History 162 - Early British History 

Fall 2011

Dr. Florence M. Baker

1) By Thursday, November 3:

- Choose a question concerning any aspect of British history prior to 1600 (the more specific your question, the better)

- Begin searching for sources related to your question to make sure materials needed for your research are available (check ECC library catalog and data bases as well as Internet sources)

- Submit to me the question that you will be researching and the title of sources that you have found for approval. Once approved you will not be able to change your question. (At this point you need only to have located a few sources and will be adding additional ones as your research progresses.)

2) Research

- You must use a minimum of 5 sources as follows:

> only one source can be from an encyclopedia

> only two sources can be from the Internet

> your text book and class lectures cannot count as one of your sources

Note: Wikipedia and about.com are not valid sources. Unacknowledged use of Wikipedia or any other source is plagiarism and will result in an F and suspension from the class.

The validity of any web source that you use must be established in your Bibliography using the Guidelines for Evaluating Web Sites. 

3) Writing the paper

- Your paper should be about 6 to 7 pages (typed, double-spaced) and should include:

> a short introductory paragraph that introduces the question you researched and includes a thesis statement (the answer to your question)

> a well-developed body

> a short conclusion

- Your paper should also include (another 3 pages in addition to above):

> a Title page

> an Endnote page

> a Bibliography page

- Use the University of Chicago style format (Turabian) for your endnotes and bibliography.

> for format instructions go to: http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c10_sl.html

3) When you cite your sources

- You will not be using direct quotes, but you will need to cite your sources for:

> any factual information that you use

> any examples that you present

> any ideas you obtained from the work of others

•    Review your hand out on Guidelines for Writing Essay Exams

•     Cheating and plagiarism (using the words or ideas of others as if they were your own) will not be tolerated.

•     You are responsible to keep a copy of all work submitted to the instructor.

- be sure to see me if you need help in selecting or narrowing down your topic; if you would like to discuss your research; or if you need help organizing your paper

- the librarians can help you with your research

- the Writing Center (Humanities 122) can help you with the writing of your paper

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