US History / American Studies Informational Research Paper: Project Home

The Research Paper

Objective: Explore a specific topic of interested and strengthen research, synthesis, and writing skills.

Purpose: To analyze primary and secondary sources to answer a research question that you have developed. 

• Parallel the paper with the writing in professional history books and articles; seek to develop and support a point - e.g. your informational controlling statement (see below).
• Show why the topic matters, and how it relates to the time period (not the present).
• The research you use in your paper must be authoritative evidence that supports your point.

Requirements:

• The paper must center around a controlling statement that is focused, concise, and tenable (fact). Why is the topic significant?
• Synthesize and apply information from at least one primary and multiple secondary sources, including at least one academic (scholarly) source. 
• Focus the paper within the historical context and consider the question, "Why did this topic matter to people at that time?"
• The paper must be formatted and sources must be cited using MLA guidelines. See MLA tab above.
• See the assignment for more specific details regarding page length, number of sources, and due dates.

Topic Selection:

• You may choose your own topic between the years 1831 through September 11, 2001.
• Possible topics by theme
• Remember, your topic must be detailed and specific enough to accomplish the objective in the required number of pages. You will submit a formal research paper topic proposal a few days after the introduction of the assignment.

The most time consuming part of any research project is the research. Plan your time wisely. Some 70-80% of your time should be devoted to reading and research so you thoroughly understand your subject. The remaining time is for writing. However, do not leave writing of the last minute. Remember, if you leave printing to the last minute, there are bound to be printer problems!

Develop your research topic with PRE-search strategies

Using your background knowledge, begin preliminary research. Preliminary research is not research used as evidence in your paper. It is an overview of your topic to help you learn a little more and determine what specifics you may want to focus on for your controlling statement. It also helps you figure out if there is enough information for you to research your topic.

Think about the history of your topic and its categories. Use Preliminary Research to answer these basic questions:

• When did this event occur?
• Who was involved in this event?
• What specific aspects of this event might be important to research further and be the focus of my controlling statement?

Under each question, think about the following aspects:

• What do you already know about your topic or issue?
• What do you need to learn to better understand your topic or issue?
• What kind of information resource might provide the answer to these questions?

Always consider your audience:

• Who will read your paper?
• Why will it be of interest to them?
• What will be new to them?