Writing a Research Paper to Explore Identity Issues
Introduction
Objective: Students will do research to find out how famous people whether they are writers, actors or political & social leaders have dealt with their identity search and arrived at their self-discovery or fulfillment. This research paper will help students understand through doing research that to discover one’s identity takes great efforts and sometimes life long journey to reach one’s goal. They will be required to do research about three famous people who have made an impact in our society. Their life stories will help students gain a particular insight into how one must explore and discover his/her true identity.
Overview: Students will do preliminary research to help them select three people on whose life their research paper will eventually focus. They may start from people they have learned from their history class, the historical figures who have made changes in the world. They can also write about authors whose book s they have read. They can also research about scientists, astronauts, mathematicians, musicians, athletes and explore how they reached their journey of self-discovery. Through reading stories about these people, students will gain a sense that individuals, no matter how great they became, all go through struggles and confusion before they reach their life goal. For some, searching for identity is a never-ending life journey. No matter what conclusion students will arrive at the end of the research, they will make connections with their own identity search. At the end of the research project, students will gain a new sense what life entails and how one needs to be prepared while striving to fulfill one’s dreams-thus discovering one’s self.
Day 1
Lesson 1: Conduct Preliminary Research to help decide the three people they will do in-depth research for their rearch paper
Objective: Students will use preliminary research to decide the three people they will read for their research paper.
Aim: How do we conduct preliminary research? Why is it a neccessary step for our research paper?
Motivational Activity: Brainstorm a list of familiar people, whether from the past or present, that you admire and are interested in reading more about. Try not to focus solely on political and historical figures. Broaden your search to TV hosts, journalists, actors, singers, scientists, or someone you esteem highly, your role model
Activities:
It is extremely helpful to do some type of prewriting activity as a way of figuring out what you do and do not know about the topic. Prewriting allows you to develop a basic claim-
As homework, students will continue the preliminary reasearch and prepare for three broad topics relating to Identity research.
Day 2 -Lesson 2 : Formulating the Research Question and Thesis Statement
Objective: To help students understand the research assignment, think through a topic, identify key words that describe the topic, and ultimately formulate a research question or thesis statement
Aim: How do we formulate a research question and generate a thesis statement?
Motivational Activity: Create a digram to show what I know, what I want to know, what I want to find out on one of the topics you have selected.
| What I Know | What I Want to Know | What I Want to Find out ( conclusion I hope to draw) |
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Activities-
1. Step 1: Students will use the key words in 'What I Want to Know" and "What I Want to Find Out" to find and read three-related articles in the internet.
2. Step 2: Once they have read some articles, they may start formulating the Research Question
3. Step 3: Share the responses to the questions within a group of 3-4 students.
4. Sterp 4: Each group selects one speaker to share their thesis statement with the class.
As homework, students will continue research famous people's life paths and stories to help them generate the thesis statement.
Day 3: Thesis Workshop
Objectives: Students will be able to generate an effective thesis that serves as the controlling idea of their research paper. They will understand that the thesis needs certain scope but not to be too broad to be discussed in a 5-paged research paper.
Aim: How do we generate an effective thesis?
Motivational Activity- In pairs, students share their thesis and comment on whether or why it is a clear and strong thesis. A thesis must-
(a) take a position
(b) be supportable with research readily available
(c) be expressed in one sentence
Understanding thesis statements -See how a writer starts with a BIG topic and can narrow it to a thesis statement.
Subject: Rain forests
Topic The importance of rain forests
Research question What is the importance of rain forests?
Thesis statement Rain forests provide the human race with many resources. OR Rain forests are complex living systems that contribute to the balance of life on this planet.
Activity 1: Students will discuss the Functions and Purposes of a Thesis Statement
• To announce the topic to the reader
• To reflect a judgment about the topic
• To provide the reader with a blueprint for what is to come in the paper
Activity 2: Developing the Basic Claim – on the road to Thesis
A. Broad vs. Narrow Thesis Statements
There are several ways to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a thesis statement
- Broad Thesis Statements are claims that are vague, ambiguous or overreaching. These are claims that do not meet at least two of the 3 criteria above and/or attempt to address a topic with too many issues to deal with in the given writing assignment
- A good thesis is not general.
___Crime must be stopped. vs___The courts need to hand out stiffer sentences.
____Dickens writes good novels. vs ______Dickens uses the setting of his novels to emphasize the themes.
Activity 3: Generating a Working Thesis
Procedure:
Step 1 – Read the following definition of a thesis statement. A thesis statement is an opinion-based sentence that names the topic of your paper. In most cases, this sentence is the last sentence in your introduction.
Step 2 – Write a sample thesis statement of your choice. Ask yourself, “How do I know it is a good thesis?” Use these tools or test questions:
__Is it an opinion?
__Is it debatable?
__Is it specific?
Step 3 –
Step 4 – Test the thesis using the tools/test questions in Step 2.
A good thesis is not too narrow.
___Hemingway’s war stories are very good. vs ____Hemingway’s war stories helped create a new prose style.
____Drug addiction is a big problem. vs ___Drug addiction has caused a huge increase in violent crimes.
_____ had an unhappy childhood. vs____One can see the impact of his/her life experiences in the novels (poetry, short stories) of ______.
