English 1102 Research Project

2nd 8-Week Term, Spring Semester 2025

Due Date for Final Draft:  Thursday, April 10, midnight, in the D2L dropbox

Length:  1400-2000 words (4-6 typed, double-spaced pages using the current (9th edition of MLA style).  

Grade Value:  The entire research paper project counts as 30% of your final grade, with 20 points of your grade earned with preliminary assignments as outlined below and 80 points for the final draft.

Write an analytical paper on one of the topics listed at the close of this assignment sheet. Your research, in the form of direct quotations and paraphrases, should support your observations and comments. The paper must be written in third-person point of view (i.e., no “you” or “I.”)

Research/Source Requirement – The paper must use and cite 5 sources. The paper’s sources should be the most credible, reliable sources you can locate, preferably found in either Gil or Galileo databases. Any source not found in Gil or Galileo may be used only with my permission. Only one general reference book (general encyclopedia) may be used. A dictionary may not be counted as a source. You must also use at least one book (ebooks are fine).

Schedule of Due Dates – Points earned for each deadline assignment apply toward the final grade of the research paper. As each deadline approaches, we will discuss the components due.

Important Note:  You must complete each step sequentially (meaning--in order), and you can't do preliminary assignments in reverse. For example, you can't write your paper and then go back and do the outline, bibliography, rough draft, etc. You can't receive credit for steps done out of order. Writing, and especially research writing, is a process that is done step-by-step.

The way to complete this research project successfully is to keep up with this schedule. This is especially true in an 8-week term.

-- Thursday, March 13 in D2L by the beginning of class:  Topic selected, 2 points

-- Thursday, March 20 midnight in D2L:  Annotated bibliography of proposed sources due, 4 points

-- Sunday, March 23, midnight in D2L:  Outline with thesis, 6 points

-- Tuesday, April 8 in D2L by class time:  Complete first draft due with in-text citations and works cited page for our individual conferences, 8 points

-- Thursday, April 10 midnight, in D2L:  Final draft due, 80 points

TOTAL POINTS AVAILABLE = 100 (counts as 30% of course grade)

The final, complete paper should have a body of 4-6 pages (1400-2000) words, be typed and double-spaced with pages numbered. The paper should have one-inch margins all around and use a 12-point font such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri. No large or fancy fonts, please! The entire paper should follow the 9th edition of MLA style, thus it must include appropriate headers, in-text (parenthetical) citations and a works cited list. The works cited page should be the final separate page of the paper, which is not counted as one of the 4-6 page (1400-2000 word) requirement, but the works cited page is numbered sequentially—meaning that if the last page of the text of your paper is page 5, your works cited page would be page 6.

Grading is based upon:

--Organization and development of the essay

--Selection and use of credible research materials

--Citation mechanics

--Grammar, punctuation, and mechanics

Plagiarism will result in a 0 for the assignment.

Where to go for help?

--Resources available in D2L in the Research Paper Project module

--The writing center for help with writing and citation & documentation

--The GHC library staff for research and citation questions/help

--Scheduling an individual appointment with me at any point in the research paper process

Topic Choices: History “Mysteries”: (we will discuss these in class)

With most of these topics, your thesis will focus on 1) why something is still a mystery, 2) what is still unknown, 3) why it is still interesting/fascinating, etc.

--The lost continent of Atlantis

--England’s Stonehenge

--Peru’s Nasca Lines

--“The Curse of the Pharaohs”:  Truth or Myth?

-- Where is Cleopatra's Tomb?

-- The princes in the tower (medieval English mystery)

--The disappearance of the Roanoke settlement

--The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

--The mystery of D.B. Cooper (only unsolved aircraft hijacking in U.S. history)

--Who Shot President John F. Kennedy—and why?

-- The Ghost Ship - The Mary Celeste

--The mystery of the SS Sultana—Civil War-era sabotage?

--What happened to Amelia Earhart?

--Is there really a Bermuda Triangle?

--Bog bodies (bog people)

-- The strange case of Lizzie Borden

--Easter Island, the moai, & rongorongo

--The disappearing Amber Room (“the eighth wonder of the world”)

-- The incident at Dyatlov Pass

--Noises at the American Embassy/CIA employees Havana, Cuba 

--The Voynich Manscript

-- The Tunguska event

-- The Wright Brothers controversy

-- The Nazi Gold Train

-- What  happened to Jimmy Hoffa?

-- 1920 Wall Street Bombing

-- The "Boston heist" paintings