1. Introduction to Research Papers
The 5Ws and H of Writing Research Papers

2. WHY on earth would I ever research?
How would you go about finding a car?
How do you plan to look for a job?
What is your hobby? How do you know so much about it?
What are you thinking of doing after high school? Job? College?

3. WHAT is a research paper?
Its basic purpose is to INFORM.
It explores a topic and explains it using research gathered about that topic.
It takes everything you learned from your research and reports it.

4. WHY write a research paper?
To learn more about a topic
Develop a better understanding
To inform others of what you’ve learned
To explore your world
Video game research
Fashion research

5. WHERE can I find the info for a research paper?
Library: books, magazines, journals
Online: valid web sites, online journals
For our purposes, web sites must end in .edu, .org, or .gov
Videos
Speeches
Public records
Practically ANYWHERE

6. WHO would want to read my research paper?
Audience: others interested in your topic
Consider audience carefully
Give them more than what they know

7. WHEN should I begin my paper?
Only after you have gathered ample information for explaining your topic, and AFTER you:
Make note cards of important info
Prewrite or Brainstorm
Outline
Write a thesis using your information

8. HOW on earth do I write one of these papers?
Not to worry—I’ll show you.
Prewriting
Drafting
Revising
Editing
Publishing

9. What about all that MLA business?
MLA is a way of acknowledging the information that we use from someone else’s work
We’ll refer to someone else’s work both in our text and on our Works Cited page
Without BOTH of these, we are plagiarizing
Text: Maintaining student engagement is a daily challenge teachers face, and cooperating with peers can be a “powerful motivator for young adolescents” (Irvin 57).
Works Cited
Irvin, Judith L. Reading and the Middle School Student: Strategies to Enhance Literacy. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, Print.

10. Topics “The Devil and Tom Walker” “Young Goodman Brown” “The Raven”
Hypocrisy, archetypes, symbolism
“Young Goodman Brown”
“The Raven”
Sound devices, imagery, symbolism, melancholy
“The Pit and the Pendulum”
Terror/suspense, light/darkness, sensory details, time
Moby Dick
Symbolism, nature, madness, color