Welcome to the Blog!

Welcome to Ms. Nielsen's G Period Research Paper Blog!



This will be a helpful resource to guide us through the research paper process. I will use this as a place to post useful internet links and tips.

You can also use this as a place to ask me questions that you didn't have time to ask in class. I will check this blog regularly to respond to your comments.

To make a comment:
1) Click on the "Sign In" link on the left side of the blog. You will need to sign in with an AIM, Yahoo or Google/gmail email and password. It will ask you to "follow the blog." Do that.
2) Return to the blog and select the post you want to comment on. At the bottom of the post there will be a link that says "comment" or the number of comments (e.g. "3 comments"). Click on that link, type your comment, and post.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious issue for writers of all ages. Don't risk getting a zero on this paper by making a silly mistake. Read this website for information about how to recognize plagiarism and how to avoid it: http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/plagiarism_faq.html

This website also gives a helpful explanation of acceptable and unacceptable paraphrases with clear examples: http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml

The Outline

Don't know how to create an outline?

Outlines are very important when you're writing a long paper. They help you organize your thoughts in a logical way, and help you prepare to actually write the paper.

Use your note cards to help you figure out what your major topics will be. Then within your larger topic, organize your smaller sub-topics. Keep in mind-- as you start organizing, some of the note cards may seem like they don't belong or they're not relevant anymore. If you think you don't need a note card anymore, don't throw it out: keep it in a separate pile where you can find it, in case you change your mind later.


Check out these websites for helpful info on how to create your outline:

This website is a bit long-winded, but it has a lot of great information: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/01/

This website has a good example of outline format at the bottom of the page: http://webster.commnet.edu/MLA/outlines.shtml

Note Cards

What am I supposed to do with these?

Note cards are a helpful way to organize your research so that you can find what you need. Each card will contain one piece of information, statistic, or quote, along with the source (name of source and page number). You will then organize them into relevant categories (e.g. "Causes of the war," "US Involvement," "USSR's Reaction"). These categories will later become major categories for your outline.


Tips:
1) When writing on note cards, put things in your own words. This will help you avoid accidental plagiarism.

2) Write neatly, because you'll need to read them again later.

3) Use a rubber band or binder clip to keep the cards together so you won't lose any.


Check out these links to learn more about how to create and use note cards:

http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr5.htm

http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/writing/notecard.html

How to Cite Sources - MLA Format

Don't freak out about the bibliography.

For the research paper, we will be using MLA format for all citations. Make sure to cite all the sources you use within your paper. You don't need to cite common knowledge facts (e.g. Korea is in Asia), but any facts, ideas, interpretations, quotes or statistics that aren't your own need to be cited.

Check out these helpful links about how to cite resources properly:

How to cite within the text: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/02/

How to cite different kinds of documents for the bibliography: http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citmla.htm