When History and Fiction Merge
The 9th
Grade Regents Research Paper
Library Resources
ABC CLlO American History
History Study Center
Literature Resource Center
World Book Online
Academic Integrity
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We know that Jem, Scout, Atticus and the rest of the
characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are
fictionalized. However, the sentiment of the time period and the struggles the
characters faced were taken straight from the history books. Now that we know
the details of To Kill a Mockingbird, it’s
time to become an expert in a small aspect of 1930s life. It is important for
us, the reader, to understand these social issues in order to gain deeper
insight and appreciation into Harper Lee’s social criticism.
Requirements:
1. Well-organized 4-5 page research paper using
a variety of credible sources
2. Use MLA format for everything (will be reviewed in
class)
3. You must have 6 sources cited in the paper; at
least two print sources and two web sources
4. You must have at least 30 notecards (taken from all
six sources for works cited)
5. Use Noodletools for works cited, notecards, and
outline.
Notecard
Rubric
Comments will appear on Noodletools Research Paper Rubric
_____/20 – Focus
Creative
Essay Title + Informative Essay Title
Demonstrates
awareness of task
Establishes
a strong, distinct, provable thesis
Maintains
a single controlling idea throughout the paper
_____/20 – Content
Supports
the thesis by using a substantial amount of relevant and accurate evidence
Each
body paragraph is clearly connected to the thesis
Incorporates
well developed body paragraphs with no gaps or omissions
Minimum of four direct quotations from four different sources smoothly integrated into paragraph
Sophisticated
interpretation of significance of quotations
_____/20 – Organization
Includes concise topic sentences for every body paragraph that
introduce a specific topic
Incorporates transitional devices that connect and
relate ideas
Illustrates logical progression of ideas
Includes a developed introductory and concluding
paragraph
_____/20 – Style and Conventions
Includes
clear, varied, and effective word choice
Demonstrates fluent and varied sentence structure
Uses
consistent voice and tone appropriate to audience and purpose
Demonstrates
control of spelling, punctuation, and grammar usage (including typos)
Proofreading Error List
(-2 points when seen in the paper)
Do not use contractions.
Do not use “you” and “I” and “me” and “we” and “us,” etc.
Check agreement of:
subject and verb, pronoun and antecedent.
Use titles correctly:
underline titles of separate publications, use quotation marks for titles
included in larger volumes, use no punctuation for your own essay title, do not
use the author’s title as your own.
Do not use fragments
or run-ons.
Do not confuse common
homonyms: there, their, and they’re; to, too, and two; its and it’s; affect and
effect; than and then.
Use possessive
apostrophes correctly.
Do not capitalize
common nouns; only capitalize proper nouns.
Follow basic comma
rules: between items in a series.
Hand in rubric.
_____/20 – Documentation
Follows
MLA format specifications exactly
Demonstrates correct use of documentation (parenthetical
and works cited)
Works cited page includes a minimum of six sources
Works cited has at least two print sources and two online sources
Missing Criteria (-2
points for anything missing)
Works cited
At least one rough copy with editing marks
from someone else
Peer Revision Strategies
Lateness Deductions (if any): _____
Total = __________/100 FINAL GRADE on Final
Paper
STEP 1:
Choosing a Topic and Brainstorming
The following is an
extensive list of topics to choose from. Select one topic to research further. Keep in mind that you will be
narrowing your focus on this topic in the weeks to come; people have written
entire books about these ideas—you only need to write 4-5 pages!
Status of African-Americans in the 1930s
Jim Crow laws
Voting rights
NAACP
Laws for African Americans
Job opportunities for blacks
Housing/neighborhoods
Discrimination/treatment by white people
Segregation
Racism in the 1930’s
Lynching
Scottsboro Trial
KKK
Women of the 1930s
Description/details about the traditional Southern Belle
Fashion
Careers, family roles, wages
Eleanor Roosevelt*
Amelia Earhart*
Ella Baker*
Laws for women
Economic and Political Concerns of 1930s
President Hoover *
President Franklin D. Roosevelt *
President Roosevelt’s “New Deal”
The Dust Bowl/agriculture/sharecroppers/tenant farmers
WPA (Works Progress Administration)
Black Tuesday
The effects of The Great Depression on the American People
Hawley-Smoot Act
21st Amendment (1933)- Prohibition
Social Security Act
* = If you choose to write your paper on a
specific person, please keep in mind that you are not simply writing a
biography. You are focusing specifically on that person’s contributions to the
1930s. While some biographical information may be relevant to your into, the
body of your paper focuses in on the decade at hand.
