420: Unit 3
History 420: United States, 1861-1941, Winter 2022-23
Part III, The 1920s and the Research Paper
21. Research Project-1 (See Guidelines.)
HOMEWORK: Two things: 1. Read the assignment thoroughly. Come to class with questions about it. 2. Choose a topic and two alternative topics that were discussed in the periodical literature of the time.
MEET IN LIBRARY. By now you should have a topic chosen. We will meet in the library as a group to work on our projects. Class will begin with a 10-minute presentation by a reference librarian on how to use periodical databases. If you miss the class you will need to follow up with a librarian on your own time.
DURING class time, we will set up a schedule of rough draft conferences. Plan accordingly. When will you need to begin writing.
LINKS: On this web site, all my stuff on research can be found HERE.
PROPOSAL: Before the end of class, hand me a piece of paper with your Name, Format letter, a tentative title of your paper, and this sentence with items 1 and 2 filled in. (You'll probably figure out 3 only at the end of the writing process.)
CITATIONS: If you are compiling a bibliography now as you gather sources, rather than waiting until the final draft is due, good for you!!! Please include that below the proposal. BTW, most Exeter teachers (including this one) like you to separate your sources into Primary and Secondary. Here is the Citation Guide I handed out in class. More general information on citation can be found HERE.
22. Research Project-2 (See Guidelines.)
MEET IN LIBRARY. Work on your proposal/bibliography. You should be familiar with the relevant Libguide and the various electronic databases of periodicals (newspapers and magazines).
Find sources. Read them. Take notes. RESUBMIT your proposal with a bibliography showing that you have found enough articles that will enable you to do this topic.
23. Research Project-3 (See Guidelines.)
Continue with research but plan to begin actually writing the rough draft. A common mistake of researchers is that they wait too long to move from research to writing (Hint: the research can and should continue after you've begun to write).
24. Research Project-4 (See Guidelines.)
Meet in library and continue to work on your project. (See Guidelines.)
25. Conferences. We will not meet as a class. I will meet with each of you to go over your rough drafts over Zoom (before the meeting, please email me a link to your google document, or attach a copy if it's a word document). HERE IS A SCHEDULE OF MEETING TIMES. I'll look particularly closely at your bibliography, intro paragraph, and topic sentences of body paragraphs. (See Guidelines.)
Note: you should have an actual draft of a paper, not just notes.