ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER



English II Research Paper

You will draw the name of a country that will form the basis of your research paper. In an MLA formatted research paper, you will report the results of your research. You must cover the following topics:

• Culture – including languages spoken, education, and leisure activities.

• Literature – authors from this country, or literature written about this country.

• Political system currently practiced – past and current leaders and parties

• Economics – trade, agriculture, monetary system

• History – colonization, immigration, conflicts.

The paper must be a minimum of 3 pages, maximum 4 pages PLUS a “works cited” page. You must include the following sources:

• 2 Internet sources (NOT Wikipedia)

• 1 book/journal/article/periodical (can be online)

• 1 other source

Your paper must be typed.

Schedule:

We will go to the Media center ______________________________ to do research. You must supply your own index cards or notebook paper. If you use a flash drive, you must also save your work in your folder on the H drive of the school server. A lost flash drive is your problem and will not be accepted as an excuse.

NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

You will have 1 day to organize your index cards and your information. On ______________ ____________ we will go to the Media center so that you may type your paper. You will need all your materials the latter day (for a grade).

Lastly, you will need to email your paper TO ME (scsexton@wsfcs.k12.nc.us), so that I can submit it to to be checked for plagiarism. Do not plagiarize!

You have 3 deadlines:

____________ – Research and Information

____________, 11:59 PM – Email to Mr. Sexton. Email has timestamps; NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

scsexton@wsfcs.k12.nc.us

____________, Beginning of class, the typed stapled paper is due.

NO LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

Grading Rubric

Overall Formatting: (15 points)

- Header (LastName #) correct (1 point)

- Student information correct (2/5 points)

- Title correct (1 point)

- Double spaced (3 points)

- Margins (1”) and font size ( ≤ 12) (2 points)

- Uses body paragraphs (3 points)

Earned: _______ /15

Body: (60 points)

- Country information

- Provides evidence of outside research (10 points)

- At least ONE (1) documented source present per paragraph (1 point per)

- Parenthetical documentation of sources present (5 points)

o Properly formatted (1 point per)

- Paper and assertions make sense (10 points)

- Well written (5 points)

Earned: _______ /60

Works Cited: (10 points)

- Alphabetical entries (3 points)

- Hanging indent for non-first lines (1 point per)

- Double spaced (2 points)

- FOUR (4) Sources (3 points per)

- Entries correctly punctuated (1 point per entry)

Earned: _______ /10

Sources: (5 points)

- At least one book source

- At least one periodical source

- At least two internet sources

- One page per source presented

Earned: ________ / 5

: (10 points)

- Submitted to ON TIME

- Work is not plagiarized

Earned: _______ /10

NAME: _______________________________

DUE DATE: ______________________

FINAL GRADE: _______________

ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

Thesis Statement

Before you start your paper, you need to have an idea of what you will be researching. You should have already chosen both the country and the aspects of culture that you will be focusing on, so the next step is putting that information in your thesis statement that will go in your introduction.

Student name: ___________________________ Country: ___________________

Identify the aspects of culture you will be researching by choosing from the following list:

food holidays genocide education

sports clothing customs literature

religion art drama family life

dance architecture music animals

1. _________________________________

2. _________________________________

3. _________________________________

4. _________________________________

5. _________________________________

6. _________________________________

Your thesis statement should mention these three things:

1. That you are researching the culture of the country.

2. The country you are researching.

3. The aspects of culture you are researching.

Example Sentence: The food, sports, holidays, literature, and genocide in Australia unmask its unique culture.

THE THESIS STATEMENT IS ONLY ONE SENTENCE!!!!!! DO NOT USE 1ST PERSON OR 2ND PERSON IN THE THESIS STATEMENT!

Thesis statement: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

Paraphrasing and Summarizing Tips

One of the hardest things for students to do when first writing a research paper is learn how to paraphrase and summarize information. The examples below will help you learn how to paraphrase and summarize correctly so you are not caught plagiarizing.

Definition of Paraphrasing: A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words.

