1. In what format will the paper have to be written?

MLA (Modern Language Association)

2. How long does the paper have to be?

  3-4 full pages

3. What kind of sources do we have to use?

 Books and the Internet

4. What kind of sources can we NOT use?

 General online encyclopedias (Wikipedia)

5. What is the minimum number of sources we have to have?

4 (two internet, one book, and one periodical/etc.)

6. What topics do I have to research for the paper?

 aspects of culture

7. Does it have to be typed?

 YES

8. Do we have to turn in notes/index cards/bibliography?

 No, but you must have a Works Cited page

9. Do we have to submit to Turnitin.com?

NO, I will do that IF your work is to me by the 28th at midnight.

10. What if a paper is late? Can I email my paper?

I will not accept papers after their due date without an EXCELLENT reason (requiring a note). You can email the paper and we will go by the sent date to be sure.

11. Do we have to document?

 Yes. You must give credit to your sources in your paper.

12. What happens if we intentionally plagiarize?

 You will be written up and suspended; you will receive a zero on the paper.

13. Will there be a due date for a rough draft?

 No, but you must have notes ready to type by Monday, April 25th, for a grade.

14. When is the final draft due?

 April 29th, a Friday

15. How much will the paper count in all?

 Two test grades, which is equal to ~6 normal grades

16. How many direct quotes am I allowed to have in my paper? How long can they be?

You need to incorporate at least one per source. No one quote should be more than four lines long.

17. Can we use first or second person anywhere in the paper?

No. This is a formal paper, which means you cannot use I, me, we, us, our, you, your (or any forms of these words).

•A thesis statement is a one sentence statement of the purpose of your paper.

•It usually appears at the end of the introduction to your paper.

•For this research paper, you will simply be stating the topics which you will cover in your paper.

•Research papers are formal papers, which means that you cannot use first or second person personal pronouns.

•In your thesis statement, you must mention your country, that you are researching the culture, and list the topics you’ll cover.

EXAMPLE THESIS STATEMENT:

The food, religion, sports, holidays, and education in Japan are all interesting aspects of its culture.

Addressing your Embassy Envelope

c/o Sean SextonGlenn High School1600 Union Cross Rd.Kernersville, NC 27284

Embassy of _____________12345 Capital StreetWashington, DC 20008

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

Definition of Paraphrasing: A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words.

• Include all of the ideas mentioned in the original passage• Follow the original order of ideas• Keep the length approximately the same as the original, though

sometimes longer• Do not add your own thoughts or views

Definition of Summary: Presenting the substance in a condensed form by reducing to its main points

• Include only the main points of the original passage• Do not worry about following the original order of ideas• Keep the length to between ¼ and ½ of the length of the original• Do not add your own thoughts or ideas

Paraphrasing and SummarizingOriginal Text:“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty

Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

Correctly Paraphrased Text:An egg by the name of Humpty Dumpty was

perched upon a wall. For some reason, Humpty Dumpty had a catastrophic fall from this partition. Horses and men, which belonged to the King, tried unsuccessfully to repair the broken egg.

Correctly Summarized Text:According to the writer of a children’s nursery rhyme,

Humpty Dumpty, an egg, had a serious fall from a wall. He was so broken that no one could fix him.

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

“Peter, Peter pumpkin eater had a wife and couldn’t keep her. He put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well.”

Paraphrasing and Summarizing

“Darfur has been embroiled in a deadly conflict for over three years.  At least 400,000 people have been killed; more than 2 million innocent civilians have been forced to flee their homes and now live in displaced-persons camps in Sudan or in refugee camps in neighboring Chad; and more than 3.5 million men, women, and children are completely reliant on international aid for survival. Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of displacement, starvation, rape, and mass slaughter.”

Bibliography Cards

1. For a book source, you will need the following information:

Last name, First name. Title of Book.

City published: Publisher, Year.

Glenn High School Library

1

Bibliography Cards

1. For an Internet source, you will need the following information:

Last name, First name. “Title of Web-

site.” Internet. Date Found.

<http://www.internet.com>

Internet

2

General Info. About Works Cited:The Works Cited page is the last page of your research paper. It does not count in the required page numbers for the paper.

The Works Cited page is numbered in the upper right hand corner of the page, just like all of the other pages in your paper.

Everything on the page is double-spaced, never more than that.

