PURPOSE: This research guide has been designed to help you complete your assignment on the Glass Castle

The Assignment:  Write your own memoir/personal history research paper.  The paper must include three sections:  one aspect of your grandparents’ history, one aspect of your parents’ history, and how these relate to your own life history.  You are required to include at least eight quotes and/or paraphrases from at least four sources.  In addition, you must list your sources on a Works Cited page.

Guidelines:  

            Type of Essay:   This essay is a thesis paper, not a mere report.  In other words, your paper must make a point, which must be clearly worded in your thesis statement.

            Length:   6-7 pages (1,500-2,000 words), not including the Works Cited page

            Sources:   You are required to utilize at least four sources:  one book, one periodical (newspaper, magazine, or journal article—either hard copies or online copies are acceptable), one personal interview, and one multimedia source (work of art, sound recording, film or video, radio or television program, podcast, live performance or lecture—online versions are acceptable).  An encyclopedia, including Wikipedia, does not count as a required source.  Search for the best, most current research on your topic.

            Format:   MLA format

Required Elements:

·         A well-focused central idea—although you may learn about several aspects of your family members’ lives, limit your focus to one factor that links all three generations

·         A logical method of organization with clear transitions (structure body paragraphs with clear topic sentences and several main ideas apiece.

·         Careful use of sources:  use the MLA style of citing within the paper, and the MLA Works Cited format at the end of the paper

·         Research notes written on note cards or typed on several pages (important:  merely printing documents from the Internet and highlighting these will not count as note-taking.

·         An outline

·         A preliminary draft, for peer review

Purpose:   This assignment has been designed to help you learn basic skills for writing a research paper.  You’ll be required to use the library, develop a clear central idea, smoothly incorporate researched material into the paper, and write a Works Cited page.  In addition, you’ll continue to practice skills already learned in class such as writing a clear thesis, writing clear topic sentences, organizing body paragraphs into distinct main ideas, using transitions, and providing specific support, whether based on research or personal experiences and observations.

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