Narrowing
your Topic
Directions:
Complete
the graphic organizer. Place your general topic in the middle and then, from
your reading, try to find subtopics that would fit together to make a 4-5 page
essay! Remember to narrow your topic to
specific points; you are not writing a book!
From
those ideas, make a list below of your 3 subtopics. Lastly, compose a thesis
statement. This should be what your paper will prove. Make a statement about your
topic, and then your subtopics will prove it.
THESIS STATEMENT
(temporary/working): What could you possibly want to prove about this topic?
STEP 2: Collecting Information
After
you have chosen a topic, your next step is to gather information on your topic.
In order to do this, you will need to exhaust a few resources. First, we will
go to the library and you will collect information from print sources. Then,
you will use electronic sources in order to collect more recent and up-to-date
information. Although the world of technology can be wonderful at times, it is
important to get comfortable using different types of resources.
1. Create
a Works Cited List.
A
Works Cited is a list of sources you have found that you are going to consider
using for your research paper. For this Works Consulted, you will compile a
list of 6 sources that you can use in order to prove your thesis. You do not
exactly know what your thesis is going to be at this point, but you should have
some idea of the direction in which you are going. While exhausting the
sources, you will begin to get a clearer idea of what you would like to prove
in the research paper (thesis statement!).
A
Works Cited must be in MLA format. Therefore, you must use Noodletools to cite these sources properly. Not only will
you be avoiding plagiarism, but doing so will help you when it is time to go back to the sources and find the
information that you previously discovered.
2. A note on plagiarism
Plagiarism
is essentially “idea-stealing”. It is taking credit for information that is not
your own original idea. While research is all about getting information from
other sources, you avoid plagiarism by giving credit to the source of
information. There are two ways to do
this:
·
Directly
quote the author. Use quotation marks around his/her own words, and mention
whose words these are.
·
Put
the information in your own words. You still must give credit to the author for
the information! Use parenthetical (in-text) citations to do this.
Plagiarism
is taken very seriously in our school, and we will spend more time in this unit
learning how to avoid plagiarizing a paper. If part or all of your research paper
is plagiarized, the dean and your parent / guardian must be notified. You will
be required to redo the assignment, and a 65 would be the highest grade
obtainable. Save yourself the trouble— showcase your own unique ideas, and give
credit where credit is due! J
Book List
All of these
books will be available on the cart in the library
1.
Holding
their own : American women in the 1930s
Call #: 301.41 War Ware, Susan, 1950-
Series:
American women in the twentieth century
Published
1982
Interest Level: Young Adult
2.
The
NAACP
Call #: 305.89 RHY Rhym, Darren.
Series:
African-American achievers
Published
2002
Reading Level: 8.9 Interest Level: 5-8
3.
The
rise & fall of Jim Crow : the African-American struggle against
discrimination, 1865-1954
Call #: 305.896 WOR Wormser, Richard, 1933-
Published
1999
Interest Level: Young Adult
4.
The
Welfare state : opposing viewpoints
Call #: 320.1 Ben David L. Bender.
Series:
Opposing viewpoints series
Published
1985
Reading Level: 8.0 Interest Level: Young Adult
5.
Civil
rights : the struggle for Black equality
Call #: 323.1 GEO George, Charles, 1949-
Series:
Words that changed history
Published
2001
Reading Level: 8.2 Interest Level: 5-8
6.
Black
Tuesday : prelude to the Great Depression
Call #: 330.973 DOA Doak, Robin S. (Robin Santos), 1963-
Series:
Snapshots in history
Published
2008
Reading Level: 7.9 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 1080
7.
The
Great Depression
Call #: 338.5 GRE Dennis Nishi, book editor.
Series:
History firsthand
Published
2001
Interest Level: Young Adult
Lexile: 1130
8.
Causes
and consequences of the Great Depression
Call #: 338.5 ROS Ross, Stewart.