Entries on a Works Cited page are called bibliographic entries, which means “Biblio”- book and “graphic”-writing.

 The entries on the Works Cited page are in alphabetical order.

General Info. About Works Cited: When you alphabetize, you alphabetize by the first word of the bibliographic entry, unless it begins with the three English articles, a , an , and the. You ignore these words and alphabetize by the first word in the title.

 You do not indent the first line of a bibliographic entry, but you do indent the second line of a bibliographic entry. It is the opposite of a paragraph in an essay where you indent the first line.

 All of your sources must be documented in your paper, so be sure to put only the sources you used on your Works Cited page.

 Every period, comma, and colon are very important, so do not get careless when you create your entries.

Book Entries:For a Book Entry with an author, you need to find the following information and put it in this order:

 

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. Title of Book. Publishing City: Publisher, Year Published.

 

If the book does not have an author, you begin with the title.

For a cultural encyclopedia, you add the name of your country in quotation marks between the author’s last name and title of the book.

Book Entries:

If you have two authors for a book, put them in alphabetical order by their last name, putting the first person in order by last name then first name, and put the other person in order by first name then last name.

If you have more than two authors for a book, list only the first person alphabetically, then write the Latin phrase et al, which means And all the rest.

Brochures are documented just like a book without an author.

Website Entries:For a website without an author, you need to find the following information and put it in this order:

“Title of Website.” Internet. Day Month Year. <complete website address>

The date you put in the bibliographic entry is the date you found the website and printed it.

If you can find an author for the website, you use the author’s last name and then his/her first name, just like a book entry.

Website Entries:

The title of the website is usually printed in the upper left- hand corner of the page.

The website address is usually printed in the lower left- hand corner of the page.

The date you accessed the website is usually printed in the lower right- hand corner of the page.

This is why it is important to print from the Internet since you won’t get this information if you cut and paste into a Word document.

Internal DocumentationWhat is Parenthetical Documentation?Parenthetical Documentation is giving credit to your

sources in your research paper, even on information you paraphrased or summarized.

How often should I document?Every paragraph of your paper should have

documentation.How much of my paper should be documented?You do not have to document your topic or transition

sentence because you wrote them. The rest of every body paragraph must be from a source, and must be documented.

How do you document?To document, you put important information in

parenthesis after the information you have quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.

Internal DocumentationHow do I know what to put in the parenthesis

when I am documenting?When you document a BOOK source WITH AN AUTHOR,

you put the author’s last name and the page number. Example: (Smith 3)

When you document a BOOK source WITHOUT AN AUTHOR, you put the title of the book and the page number. (Germany the Beautiful 12-15)

When you document an INTERNET source WITH AN AUTHOR, you put the author’s last name and the page number. Example: (Jones 3-5)

When you document an INTERNET source WITHOUT AN AUTHOR, you put the title of the website and the page number. Example: (“German Food” 2-5)

When you document an INTERVIEW, you use the last name of the person you interviewed and the word “interview” in the parenthesis.Example: (Sexton Interview)

Internal DocumentationWhat if a paragraph is in my own words and from

only one source?If an entire paragraph came from the same source, and

you paraphrase or summarize the entire paragraph, you only have document once at the end of the paragraph. In this case, the period goes before the documentation.

What if I use more than one source to put a paragraph together?

If you used more than one source to construct a paragraph, you must document after each block of information. If each block of information is more than one sentence, the period goes before the documentation. If each block of information is just one sentence, then the period goes after the documentation.

Internal DocumentationWorks Cited

“Food in Germany.” Internet. 6 February

2010. <http://www.germanfood.com>

German Culture. Berlin: Deutschland Publishing, 2010.

Sexton, Sean. Personal Interview. 5 April 2010.

Ashby, June. I Love Kraut. Greensboro: Glenn

Publishers, 1999.

Zimmermeyer, Dave. “Soccer, the Unknown Sport.”

