Research Paper

Science fiction, of which The War of the Worlds is a very early example, is writing which projects imaginary developments of present day technology into the future in a plausible fashion. When the work was published in 1898, the level of technology was still relatively unsophisticated. The author could not know of inventions such as: the jet planethe spacecraft, artificial heart and other medical advances, computer technology, use of synthetic materials, cell phones, digital music, assembly line manufacturing, etc. Further, Wells could not know the revolutionary changes that would accompany events such as the rise of Communism, significant wars, the rise of terrorism, the Space Race, woman’s suffrage, etc. A research project considering this issue will help us to better understand this novel and the world that we now term “Modern.”

The research questions:What is the most important event or invention of the 20th century? Argue why you think this is an appropriate choice. Offer a thorough explanation of the historical facts surrounding the event or invention, and indicate the impact it has had on today’s society.

Requirements: You are to provide a minimum eight paragraph essay following all MLA guidelines for format and content. You are also required to have at least three verifiable and reputable, peer-edited sources—you are not permitted to use Wikipedia (or similar), a dictionary (or similar) and/or an encyclopedia (or similar) as sources to support your argument. Your paper must offer properly cited in-text citations and contain a properly formatted works cited page. In this paper, do not provide paraphrases of sources ; rather, each body paragraph in your essay should include a well-chosen, and brief quotation from an outside source and your analysis. The paper will be due before 10:00 P.M, Monday, May 20th only to turnitin.com. It is your responsibility to know, and be able to properly access, turnitin.com. I expect you to have a hard-copy draft of at least the first three paragraphs of your essay prepared for review in class on Monday, May 13th. We will spend two days in the library—May 6th and 7th—locating appropriate support sources. During these library sessions, you must retrieve at least four verifiable and reputable, peer-reviewed sources—it is always a good idea to have more research material than might be necessary. I will provide below some links to websites that may help you begin your research.

Links to sites about 20 th Century Important Events and Inventions http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-inventions-of-the-20th-century.php

http://www.gallup.com/poll/3427/most-important-events-century-from-viewpoint-people.aspx

http://ianthecool.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/the-ten-most-world-changing-events-of-the-20th-century/http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandals/u/events.htmhttp://www.timetoast.com/timelines/major-events-from-the-20th-century

Research Paper Siteshttps://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/http://www.aresearchguide.com/1steps.html

Holistic Grading ScaleThe following provides the scale used to evaluate your research paper. 100-91: Clearly stated, well developed thesis (your argument is clear, manageable in scope, and interesting); excellent, thorough analysis and appropriately graceful use of outside sources (sources are reputable and verifiable and excellent use of signal phrases evident) ; very clear and efficient style (sentences are developed and clear, not overly wordy and/or vague), logical and coherent paragraphs (clear transitions are evident), proper MLA format (e.g. heading [excellent title], page format, in-text citation, works cited page); mastery of grammar and syntax.

81-90: Less clearly stated, less well-developed thesis; very good, although less thorough, analysis and very good use of outside sources; clear and mostly efficient style, coherent organization of paragraphs with a few lapses in logic; a few MLA format errors; satisfactory demonstration of basic grammar and syntax.

70-80: Poorly stated, more underdeveloped thesis; satisfactory analysis, although incomplete, and adequate use of outside sources; partially clear and somewhat inefficient style; limited organization of paragraphs and above average number of logical lapses; various MLA format errors; serious deficiencies in basic grammar and syntax skills.

60-69: Very poorly stated and very underdeveloped thesis; poor analysis, seriously incomplete, and less than satisfactory use of outside sources; poor and inefficient style; poor to incoherent organization of paragraphs; many MLA format errors; unsatisfactory to below level demonstration of basic grammar and syntax skills.

59-0: Very poor to non-existent thesis; very poor or no analysis of outside sources; poor style; no clear organization of paragraphs; far too many MLA format errors; completely deficient, below level demonstration of basic grammar and syntax skills.

