The Holiday Paper 2012

Your Assignment You will write a paper about a winter holiday celebration. This will be a paper where you will do research (both in the library and in the computer lab), take well written notes, and produce a typed final draft.

The Requirements… Your paper must be typed. No handwritten papers, please. Your heading must be typed, not handwritten. Page Length: A minimum of two typewritten pages and a Works Cited page OR a maximum of three typewritten pages and a Works Cited page. The fonts you may use: Times New Roman, Verdana, or Arial. The font size: 12 point. You will fail this assignment if you make anything on your paper larger than 12 point font. Your paper must be double spaced. Single spaced papers will not be accepted. No, you may not put pictures/graphics in your paper. You’ll have an opportunity to do something with pictures/graphics later in the school year.

The Requirements… You will need to choose ONE country and research using the library’s print and electronic resources that country’s winter holiday celebration. Once you have chosen a country, it’s yours for the entire assignment. No changes. For your Works Cited page, you’ll need at least TWO sources listed. Not having a Works Cited page for your paper gives me the assumption that you are a native of that country (so you know everything about that country) or you did not give proper credit for your information (which means you cheated).

What should I include in my paper? Some helpful information: Name of the holiday, day(s) celebrated, any traditions associated with the holiday, what food(s), if any, are prepared and eaten, gift(s) made/bought and given, decorations that may be used, history of the holiday. Remember, you only have 2-3 pages, so you can’t talk about everything.

How will I be graded? You will be graded on an IB Rubric for Style and Language. We will cover the rubric in another class period. You will also grade yourself on this assignment. That means you will receive TWO grades for this paper, and this will be entered as two test grades into the grade book.

Paper Format You should have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion to your paper. Your introduction and conclusion need to be a paragraph (4-10 sentences), while your body can have multiple paragraphs.

Hark! A Sample…

I’ve made this so simple… Introductory paragraph: This is where you will introduce the reader to what your paper is about. You are telling the reader what they are about to read in one paragraph. Body paragraph #1: It would be very smart to use this second paragraph to talk about the origin(s) of your country’s holiday. Include dates the holiday is celebrated. Body paragraph #2: This would be the paragraph to discuss traditions of the holiday. Gifts given, decorations, songs sung, etc. Body paragraph #3: This would be the paragraph to discuss food that is prepared for that holiday. Food is that important, so it gets its own paragraph. Conclusion: You are wrapping the paper by providing a summary of what you wrote about in the three previous paragraphs. You want the reader to feel like they would want to go to that country and celebrate that holiday because you sold it so well with your paper.

No No’s….

….don’t you even THINK of doing this! Do not begin your paper with “Today, I want to talk to you about Christmas.” Or something like it. Do not end your paper with “Thank you for reading my paper” or “I hope you enjoyed reading my paper. Or something like it. Don’t even think about doing it. DO NOT EVER END A PAPER WITH “THE END”.

When is it due? Thursday, December 13 (periods 3, 4 and 8) Friday, December 14 (periods 1, 5 and 7) If you are afraid that you will lose your paper, then yes, you may me your paper and Works Cited page. That would be smart.