Series:
Causes and consequences
Published
1998
Reading Level: 8.2 Interest Level: 5-8
9.
The
equal rights amendment : the history and the movement
Call
#: 342.73 WHI Whitney, Sharon.
Published
1984
Interest Level: Young Adult
10. The Eighteenth and Twenty-first
Amendments : alcohol, prohibition, and repeal
Call #: 344.73 LUC Lucas, Eileen.
Series:
Constitution
Published
1998
Interest Level: Young Adult
11. The Scottsboro Boys Trial : a
primary source account
Call #: 345.761 SOR Sorensen, Lita.
Series:
Great trials of the twentieth century
Published
2004
Reading Level: 7.0 Interest Level: 5-8
12. Landmark decisions of the United
States Supreme Court
Call
#: 347.73 LAN Maureen Harrison &
Steve Gilbert, editors.
Series:
Landmark decisions series
Published
1991
Interest Level: Young Adult
13. Prohibition
Call #: 363.4 PRO Dennis Nishi, book editor.
Series:
Opposing viewpoints series
Published
2004
Interest Level: Young Adult
14. Prohibition
Call #: 363.4 REB Rebman, Renee C., 1961-
Series:
World history series
Published
1999
Reading Level: 8.9 Interest Level: 5-8
15. Prohibition : banning
alcohol
Call #: 363.4 WOO Woog, Adam, 1953-
Series:
Words that changed history
Published
2003
Reading Level: 8.4 Interest Level: 5-8
16. Fashions of a decade. The
1930s
Call #: 391 FAS Maria Costantino.
Published
2007
Interest Level: Young Adult
17. The 1920s and 1930s
[ eBook ]
Call #: 391 MCE McEvoy, Anne.
Series:
Costume and fashion source books
Published
2009
Interest Level: Young Adult
Unlimited
copies
18. American civil rights
leaders
Call #: 920 HAR Harmon, Rod.
Series:
Collective biographies
Published
2000
Reading Level: 7.1 Interest Level: 5-8
19. Women of the wind : early women
aviators
Call #: 920 LAN Langley, Wanda.
Published
2006
Reading Level: 8.2 Interest Level: 5-8
20. Amelia Earhart : legendary
aviator
Call #: 921 EAR Haugen, Brenda.
Series:
Signature lives
Published
2007
Reading Level: 6.9 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 980
21. Eleanor Roosevelt
Call #: 921 Fre Freedman, Russell
Lexile: 1100
22. Herbert Hoover
Call #: 921 HOO Holford, David M.
Series:
United States presidents
Published
1999
Reading Level: 6.6 Interest Level: 5-8
23. Eleanor Roosevelt
Call #: 921 Roo McAuley, Karen.
Series:
World leaders past & present
Published
1987
Reading Level: 8.5 Interest Level: 5-8
24. Eleanor Roosevelt, with love : a
centenary remembrance
[ Book ]
Call #: 921 Roo Roosevelt, Elliott, 1910-
Published
1984
Reading Level: 8.9 Interest Level: Young Adult
25. Franklin D. Roosevelt
Call #: 921 ROO Spies, Karen Bornemann.
Series:
United States presidents
Published
1999
Reading Level: 8.6 Interest Level: 5-8
26. Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Call #: 921 Roo Israel, Fred L.
Series:
World leaders past & present
Published
1985
Reading Level: 8.7 Interest Level: 5-8
27. The autobiography of Eleanor
Roosevelt.
Call #: 921 ROO PB Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962.
Published
1992
Interest Level: Adult
28. Eleanor Roosevelt : a life of
discovery
Call #: 921 ROO PB Freedman, Russell.
Published
1993
Reading Level: 8.5 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 1100
29. Africa to America : from the
Middle Passage through the 1930s
Call #: 973 AFR edited by Jeff Wallenfeldt.
Series:
African American history and culture
Published
2011
Interest Level: Young Adult
30. Opposing viewpoints in American
history. Volume 2, From Reconstruction to the present
Call #: 973 OPP PB William Dudley, volume editor ; John C.
Chalberg, consulting editor.
