ Concerts

➢ Fads

➢ College Sports

➢ Teenagers in Abusive Relationships

➢ The U.S. Military

➢ Problems with Public Education

➢ Vegans

➢ Teenage Drinking

➢ Origins of the Internet

➢ Spring Break problems

➢ Civil War

➢ The scare of Mad Cow Disease

➢ The theory of Evolution and why it is controversial

➢ The History of Film-making

➢ Skateboarding

➢ Evolution of Video game Systems

➢ Gothic Art, Literature. . .

➢ The popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (UFC)

➢ Poker

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THE PROCESS:

1. Look over the topics and choose a few that sound interesting.

2. Do preliminary research.

3. Complete Problem Sheet One (Due Monday, May 2nd)

4. Complete Problem Sheet Two (Due Tuesday, May 3rd)

5. Write Part I of the paper: Statement of Research Problem) (Due Friday, May 6th)

6. Write Part II of the paper: Formulation of Research Question/Hypothesis (Due Monday, May 9th)

7. Write Part III of the paper: Definitions of Key Terms (Due Tuesday, May 10th)

8. Write Part IV of the paper: Review of Related Literature (Due Friday, May 13)

9. Revise and Finalize paper (Due Monday, May 16th by midnight)

PLAGIARISM:

One of the purposes of your working bibliography and effective note-taking is to help you avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is the act of intentionally or unintentionally presenting work done by someone else as though it were your own. In most schools, including Jr. High schools, High Schools, and Universities, plagiarism is considered a serious offense and can result in severe penalties, such as failing grades, loss of course credit, or even expulsion.

Here is a simple test to determine whether something is plagiarized: ask yourself, Is this information, idea, or statement common knowledge? If the answer is “no,” then ask yourself, Did this information, idea, or statement come from a source outside myself, or did it come from my own experience or as a result of my own creative activity? If the information, idea, or statement is not common knowledge, and if it came from an outside source, then you must credit that source. Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism.

Students: If you plagiarize any area of your paper, either intentionally or unintentionally, you will receive a zero for the paper. In college, you would lose credit for the course and potentially be kicked out of the university. Be careful!!!! Lack of a “Works Cited” page will be considered plagiarism.

SOURCES:

Students, choose your sources carefully. All sources must be reliable. Ask yourself:

1. Do the publisher and author have credibility?

2. Are my web page sources reliable or are they biased?

3. Is the source current and up to date?

➢ Sources you cannot use:

a. a friend for an interview.

b. Wikepedia

c. Web pages that aren’t credible sites. (personal web pages, blogs. . .)

CHECK LIST: Use before submitting your paper.

o Complete Research Paper (required page numbers)

o Works Cited Page

o Careful revisions

o MLA format

o All Four Sections Included

Name: _________________

Problem Sheet One

1. My research problem is: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. My research question is:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. Following are the key terms in the problem or the question that are not clear to the reader and need to be defined:

a.______________

b. ______________

c. ______________

d. ______________

e. ______________

4. Here are the definitions to those terms:

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. My justification for investigating this question/problem (why I would argue that it is important enough to investigate and research) is as follows:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name: ________________

Problem Sheet Two

1. My research question is: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2. My hypothesis is (what I expect to find and prove): ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3. My possible sources so far are: 1._____________________________________________________________2._____________________________________________________________3._____________________________________________________________4._____________________________________________________________5._____________________________________________________________6._____________________________________________________________

**Sources need to be specific. Don’t write: The internet, an interview, or a book. Write the name of a specific source with titles, authors, etc.

Paper Outline

Part I: Statement of Research Problem:

a. State your research problem

b. Describe background information (what factors caused it to be a problem/history leading up to current state of problem)

c. Justify your reason for studying the problem. Why is this problem worthy of your time?

Part II: Formulation of Research Question/hypothesis: Remember a hypothesis is a guess or prediction about what you will find. Example. The hypothesis in this study is that violence on television and violence in video games causes children to become violent.

a. State your question or hypothesis

b. Explain why you believe the hypothesis or question may be true or answered.

Part III: Definitions

a. Write clear definitions to terms that will be covered in your study.

Example: If you are studying video games and the effects on young children, you need to define what types of video games you will look at. . .PS3, computer, violent games, games that are rated m17. . .

Part IV: Review of Literature: This is the biggest part of your paper. Considerable time should be spent on this section. You will be reading what other authors have already written on the topic and simply summarizing their findings. Then you will write what conclusions you have drawn from the findings.

a. Review Source One and write about author’s findings

b. Review Source Two and write about author’s findings

c. Review Source Three and write about author’s findings

d. Review Source Four and write about author’s findings

e. Write what you concluded after synthesizing all four sources.

i. Was the research question answered?

ii. Was your hypothesis accurate or did the sources prove the opposite?

iii. Do you feel enough research has been done to thoroughly investigate the problem?

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