1. What is the assignment? Write a 5 page research paper on any topic of your choosing that is related to US History 1865-1910. 3 Stepping stone assignments The paper Your presentation

2. What does my term 4 grade look like? 10 % - Class Participation 20 % - 8 Current Events Assignments 60 % - Tests and Quizzes –Research Proposal –Vocab / Ideas Quiz on Reconstruction –Annotated Bibliography –Vocab / Ideas Quiz on Moving West / Destruction of Native Americans –Annotated Outline –Vocab / Ideas Quiz on Industrialization / Rise of Big Business in America –Research Paper (counts 2x) –Project Presentation 10 % - Final Exam (Midterms to June includes map)

3. What is a research paper? What makes it different from an essay? It is the core assignment of college social science classes. It is a collection of research related to a specific topic, theme, thesis. It is more detailed than an encyclopedia or textbook account. It combines the work of many people on the topic. Ideally, it proves a point and does not just describe something that happened.

4. Key Steps to a Research Paper Pick a topic Blurb! – Start writing everything you think you already know about the topic. Question: Write a list of questions that you would need to answer to improve your understanding of the topic. Read some b/g info about your topic to try to refine / narrow down your topic. Write a thesis statement: The 1-3 sentence version of your whole paper. –What will you demonstrate in this paper? –Include the sub-questions that you will answer. –Don’t worry about it being perfect, you can refine it later, but everything that comes later in the paper should support this part in some way. –Try to analyze facts and events more than just describing them. Gather evidence to support your thesis. Record Bibliographic Info + p. #s of all sources you consult. Organize your evidence into an outline. Write an intro / explanation for each piece of evidence that you plan to use. Write transitions to connect your evidence to each other. Read your paper, edit, revise, read, edit, revise….

5. How do I research? Pick a topic, read a general (encyclopedia style) description of the topic. Make notes about the basics of your topic: Who, What, When, Where Look for books and other resources that are related to your topic as well. For every source you find write down the bibliographic info 1 st then any pertinent info with page numbers after.

6. What’s the deal with footnotes? 20 Points = Footnotes Footnotes are references where you give other people credit for their work. Obvious times that you need a footnote are quotations and statistics. Less obvious but equally important is footnoting somebody’s idea. You cannot hurt yourself by over-footnoting you CAN HURT YOURSELF by not footnoting enough. How do you do it? –Insert –Reference –Footnotes –Then write bibliographic info and page # –If you are using the same source again later in the paper you can just use the author’s last name and page # Example of using a footnote in text: The traditional account told readers how President Hoover acted late and ineffectively to aid citizens of the United States in the Great Depression. Hoover a firm believer in the role of volunteer relief organizations such as the Red Cross and he rejected the idea that the federal government should step into the role of relief worker directly. Hoover believed that relief was a local issue and that it was un-American to “allow a centralized bureaucracy to dictate to that local government,” and that furthermore “it is not the function of government to relieve individuals of their responsibilities to their neighbors, or to relieve private institutions of their responsibilities to the public.”[1] Hoover’s manner of dealing with the crisis was both ineffective and unpopular, resulting in the 1932 election of Franklin D. Roosevelt.[1] [1] D. Duane Cummings and William White, Contrasting Decades: The 1920s and 1930s. (Beverly Hills, CA: Benziger Inc, 1973), 73 [1]

7. OK… What do I need to do for this first step? Research proposal - Write a 200-300 word summary of what you plan to research and write about for your paper. The research proposal should include: – Description of your intended topic, –Why you think this is a worthwhile topic, –What sub-questions you think will come up within the topic –Bibliographic description of at least 2 sources (not wikipedia or textbook) that you have already consulted and expect to use. DUE Tuesday MAY 5