Internet. 3 February 2007. <http://www.kickball.net>

Internal DocumentationFood is an interesting aspect of Germany’s culture. This

first and second sentence of the paragraph are from an Internet source without an author, which is very common for Internet sources. The Internet source is only three pages long, and you know that because the printout tells you in the upper right hand corner ( ). The next two sentences are from a brochure, which is always documented as if it is a book. Often, because brochures are written by advertising agencies, you will not have an author, so remember that you just use the title, which you can usually find on the front cover of the brochure ( ). This one sentence is from an interview with one of your favorite teachers who traveled to Germany; this teacher gave some wonderful insight into the food of the country and how much he loved it ( ). The final three sentences are from a book with an author. You found this great information on food to finish the paragraph. The page numbers that you used were pages 1121-1123 ( ). Many spectators at the popular sports in Germany enjoy eating these wonderful foods.

Internal DocumentationSporting life in Germany is exciting and very

competitive. This entire paragraph came from one source and a range of pages. It was hard to find any other source on the sports in Germany, but you did find this great website that provided all the information that you needed. You did a great job of paraphrasing and summarizing all of the information on the sports, making sure to put it all in your own words and still capture the important information. The website that you printed out was twelve pages long but you only used the first six pages of the website. Good luck with documenting this paragraph and making sure that you get everything correct ( ). Sports in Germany are often played on many of their national holidays and

festivals.

The Introduction

“May the Emperor's reign continue for a thousand,eight thousand generations until the pebbles grow into boulders, lush with moss” (“Flag and National Anthem of Japan” 1). This stanza from the Japanese national anthem conveys the attitude of the people of Japan that they apply not only to their leaders, but to every aspect of their culture. The food, religion, sports, holidays, and education of Japan are all intriguing aspects of the country’s culture.

The Introduction of your research paper should begin with a direct quote from a source, should continue with a link explaining the quote, and should end with your thesis:

The Conclusion

The culture of Japan contains much more than just food, religion, sports, holidays, and education, but these aspects are the foundation of their culture.

The future of Japan is a bright and exciting one as they continue to embrace other cultures while never forgetting their own cultural roots.

“The traditional arts of Japan offer an opportunity to experience something truly exotic or find inner calm. These ancient 'ways' are not for the faint of heart, but many foreigners come to Japan each year to enlighten themselves through their study. For the rest of us, just a nibble at this great banquet of culture will be more than enough” (“Japanese Culture” 1).

The conclusion of your research paper should begin with a restatement of the thesis, should continue with a statement about the future potential of your country, and should end with another quote:

Body of Research Paper

TOPIC SENTENCE: (The topic sentence should mention the aspect of culture that

will be addressed in the paragraph.)Food is a delicious part of the culture of Japan.

TRANSITION SENTENCE:(This is the last sentence of each of your body paragraphs. It

should sum up the current paragraph and introduce the next topic. Find a relationship between the two topics so you can do this in one sentence.)

Food is often a favorite item at many Japanese sporting events.

The body paragraphs of your research paper should each be focused on one aspect of culture:

Quiz on the Research Paper1. What does MLA mean?2. What is the page range for your paper?3. What kinds of sources do you have to use for

your paper?4. Explain the late policy for your paper. 5. Explain the plagiarism policy.6. What can you not use in any part of your

research paper?7. What are two ways that it is possible to plagiarize?8. What is one way to avoid plagiarism?9. Which version of the paper (rough or final) do you

have to upload into turnitin.com?10. When writing a business letter in block format, what do

you not do to the paragraphs?

Quiz on the Research Paper11. Write your thesis statement.12. What are two important qualities that websites

should have to be good sources?13. Define paraphrasing in your own words. 14. What goes in the upper right hand corner of a

bibliography card?15. Which line is the only line not indented in a

bibliographic entry?16. How do you organize your sources on the Works

Cited page?17. How do you number your pages on a research paper

in MLA format?18. For a book with an author, what do you put in parenthesis

in the paper?19. If you are only documenting one sentence, where does

the period go?20. For an Internet source without an author, what do you

put in parenthesis?

Extra Credit: What does Bibliography mean?

Write the following entries in order on the example Works Cited page in your booklet:

Smith, Jane. Land of the Rising Sun. New York: Harper Collins, 2004.

“Japanese Foods.” Internet. 24 February 2007. <http://www.japanfoods.com>

Hiroko, Yin. Personal Interview. 10 March 2007.

Ember, Carol and Melvin Ember. “Japan.” Worldmark Encyclopedia. Atlanta: Dove Publishers, 2001.

Temple, Susan. “Japan: Culture.” Internet. 14 February 2007. <http://www.japaneseculture.com>