✓ Include all of the ideas mentioned in the original passage

✓ Follow the original order of ideas

✓ Keep the length approximately the same as the original

✓ Do not add your own thoughts or views

Definition of Summary: Presenting the substance in a condensed form by reducing to its main points

✓ Include only the main points of the original passage

✓ Do not worry about following the original order of ideas

✓ Keep the length to between ¼ and ½ of the length of the original

✓ Do not add your own thoughts or ideas

Reading the text first and then putting it into your own words without looking at it is one of the best ways to avoid plagiarism from incorrect paraphrasing. For example:

Original Text:

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

Correctly Paraphrased Text:

An egg by the name of Humpty Dumpty was perched upon a wall. For some reason, Humpty Dumpty had a catastrophic fall off of this partition. Horses and men, which belonged to the King, tried unsuccessfully to repair the broken egg.

Correctly Summarized Text:

According to the writer of a children’s nursery rhyme, an egg named Humpty Dumpty was unable to be repaired by either the horses or the men, which belonged to the king, after he had a serious fall off of a wall.

ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

Guided Research Graphic Organizer

For each resource you use, filling in information below will allow you to:

a) Write a correct MLA-formatted Works Cited entry,

b) Give the correct in-text documentation using parenthesis ( )

SOURCE #1

Type (Circle one): Book Magazine Website

Article Title (if available):_____________________________________________________________

Book Title or URL: __________________________________________________________________

Author (Last, First): _________________________________________________________________

Author or Editor? (Circle One)

2nd Author?(First Last) _______________________________________________________________

Publisher: _________________________________________________________________________

Location: _________________________________________________________________________

Year Published: _________________

Information from this source (include PAGE #s from BOOKS)

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SOURCE #2

Type (Circle one): Book Magazine Website

Article Title (if available):_____________________________________________________________

Book Title or URL: __________________________________________________________________

Author (Last, First): _________________________________________________________________

Author or Editor? (Circle One)

2nd Author?(First Last) _______________________________________________________________

Publisher: _________________________________________________________________________

Location: _________________________________________________________________________

Year Published: _________________

Information from this source (include PAGE #s from BOOKS)

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SOURCE #3

Type (Circle one): Book Magazine Website

Article Title (if available):_____________________________________________________________

Book Title or URL: __________________________________________________________________

Author (Last, First): _________________________________________________________________

Author or Editor? (Circle One)

2nd Author?(First Last) _______________________________________________________________

Publisher: _________________________________________________________________________

Location: _________________________________________________________________________

Year Published: _________________

Information from this source (include PAGE #s from BOOKS)

___________________________________________________________________________________

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SOURCE #4

Type (Circle one): Book Magazine Website

Article Title (if available):_____________________________________________________________

Book Title or URL: __________________________________________________________________

Author (Last, First): _________________________________________________________________

Author or Editor? (Circle One)

2nd Author?(First Last) _______________________________________________________________

Publisher: _________________________________________________________________________

Location: _________________________________________________________________________

Year Published: _________________

Information from this source (include PAGE #s from BOOKS)

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ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

Research Paper Introduction

Student name: ___________________________ Country: ___________________

I. The Hook

Write the hook for your paper, which needs to be a direct quote from one of your sources. This quote will need to make sense as the beginning of a paper, so choose wisely. You might want to consider a line or two from their national anthem. You MUST document it at the end and put quotation marks around it so you are not plagiarizing!

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II. The Link

If you used a quotation for your hook, explain it here in a smooth transition between your hook and thesis. Do not write “This quote means…” or any other version of that statement. Instead, reference the quote indirectly by saying something like: “This description of the landscape of Ireland is what draws tourists from around the world.” If it is a famous saying, reference the author.

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III. The Thesis

This sentence has already been written and all you will need to do is copy it from your thesis statement sheet onto the lines below. Once you have done that, you are done with the introduction!

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ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

Research Paper Body

Student name: ___________________________ Country: ___________________

First, put all of the aspects of culture you are researching into the order in which you will write in your paper. Try to put them in an order that makes sense so that they can connect from one to the next:

1. ____________________________

2. ____________________________

3. ____________________________

4. ____________________________

5. ____________________________

6. ____________________________

Now, you are going to write a topic sentence for each of your body paragraphs and a transition sentence for each of your body paragraphs.