A thesis statement is not a title.
___The Decline of Baseball vs ___In recent years, baseball has experienced a decline in popularity.
____Home and Schools vs ___Parents need to participate more in the education of their children.
A thesis statement is not an announcement.
__I want to share some thoughts with you about the space program. vs___The space program is a waste of money.
A thesis statement is not a statement of absolute fact.
_____Jane Austen is the author of Pride and Prejudice. (This statement cannot be argued, not a good thesis)
_______Suicide is the deliberate taking of one’s own life. (This cannot be argued, not a good thesis)
______President Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater. (This cannot be argued, not a good thesis)
Thesis Statement Worksheet
What is your topic?:________________________________________________
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What background information does the reader need to know before you state your thesis?:__________________________________________
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What is your working thesis statement?:________________________________
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Test your thesis statement. Does your thesis statement:
▫ Make a claim that a reader can agree or disagree with?
▫ Reflect knowledge of the source material?
▫ Pick out an idea that can be defended in the space allowed?
▫ Limit the kinds of evidence you can use to defend it?
What evidence, examples, or arguments will you use to support the working thesis?:__________________________________________________________
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Once you’ve written a draft, rewrite your thesis statement to improve it:________
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Thesis Statements Illustrated
Shakespeare was the world’s greatest playwright. trite, not defensible
The last scene in “Midsummer Night’s Dream” showcases intriguing, has an
Shakespeare’s ability to manipulate subtle linguistic edge
differences among his characters for comic effect.
This essay will show that the North American Free emotional, vague
Trade agreement was a disaster for the furniture industry
of Canada.
Neither neo-protectionism nor post-industrial theory gives context,
explains the downswing of the Canadian furniture industry reflects re-
in 1988-1994. Data on productivity and profits, however, search, shows
can be closely correlated with provisions of the North intent
American Free Trade Agreement that took effect in the
same period.
The Dutch example shows that having an official policy on sweeping, minimizes
euthanasia just causes problems. opposition
Recent cases show that Dutch laws on euthanasia focused,
have not been able to deal adequately with issues promises facts
involving technological interventions and unconscious and analysis
patients.
Michael Dukakis lost the 1988 presidential election simplistic,
because he did not work hard enough after the lacks detail
Democratic National Convention.
While Dukakis' "soft-on-crime" image hurt his chances anticipates reader
in the 1988 election, his failure to campaign coast to reaction, promises
coast after the Democratic National Convention debate
was more significant in his eventual defeat.
The occurrence of measles in medical settings is distracting detail,
higher than nosocomial infections, rubella, pertussis, hard to follow,
nfluenza, and nosocomial hepatitis B according to no context
a survey of hospital records.
In recent years, transmission of measles in hospitals shows purpose
has been described only rarely. New data suggest that and context, promises
the spread of measles in hospitals is more frequent than new information of
previously recognized. consequence
Day 4: Identifying Various Types of Information Sources
Objective: To help students become aware of the factors that should be taken into consideration when evaluating paper and electronic information sources. Evaluating information in terms of its usefulness for a particular need.
After this unit, students should be able to evaluate
Overview
Things to consider when choosing an information source. Students will be able to find tons of information because the technology has made it easy to create information and to make it easily accessible than in the past. Most of the time it is a challenge to decide what information to select from the mountain of it that is available. It is an important yet difficult task. Some things to consider when evaluating information sources are divided into two categories. The first one takes into consideration traditional formats of books and articles from periodicals. The second is a even more challenging because one has to take into consideration a variety of sources obtained from the Web.
Using the following worksheet, have students consider the criteria below to evaluate a non-fiction or reference book or periodical related to their topics. Please note that some of these categories may apply to specific types of materials. In most cases there is an explanation in parenthesis.
Format and Ease of Use (usually applies to a reference book):
Arrangement and Access (usually applies to a book)
Authority
Aim and Scope
Timeliness and Accuracy
Treatment and Style
Annotation- The following is a list of some techniques that you can use to annotate text:
Important Notes about annotations: Think about how the source relates to the topic of your research paper and what information from it you will include. Consider the source's importance and value in writing the essay.
Write a paragraph or two about each source. The paragraph should describe the source's material and discuss how it relates to the topic. In the paragraph, you should evaluate each source and show its relevance to the paper.
Place each annotation under the correct source citation.
3. Citation: How to avoid plagiarism ?
If you are incorporating an author’s ideas into your paper, or if the work of another has influenced your thinking on a topic, then the source must be cited. It doesn’t matter what the source is. It could be a book, journal article, web site, message from a listserv, television program, speech or a government document. Just remember, if you are using another’s words or ideas, cite them.
Citations
Objectives: Students will know how to do citaitons for the expository essay
Aim: How to do citations?
Procedure
Do Now: Describe why it is important to give credits to information found in the web.
1. Single author named in parentheses.
2. Single author named in a signal phrase.
3. Two or more authors.
4. Corporate author (organization, association, etc.).
5. Works with no author.
6. Web page.
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Works Cited (to be added at the end of the essay following the conclusion). Important Elements:
For example- Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site. National Park |
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