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Painless Senior Research Papers Step by Step! 1. Start TODAY!!! 2. Choose a topic i. It cannot be simply a summary ii. You will be ANALYZING something about a poem or an author from the textbook iii. Think of it as taking “deeper” look at a character, theme, plot, etc. Some students like to think of it as "Dr. Phil meets Hamlet" (or Lady Macbeth, or Iago) to find out "how's that working for ya?" iv. Choose the work or author from your textbook that you enjoyed the most or understood the best - this will make your life much easier and the paper will be more pleasant to write.
3. Some places to get ideas for topics: i. www.sparknotes.com (DO NOT use this site as a reference) Try looking up the title of a work you particularly enjoyed, then click on the link for analysis of characters, themes / motifs / symbols, or essay topic ideas. DO NOT copy the idea. Use these for guidance and inspiration. ii. Quick Lit – this is a book in the library. The call number is 820.9 Qui. This book has some great ideas for research on some of the most studied works! iii. Shakespeare for Dummies – another book in the library (do you see a pattern here?!?) The call number is 822.3 Doy. This book discusses several elements in each of the works you have studied. Another great source for ideas! iv. Ask your librarians or English teachers for suggestions. We've seen (and read) a lot over the years!
c. Construct a thesis statement i. This is a basic statement which will serve as the FOCUS for your research paper ii. Think of it as a “topic sentence” for the paper
d. Do the research i. For EVERY source you MIGHT use . . . write an index card with the bibliographic information (try using Citation Machine - citationmachine.net - it's painless bibliography formatting) ii. Number the source cards. All note cards you take from source #1 will also have a #1 in the top right corner of the card. This way you can easily remember where you found the information. iii. Make notes of pertinent points which support your thesis statement. One card per idea. iv. Write a title for each card based on its main “point”. For example, if the card defines a literary term, the title of card would be: Definition – Tragic Hero
e. Write a rough draft of your paper i. Assemble the note cards in a logical order ii. Read over the notecards iii. Write a rough introduction iv. Write a rough draft of the body of the paper (avoid plagiarism like the plague!) v. Write the conclusion vi. Write the bibliography
f. Editing the paper i. Let a friend, a parent or a teacher read the paper and make constructive suggestions ii. Re-write the paper using the suggestions iii. Re-read your paper looking for typographical errors
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