Writing Research PapersThe Research Paper differs from most other essays in that in these types of essays,you are writing about the research and analysis you have done on a given topic.The research paper requires careful interpretation and analysis of facts, supportedby legitimate research.

Key Prompt Words: Prompt words may just be the actual subject of the paper, i.e.“metamorphosis of a butterfly,” “Herbert Hoover,” “the Harlem Renaissance” or itcould be prompted with the words research, find, find out, explore, investigate,examinePurposeTo research a topic, sharing the most important details and examples aboutthe topic, supported with relevant and legitimate source information

Important AspectsSource information§ know what you are looking for and what questions you want answered§ gather information from legitimate sources§ draw conclusions or make an analysis based on the information youhave found§ connect and support the information you have found with appropriatelegitimate source information§ cite your sourcesResearch papers can vary greatly in number of paragraphs and organization.Because you are gathering information and supporting this information with directand indirect quotes from appropriate sources, you may decide not to stick so strictlyto the five-paragraph essay model. However, you should use the five-paragraphessay model as a basis or basic skeleton of your essay, so that you include theimportant elements of a successful essay. Many research papers are organized inthe following way:I. IntroductionII. Important Fact #1 with supporting source informationIII. Important Fact #2 with supporting source information

IV. Important Fact #3 with supporting source informationV. Conclusion

Evaluating Internet SourcesThe Internet is a wonderfully informative, yet potentially dangerous medium. Whengathering data for a research paper or other report in which you must locate informationusing outside sources, it is important that you evaluate each and every source for validity.The most important thing to remember is that anyonecan publish anything on the web. Unlike most printresources, web sources rarely have editors or fact-checkersto ensure accuracy. It is crucial that you takethe time to evaluate your source before accidentallypresenting incorrect information in your writing projects.Before using anything on the Internet, ask yourself thefollowing questions:1. Are there obvious spelling or grammatical errors?2. Is the information clearly and logically presented?3. Is there evidence that the website’s informationcomes from reputable sources?4. Are the sources cited in the article or somewhereon the site?5. Is there bias or inappropriate language?6. Is the information current and/or consistent withinformation from other sources?

If you do decide to use information from a source on the Internet, be sure to keep track ofthe following information for your Works Cited page:1. Title of website2. Name of organization or website sponsor3. Title of article or page4. Date of the article or page (if given)5. Volume, edition and/or page number (if applicable)6. Author7. Date website was accessed (This is the date you found and wrote down theinformation from the website.)

You are not permitted to use Wikipedia, a dictionary, or encyclopedia as support sources

The sources you do you must be peer-edited journals or newspapers. You must imagine that your research topic is like a patient for a doctor or client for an attorney—only the most reliable sources will make your argument meaningful.

Incorporating Support into a Research PaperWhen writing a Research Paper, it is absolutely essential to include quotations. No matterhow brilliant your paper is, the Research Paper is incomplete without quotations.Quotations serve as evidence to the claims you are making in your paper, and illustrate andsupport your main points. Any time you use someone else’s words or ideas, you must givecredit to that person, whether you quote directly or just paraphrase. If you do not give creditto your sources it is considered plagiarism, which can very often earn you a failing grade onyour paper.There are several different methods of incorporating quotations into your Research Paper.Many of these are similar to how to integrate quotations into a Response to LiteratureEssay. To illustrate, here are the many different ways to incorporate quotes into a ResearchPaper:“Many writers omit or improperly use quotations in their essays.”1. Paraphrase (Indirect quotation)—using different words to express the same idea; donot use quotation marks at allTeachers and professors alike find that many students often misuse quotations intheir papers.2. Direct phrase or word quote—using only one or a few words; use quotation marksaround those words onlyMany teachers find that their students “omit or improperly use” quotes whenwriting papers.

