Purpose
This project is designed to introduce you to the process of writing a research paper. For this project, you must read one of the following novels:
• 1984 by George Orwell
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Once you have read the novel of your choice, you will (1) find, read, and summarize at least five outside sources; (2) create an outline for a research paper; and (3) compose a full scale research paper of at least 1200 words.
Assignment Description
All of the books listed above belong to a category of fiction called dystopian literature. The purpose of dystopian literature is to criticize aspects of contemporary society, specifically those aspects that, if perpetuated, would cause society to worsen. Your job as a researcher is to pinpoint what inspired your author to write his or her dystopian novel. To do that, you’ll need to consider the following questions:
• When was your novel written?
• Where did your author reside while he or she was writing the novel?
• What was society like where and when the author wrote? (Consider things like politics, technology, popular culture, wars, etc.)
• Which specific aspects of his or her society was your author criticizing?
• What is your author’s overall message? What warning is your author giving his or her readers?
Audience
Because the intent of this project is to prepare you for upper-level college work, you will be writing to a formal/scholarly audience.
Requirements
Your overall research project will include the following three components:
• An annotated bibliography.
o An annotated bibliography is a list of all the outside sources that you read as you are researching. As you read your outside sources, you should create an annotated bibliography entry that contains the following:
A full MLA citation for your outside source.
A brief summary of the source. (3-5 sentences)
• A research paper outline.
o The outline must contain the following:
A thesis statement.
The topic of each body paragraph.
A list of sources you are going to use to support the topic of each paragraph.
• A research paper.
o Your research paper should have a clear and organized introduction, body, and conclusion.
o Your research paper should contain the following information:
A general theme analysis of the novel. (What message was your author trying to tell his or her readers?)
Biographical information about the author. (What aspects of your author’s life influenced the novel he or she wrote?)
Historical context about the time period in which the novel was written. (What was going on in the world when the author wrote his or her novel?)
o Your research paper should be typed in 12 point Times New Roman font, double spaced, with one inch margins.
o Your research paper should have a full heading and title.
o Your research paper should be a minimum of 1200 words.
o Your research paper should follow MLA standards of documentation.
You should use a minimum of six sources in your paper (five outside sources and your novel)
You need to provide parenthetical in-text citations any time you quote or paraphrase something from your sources.
You need to provide a Works Cited page at the end of your paper.
o Your research paper should be grammatically and mechanically correct.