Last Minute Tips for the Research Paper

1
Last Minute Tips for the Research Paper

• English IV
• Monteith

2
The First Page

• Make sure you have a running header in the
  upper-right hand corner of each page. You can
  create a header by going to View, select
  Header/Footer, select right align, type your last
  name and press the space bar once, click on the
  sign in the toolbar, click close. The header
  will appear in gray on each of your pages when
  you print preview.
• In the upper-left corner of the first page, type
  the following making sure to double space
• Your name
• Mrs. Monteith
• English IV
• Date
• DO NOT skip extra spaces between the information
  above and the title or between the title and the
  beginning of your paper.
• Make sure your paper has an appropriate title
  (should have the title of the play as well as an
  idea of what the paper is about). Do not
  underline or bold the title. It should be 12
  font. Do not italicize it either.

3
Introduction

• Your introduction should be at least eight to
  nine sentences long. You should have a clear
  designation between sections one, two, and three.
  Follow the triangle model.
• The play should not be introduced until at least
  the fourth sentence, but should be introduced
  before the thesis statement.
• Your thesis statement should be the last sentence
  of your introduction. Follow the proper
  structure for the creation of a thesis statement.

4
Quotes

• Do not plop direct quotes. You should have a
  qualifier for each and every direct quote. Ex.
  He says, or It is described that,
• A comma goes before each direct quote. Ex He
  says,
• No period inside the quotation marks. The period
  goes after the parenthesis. Ex He says, I
  hate this (Morrison 13). Also, make sure to
  have a space between the last set of quotation
  marks and the parenthesis.
• Each quote from the play needs a work reference.
  This work reference needs to give a brief
  indication of what is occurring in the play at
  the time and must include Act and scene numbers.
• For summaries and paraphrases from the Literary
  Criticisms, do not transition into them by
  saying, Moller says, or A critic says, Use a
  transitional sentence that addresses the subject
  of your summary or paraphrase. Ex. Racism is
  found in the novel The Bluest Eye through the
  tribulations of the black women in the community.

5
Citations

• Galenet sources do not use page numbers. You
  will list the critics last name only. If there
  is not a critics name, use the title of the
  criticism in quotation marks.
• You must use three quotes from the play and three
  quotes from literary criticisms.
• You will have a minimum of three sources used in
  your paper. You will list all three on your
  Works Cited Page and all will be used in your
  paper.

6
Works Cited Page

• Must have a header that is a continuation from
  the rest of the paper
• The entire page is consistently double spaced!!
  No extra spaces between entries.
• Works Cited should appear at the top (in the
  center) of your page. Do not put Page after
  Works Cited or underline, bold, or italicize it.
  12 font.
• The works you cite should be in alphabetical
  order by author/critic name. If your source does
  not have an author or critic, use the title of
  the article.
• If any entry is longer than a line, indent five
  spaces
• Special rules (1) omit articles a, an, the
  (2) omit business designations like Co., Inc.,
  Press, etc. (3) Generally use only one name
  (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston becomes just Holt)
• DO NOT NUMBER ENTRIES

7
General Information

• No extra spaces between paragraphs. If you set
  your paper up to be double-spaced from the
  beginning, that extra space will not appear
• All verbs must be in present tense. Verbs found
  in direct quotes do not need to adhere to this
  rule.
• Try to limit be verbs (is, are, be) and helping
  verbs (has, have). Watch out for was, were,
  been, and had. They are not only be/helping
  verbs, they are also in past tense!

8
Putting it Together

• Your paper will be printed on white copy paper
  with no extra marks on them or other information
  printed on them (using the back of something
  already printed out)
• Include previous graded drafts introduction, 1
  body paragraphs, conclusion, 1 peer edit drafts
• Behind your final paper, place the copy of the
  rubric and scoring sheet you received in class.