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I. First Body Paragraph’s Topic: ____________________

Topic Sentence: ________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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B. Transition Sentence: ___________________________________________

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II. Second Body Paragraph’s Topic: ___________________________

A. Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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B. Transition Sentence: ___________________________________________

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III. Third Body Paragraph’s Topic: _________________________

A. Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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B. Transition Sentence: ___________________________________________

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IV. Fourth Body Paragraph’s Topic: ________________________

A. Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________

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B. Transition Sentence: ___________________________________________

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V. Fifth Body Paragraph’s Topic: ________________________

A. Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

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B. Transition Sentence: ___________________________________________

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VI. Sixth Body Paragraph’s Topic: ________________________

A. Topic Sentence: ______________________________________________

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B. Transition Sentence: ___________________________________________

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ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

Research Paper Conclusion

Student name: ___________________________ Country: ___________________

I. General Statement About Your Country

Come up with a general statement about your country, re-incorporating the aspects of culture that you stated in your thesis statement. Do not just re-copy your thesis statement.

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II. Predict the future of your country

Give a general statement about the future of your country, based on the research that you found. Which aspects of culture do you believe will most positively contribute to the country’s culture? You want this to be a positive statement, not a tear-the-country-down statement. Find positive things to say.

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III. Quote about your country’s future or about the mindset of the people

Find a dynamic quote from a source to end your paper. Perhaps a line from their national anthem would help to show their patriotism, or instead use a quote from someone famous from that country, or about that country. This quote should work well with the previous sentence that you wrote.

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ENGLISH II RESEARCH PAPER

MLA Format

To see an example of a research paper in MLA format, go to Pages 15 & 16. The information below is the step-by-step information to set up a document for basic MLA format.

STEP 1: Double click on the Microsoft Word icon on your desktop.

STEP 2: When the blank Word document comes up on the screen, click on FILE

and go down to PAGE SETUP.

STEP 3: Set the left and right margins to one inch. The top and bottom margins

should already be set at one inch.

STEP 4: Click on INSERT and go down to PAGE NUMBERS.

STEP 5: Set the position of the page number to the TOP OF THE PAGE and the

alignment to RIGHT. Click OK.

STEP 6: Double click on the number 1 that appears at the top of the page and a

box will appear. Click on the RIGHT JUSTIFY button to get the cursor on

the right hand side of the page and type your last name. Then, click

anywhere on the page.

STEP 7: Click on FORMAT and go down to PARAGRAPH.

STEP 8: Click on the down arrow next to LINE SPACING and set the document to

DOUBLE. Click OK.

STEP 9: Type your last name, a space, and a 1 for the page number and hit the

ENTER button once only.

STEP 10: Click the LEFT JUSTIFY button, the button to the left of the center button.

Your cursor should be on the left hand side of the page.

STEP 11: Type your first and last name. Hit the ENTER button.

STEP 12: Type your teacher’s name and hit the ENTER button.

STEP 13: Type your class name (English II) and hit the ENTER button.

STEP 14: Type the due date for the paper in the following order: DAY MONTH

YEAR. There are no punctuation marks in the date at all. Hit the ENTER

button.

STEP 15: Click on the CENTER button, then type the title of your paper. Hit the

ENTER button once.

STEP 16: Push the TAB button once to begin your first paragraph.

Perfect 1

Alice Perfect

Mr. Awesome

English II

14 March 2006

Australian Culture

1. Book by a single author: (Sexton 119)

Author’s last name, author’s first name. Title of book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year

published.

Example of book by a single author:

Sexton, Sean. No More Free Days. New York: Writers Club Press, 2001.

2. A book by two authors: (Ashby 124)

First author’s last name (alphabetically), first name and second author’s first name then last

Name. Title of book. City of Publication: Publisher, Year published.

Example of book by two authors:

Ashby, June and Sean Sexton. The Lives of Two Teachers. New York: Teacher Press,

2002.

3. A book by two or more authors: (Ashby 125)

Ashby, June, et al. The Lives of Two Teachers. New York: Teacher Press, 2002.

4. A multivolume work, such as a cultural encyclopedia: (Smith 137)

Author’s last name, first name (or editor’s name, followed by ed.). “Title of article used.”

Title of Multivolume Work. # of volume. City of Publication: Publisher, Year published.

Example of Multivolume work:

Smith, Jane. ed. “France.” Encyclopedia of World Cultures. New York: Good

Publishers, 1998.

Format for parenthetical citation: (Jones 156)

Last name, first name of author. “Title of article.” Title of Magazine. Day Month Year (of the

magazine’s publication date): page numbers of article.