Published
2007
Interest Level: Young Adult
31. The African-American struggle
for legal equality in American history
Call #: 973 WEA Weatherford, Carole Boston, 1956-
Series:
In American history
Published
2000
Reading Level: 6.6 Interest Level: 5-8
32. Progressivism, the Great
Depression, and the New Deal, 1901-1941
Call #: 973.91 COL Collier, Christopher, 1930-
Series:
Drama of American history
Published
2001
Reading Level: 7.1 Interest Level: 5-8
33. The 1930s : from the Great
Depression to The wizard of Oz
Call #: 973.91 FEI Feinstein, Stephen.
Series:
Decades of the 20th century in color
Published
2006
Reading Level: 7.1 Interest Level: 5-8
34. Daily life in the United States,
1920-1939 : decades of promise and pain
Call #: 973.91 KYV Kyvig, David E.
Series:
Greenwood Press "Daily life through history" series,
Published
2002
Interest Level: Young Adult
Lexile: 1411
35. The Depression and New Deal : a
history in documents
Call #: 973.91 MCE McElvaine, Robert S., 1947-
Series:
Pages from history
Published
2000
Interest Level: Young Adult
36. Prosperity, depression, and war,
1920-1945
Call #: 973.91 PRO Laura K. Egendorf, book editor.
Series:
American history by era ; v. 7
Published
2003
Interest Level: Young Adult
37. America in the 1930s
Call #: 973.917 CAL Callan, Jim.
Series:
Decades of American history
Published
2005
Reading Level: 8.9 Interest Level: 5-8
38. Roosevelt and the New Deal
Call #: 973.917 WOO Woog, Adam, 1953-
Series:
World history series
Published
1998
Reading Level: 8.2 Interest Level: 5-8
39. Reconstruction and the rise of
Jim Crow, 1864-1896
Call #: 975 COL Collier, Christopher, 1930-
Series:
Drama of American history
Published
2000
Reading Level: 8.0 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 1160
40. Driven from the land : the story
of the Dust Bowl
Call #: 978 MEL Meltzer, Milton, 1915-
Series:
Great journeys
Published
2000
Reading Level: 8.0 Interest Level: 5-8
Lexile: 1100
41. Women's rights in the United
States : a documentary history
Call #: REF 305.42 WOM edited by Winston E. Langley and Vivian C.
Fox.
Series:
Primary documents in American history and contemporary issues,
Published
1994
Interest Level: Adult
Lexile: 1350
42. Hard times : the 30s
Call #: REF 973 Our by the editors of Time-Life Books.
Series:
Our American century
Published
1998
Interest Level: Adult
43. American decades. 1930-1939
Call #: REF 973.91 AME edited by Victor Bondi.
Published
1995
Interest Level: Young Adult
Note Taking
Purpose of Notes:
- Once you have finished your Works Consulted,
the next step is to start reading your sources, developing your topic for
the paper, and taking notes.
- Think about what you want to prove about your
topic – what will be your stance/argument/thesis statement?
- The purpose of notes is to record direct
quotes that you could use in
your paper (or, later on, paraphrase to use in your paper).
General Information:
- Your notes should come from the 6 sources you
plan to cite in your paper.
- You will record 30 notes total, so about 5
from each of your 6 sources.
- You will use 4 direct quotes in your paper.
- In your final paper, you must have a minimum
of one citation from each of your 6 Works Cited sources.
Format:
- You
will format your notes in the following way:
- Each notecard must be linked to a source.
Select where this information is coming from in the drop-down menu to the
right. This means you must create the works cited page before you write
a single notecard.
- If this source is in
print, record the page number. If it’s from a website, copy and paste the
URL.
- Each note should have a
brief title/main idea that indicates what the note is about.
- Directly quote the
information you find useful.
- Paraphrase the information
(aka put it into your own words).
- Write your own ideas in
the last box. You could write questions, connections to other materials,
or even where you think this information could go in your paper.
- Optional: You
could tag your cards with key phrases, as well as put them in piles
according to similar ideas.
How to do In-Text (Parenthetical)
Citations:
- See the Prentice Hall Literature books for more information about writing
in-text citations.
- Usually it is the author’s
last name and page number: (Smith 33).
- For many database sources,
they do not provide you with the page numbers. Also, internet sources do not have page
numbers. In these cases, it is just
the author’s last name: (Smith).
