• Narrow your topic.
• Broad: William Shakespeare's literary style
• Narrow: Shakespeare's use of comic relief in his tragedies.*
• Find keywords that describe the information you need (names, people. events, etc)
• Use these keywords for locating information in the library catalog, electronic databases, and on the Internet.

Keywords:  Use the author's name and/or the title of the work.

*Lamm, Kathryn. 10,000 Ideas for Term Papers, Reports and Speeches. 3rd. ed. New York: McMillan, 1991.

1. Your research paper will be at least 8 and no more than 10 double-spaced pages (not including the Cover page, acknowledgments page, Formal Outline and Works Cited pages). It will be on any LITERARY SUBJECT (author(s) or literary period) of interest to you from the period the course covers, that is the old English period to the early 18th century.
2. Obviously, one of your first tasks is to get a very narrow focus for whatever subject you decide to research.
3. Decide on a subject, narrow the focus right away, and submit the following to me by MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21:
   1. one paragraph naming and describing your topic and the research question(s) that will provide the focus of your research, that is, the questions that your research will answer.
   2. a Working Bibliography (list of print, On-line, and electronic sources you have found on your topic.)
4. Submit a Formal Outline with your paper, including a completely stated THESIS no later than MONDAY, OCTOBER 12.
5. Use at least 8 SECONDARY sources : 4 PRINT and 4 ON-LINE (please, ONLY professoional/literary journals, library/research data bases, university or college web sites ). Use the Modern Language Association (MLA) style of documentation. NOTE: WIKIPEDIA IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE SOURCE for this paper.
6. The final product should consist of a Title page (check course homepage in BLACKBOARD VISTA for proper format) , acknowledgments page (see example below), a formal outline page, the body of the research, and a Works Cited page in that order.
7. The research paper itself should consist of an Introduction with clearly stated thesis ; body or developmental paragraphs; and Conclusion.
8. The complete, next-to-final draft of the paper (at least 8 pages of the essay part, and including everything from Cover Page to Works Cited Page) must be peer reviewed AND turned in to me by MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16. If this PEER-REVIEWED draft is not turned in WITH the Peer Review by this date, you will forfeit the 100 points assigned to it.
   

NOTE: I will not read or grade this draft, only skim it and check to be sure that it's all there. The points you will receive for the draft are for completing it as required, with all parts included and the full length of at least 8 pages. You will forfeit the 100 points for this "next-to-final" draft if you do not turn it in with a Peer Review from a classmate before or on this date. For the peer review, arrange with another classmate the first week of class to exchange drafts via email, and use the handout, "Peer Review Questions for Research paper" in the Course Content/Course Handouts section. Also, use the Research paper Checklist handout to make sure that you have met the paper's format and style requirements.

Wonderful Words of Wisdom

• Borrow books at LSCS libraries, Montgomery County libraries, and Harris County Public Library branches
• Request a book to be held for you at an LSCS library
• Access the online catalog from home.
• Access databases using your library card / student id

Online books are available at Netlibrary An account must be created before accessing net library ebooks. Click on the "Create an Account" link on the web site.

Wonderful Words of Wisdom

To find articles in newspapers and journals, use your library card to login to the following databases. Articles not available in full text can be obtained thru interlibrary loan from another library. Plan ahead to use interlibrary loan because the turn around period can take weeks. Contact the Reference Librarians for more information.

Wonderful Words of Wisdom

People can place information onto the Web whether or not they know what they are talking about.  Because of this, the information you find on the Web may not be correct.  You can determine if you have found accurate, reliable information if you evaluate it according to the criteria below.

• Authority / Credibility
  The information should be from a knowledgeable, trained, experienced expert you can believe and trust.
  Examples :
  Credible:  Health Insurance Market Reforms
  Not Credible:Dihydrogen Monoxide This site is a parody and completely bogus. Dihydrogen Monoxide is water!
• Accuracy / Content

The information should be free of typographical, grammatical, and spelling errors.  It should be factual, logically arranged, and easy to read and follow.  Sources of information should be stated or properly cited
Examples:
Accurate: The Titanic Casualty Figures
Not Accurate:  Feline Reactions to Bearded Men Another completely bogus site.
• Timeliness / Currency

You should be able to easily find the dates on which the information was created, first placed on the Web, and most recently updated.  The information should not be obsolete.
Examples:
Current: The World Factbook
Not Current: Search Engine Sizes
• Bias / Objectivity

The information should be impartial and not attempt to promote an agenda. Many advertisements are biased.
Examples:
Biased: RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company
Not Biased:  American Lung Association
• Appropriateness

The information should suit your needs and adequately cover the subject. You should be able to tell if the Web site is complete or still under construction.
Examples:
Appropriate: Counterterrorism Information
Not Appropriate for College:  The Dr. King Timeline Page