3. MLA author/page citation—author and page in parentheses; notice the period comesafter the parenthesis“Many writers omit or improperly use quotations in their essays” (Watson43).4. Full sentence quote with he/she said before the quotation; place comma before thequotation mark, periodWatson claims, “Many writers omit or improperly use quotations in theiressays” (43).5. Full sentence quote with he/she said after the quotation; comma replaces period atthe end of the quote“Many writers omit or improperly use quotations in their essays,” he argues(Watson 43).6. Full sentence quote with he/she said dividing the quote; commas separate the quote“Many writers,” he admits, “omit or improperly use quotations in their essays”(Watson 43).

7. Full sentence quote with he/she said that at the beginning of the quote; the wordthat takes the place of the commaHe affirmed that “Many writers omit or improperly use quotations in their essays”(Watson 43).8. Full sentence quote with full sentence introduction to quote; use a colon before thequoteScholars have proven with scientific evidence: “Many writers omit or improperlyuse quotations in their essays” (Watson 43; Reed 75)9. Omitting words within a quote; use the ellipses between (...)“Many writers...use quotations in their essays” (Watson 43).

Incorporating Quotations continued

10. Adding or changing words within a quote; use brackets to set off the change“Many writers [often] omit or improperly use quotations in their essays” (Watson43).MORE rules for incorporating quotations in a paper:1. Plays, novels, long poems, website titles, magazine titles, movie titles, and booksshould be italicized or underlined. (When typed, they should only be italicized.)d. Shakespeare’s Macbethe. The Canterbury Talesf. Shakespeare in Love2. Articles, chapter titles, song titles, poems, short stories, and essays should bepunctuated with quotation marks.a. Alanis Morrisette’s “Ironic”b. Yezierska’s “America and I”c. Langston Hughes’s “I, Too”

3. As a rule, anyone you do not personally know should be referred to by their LASTname—not their first.a. William Shakespeare should be referred to as Shakespeare, not Williamb. Joseph Stalin should be referred to as Stalin, not Joseph4. Always lead into a quotation with your own ideas or sentences; similarly, always followa quotation with your own ideas.5. Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks.6. Question marks, exclamation marks, semi-colons, and colons go inside quotationmarks when they are part of what is being quoted. When question marks andexclamation marks are used in a quotation, do not use a comma.a. “You said what?” screamed the embarrassed teenager.b. Why do they call her “Smarty Pants”?

Sample Works Cited Page: MLA Format Collins 14

Works Cited“Armadillos.” New Found Knowledge Encyclopedia. 2010 ed. Print.

American Reading Association. Reading Starts Here. New York: Charprint, 2007. Print.

"Becoming the Best YOU." Women’s Way Magazine Online 12 Nov. 2007. Web. 2 Feb. 2010[Black and white cat hanging from the back of a blue couch]. Imagefile. JPEG file.

Brannagan, Warren. A Mother’s Love. Photograph. Imagenet.com, n.d. Web. 6 May 2010.

Changeman, Larry. “The Key to Success.” Los Angeles Times 21 Mar. 2000: A7. Print.

Frost, Robert. The Best of Frost. Ed. Michael Smith. San Francisco: Bluebird Publications,

1998. Print.

Green, Marvin. “Marvin the Martian.” YouTube. June 2004. Web. 4 Oct. 2010.

Harden, Peggy. “Fancy Touches.” Time 18 Nov. 2001: 70-71. Print.

Jennings, Maria. "Yaks and You." New Sun Times 5 July 2004, 6.D: 38-42. Web. 4 Dec. 2010.

Johnson, Lynda, and Jonathan Hope. What You Should Know About Papers. Los Angeles: Doubletown Publications, 2010. Print.

Jones, Jaime. “Re: Funny Cat.” Message to Wendi Mierhauf. 2 Apr. 2010. E-mail.

Kennedy, April. The Guide for Writing and Style. Yonkers: Waddington Press, 2005. Print.

Meen, Alexandrea. “Keeping up with the Joneses: Consumerism in America.” The

Scholarly Consumer 2.1 (2001): 14-16. Print.

National Center for Disease Control. “Keeping Your Hands Clean.” 4 Mar. 2009. PDF file.