- If you have a source by two
authors, it would look like this: (Smith and Jones 125).
- If there is no author, you
have to use whatever comes first in the citation on the works cited –
probably the title (either in quotes or italicized to match the citation
on the works cited) with the page number.
- If you have two sources by
the same author, you must distinguish between the two. Give the author and the title, separated by a
comma: (Bates, “Prohibition”) … (Bates “The 1930s”).
- Quotes within quotes
“become ‘single’ inside double” – if quoting someone other than the
author, you must state that person’s name, too. Give the speaker first,
outside of the in-text citation. Inside the citation, write “qtd. in"
followed by the regular citation: Aric
Sigman says, “Facebook, MySpace, and similar websites may be supplanting
human contact, and that’s bad news” (qtd. in Smith 33).
- Use [square brackets] to
indicate if you changed a part of a quote or added something like a
clarifying phrase to it. Example: “When he dreamed up the World Wide Web,
[Internet pioneer] Tim Berners-Lee envisioned a tool that would give a
voice to the common man. The
Internet would allow anyone to exchange information with anyone else around
the world” (Metz).
STEP 4: Creating an Outline
Now that you have brainstormed for your topic,
gathered and cited sources, and taken notes from those sources, you must begin
to organize your paper. You will do this
by creating an outline on Noodletools.
The Outline should identify all major ideas to be covered in your paper
and should be set up in an organized fashion.
Each main idea or topic (body paragraph topic) should be next to a Roman
numeral, and each sub point for that main idea should be next to a capital
letter. Any details that fall under that
sub point of that main idea should go next to the numbers. YOUR OUTLINE WILL BE WRITTEN USING COMPLETE
SENTENCES!
III-IV.
Body paragraph 2-3 should follow the same model as body paragraph #1!
V.
Conclusion
A. Touchback
B.
Heart of the Matter
C.
Thought provoking zinger:
STEPS 5 and 6:
Write the Rough Draft
and Final Draft
Writing a rough draft will be easy, if you have
constructed the outline properly. You should be able to take the sentences from
your outline and put them in order to create paragraphs. Each Roman numeral is
a new paragraph. Your rough draft and final draft will include all of the parenthetical
documentation from your sources. Without the parenthetical documentation, it is
plagiarism. Peer editing will be
done on your rough copy, but if you would like additional guidance and help,
you will need to schedule a time before or after school to do so (or during
study hall, if you are free periods 3 or 4).
*Please have a peer/parent/friend/sibling look over and edit your paper
before turning the final draft in. An additional set of eyes will help to catch
the errors that you have overlooked.
*Most of this project will be completed during class, though some work
will be required outside of school.
*Peer editing will also be done in class the day before the paper is
due.
*Be sure that you hand in the following assignments with your folder:
·
Your
final copy
·
Your
works cited
·
Any
and all rough copies that have been peer edited (there should be at least one,
even if you’re absent. Have a parent, sibling, or friend look it over for you
and make their remarks).
·
Your
peer revision strategies
·
The
rubric
*The folder should be at least a 9x11 folder that can be securely fastened.
Your name and period should be labeled on the front of the folder.
*Keep all graded assignments inside the folder. Work in progress as well
as notes from class should remain in your notebook or binder.
*Triple check that you have followed MLA format! Please use the handouts
I have given you, as well as the resources from Mr. Miller.
A note on absences / lateness to school the day the
paper is due
You have been told well in advance when
the paper is due. Even if you are absent, you MUST have someone trustworthy
deliver the paper on that day. If you are late to school and miss my class, you
must make sure I get the paper that day. If you are planning on leaving school
early the day the paper is due, you must give me the paper before you leave. If
a dire emergency leaves you unable to complete the paper or deliver it to me
the day it’s due, you must include a handwritten note from home explaining the
reason for its lateness.
A reminder on the 9th grade English
lateness policy
If the research paper is late, you will
lose ten points for each day it’s late, up to three days. Your parent or
guardian will be contacted if you fail to hand it in by Friday, February 7th. If the paper is not in by Tuesday, February 11th, it is a flat
65 if it is handed in. If the paper is never handed in, it’s a zero.