Example of citation:

Jones, Pam. “Cooking in France.” French Food. 24 Jan. 2002: 76-80.

Format of the interview parenthetical citation: (Sexton Interview)

Last name of person interviewed, first name. Personal interview. Day month year (of interview).

Example of interview citation:

Sexton, Sean. Personal Interview. 18 January 2010.

Format of Website parenthetical citation: (Schaefer 180)

Last name, first name of author (if available). “Title of Website.” Date the website was posted or

last updated (day month year). Title of the Institution or Organization sponsoring the site (if

available). Date you accessed the site (day month year).

Example of Website citation:

Schaefer, Laurie. “Schaef’s House.” 29 December 2007. Mount Tabor High School. 31 January

2007.

Treat the same as a book: (Australia)

Title of pamphlet. City published in: publisher, year.

Example of Pamphlet

Australia: The Land Down Under. Sydney: Aussie Publishers, 1999.

Format for parenthetical citation: (“Going to War”)

“Title of the episode.” Title of program. Title of series (if any). Name of network. City of

local station. Broadcast date (day month year).

Example of citation:

“Going to War.” JAG. CBS. Winston-Salem. 22 January 2002.

Format of parenthetical citation: (Stargate SG-1)

Title of video. Director first and last name. Major actors. Distributor, Year.

Example of citation:

Stargate SG-1. Dir. Rob Glassner. Richard Dean Anderson. Showtime, 1999.

Smith 1

Jane Smith

Mr. Sexton

English II Honors

23 April 2010

The Culture of Japan

“May the Emperor's reign continue for a thousand, eight thousand generations until the pebbles grow into boulders, lush with moss” (“Flag and National Anthem of Japan” 1). This stanza from the Japanese National Anthem conveys the attitude of the people of Japan that they apply not only to their leaders, but to every aspect of their culture. The food, sports, religion, drama, and holidays in Japan are all intriguing aspects of its culture.

“Peaceful gardens and simple flower arrangements reflect the Japanese love of nature. Japan is a busy and crowded country. They have held onto two things: their traditions and their love of nature. These have helped the Japanese create peaceful little islands in the middle of their busy lives” (Greene 95). Japan is a country of natural environment that contributes to its simple and interesting way of life and the Japanese use beauty and elegance to promote a form of life not found in many places. The religion, customs, language, architecture, theatre, and food of the culture of Japan showcase its unique culture (Nicholson 66).

The Japanese believe in nature that is defined as simply beauty. Their religion of Shinto and Buddhism are today accepted and interwoven (Leibo 65). Both of these religions are accepted and in come cases, combined. Shinto, Confucian, and Taoist religions became like threads that were a part of the intellectual fabric woven together. This was done in the Medieval Age. (Atlas of Japan 117) These previous religions helped to form the Buddhist religion. Most people in the sixth century

Smith 2

believed in the simple, natural ways of the Shinto. They worshipped things like the sun, moon, mountains, and trees, which were considered gods. (Greene 54) After World War Two, Buddhism became more noticeable. This religion came from China and Korea. Religion has played a very important role in how the Japanese have lived their lives. Buddhism and Shinto are main beliefs of Japan and so many people follow these religions. The two religions cannot be compared in size.

Food is a delicious part of the culture of Japan. Spectators at sporting events enjoy eating the many foods of Japan.

Sports are an exciting aspect of Japan’s culture. Many sports teams in Japan pray to their favorite god before beginning competitions.

TIPS ON WRITING YOUR PAPER FROM THIS POINT:

✓ If you type up your outline just like the example above, you now only have to go back and insert the information you find in your sources. You would insert it between the topic and transition sentences in each of your body paragraphs.

✓ The best method for adding information into your paper is to PARAPHRASE, which means going sentence by sentence and putting it in your own words.

✓ If you have more than one source on a topic, (food, for example), then paraphrase one source before moving onto another one. That will make it easier to document.

✓ Remember that every paragraph in your paper must have parenthetical documentation.

✓ When you finish with your paper, continue on to type your Works Cited page in the same document as your paper. Do not create a separate document for your Works Cited page. This way, the computer will automatically number your Works Cited page, too.

✓ Go ahead and plan your time so that you take one day for each aspect of culture. That way, you are only doing a little bit at a time.

✓ Good Luck!

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