David M. Lauderback, Ph. D.
Professor of History

Research Project Outline Guidelines
US History I

http://www.austincc.edu/dlauderb
 

The Research Project is required for those students who desire a grade of B or better.  If you do NOT complete the Research Project the highest grade that you can receive is a C.  Additionally, completion of the Research Project does NOT automatically guarantee a grade of B or better. The Research Project is comprised of a: Book Choice, Topic Page (10 pts), Annotated Bibliography (15 pts), Outline (25 pts), and Final Draft (50 pts). Combined, the Research Project will equal the value of one exam grade (100 pts).

The purpose of the Outline is to give students an opportunity to organize their research in a useful manner and to provide the blueprint for the Final Draft.  The Outline must conform to the Format and Documentation Requirements specified below.  Students must submit an Outline by the deadline listed in the Course Schedule.

Please see the Course Schedule for the dates by which you must submit your: Book choice, Topic Page,  Annotated Bibliography, Outline, and Final Draft.

Submitting an Outline (25 pts)

Students are expected to accomplish five (5) tasks in the Final Draft:

To assist  in developing the Final Draft, students will be required to complete an Outline of their proposed Research Project. The Outline will follow the format below.  Copy and paste the Outline format to a Word document. Keep the Outline format with all the Roman numerals I., II., III., and capital letters A. - E., and numbers 1-7.  Insert your sentences and quotes from the primary and secondary sources, update the format, insert all 25 endnotes, and add a bibliography:

Title
By [Your Name]

I. Introduction

Purpose:  Here students will accomplish three tasks: introduce the subject, give some background, and offer a conclusion. Students need to launch their introduction with a sentence that captures the readers attention. Then, students need to provide historical context in order to illustrate the three themes they will explore in the research paper. Finally, students will conclude the introduction with a dynamic thesis that explains the argument of the paper.

Directions:  Use your Topic Page to frame the research paper. Clean up and revise your Topic Page as necessary in light of what you have learned conducting primary research. Think of the introduction as a way to set the stage for your reader. Emphasize the data that will help the reader understand the three main points that you will explore in later evidence paragraphs. For the Final Draft, you need to revise the final sentence of the introduction. Instead of stating why the research matters, as you did for the Topic Page, now you need to tell your reader what you learned. Tell your reader what you think is the most important thing they need to know. So, conclude your paragraph with a dynamic thesis statement where you tell the reader who did what you think and why.

II. Analysis
A. Literature Review
Purpose:  Here students will use the secondary sources from the Annotated Bibliography to provide historiographical context.  Students will explain how the secondary sources treat the themes stated in the introduction.  The purpose of this paragraph is to give the reader a sense of what other historians have said about the topic.

Directions:  Focus on your Topic and use the information from the sources in the Annotated Bibliography to talk about how other historians have dealt with the same themes.  You should be able to use your discussion of the secondary sources in the Annotated Bibliography to expand on the historical context covered in the introduction.

[Outline format]

1. Topic sentence

[NOTE: In each and every sentence of the outline and final draft be sure to: 

Explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why.' Begin your paragraph with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader who did what in the paragraph and why it matters. When you tell your reader what you are going to talk about, you describe. When you explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why' it matters, now you analyze. So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies the key historical actor or actors, explains what they did, and why.  So be sure to tell the reader: 'who' did 'what' and 'why.]

2. Sentence with quote from secondary source with end note.
3. Sentence with quote from secondary source with end note.
4. Sentence with quote from secondary source with end note.
5. Sentence with quote from secondary source with end note.
6. Sentence with quote from secondary source with end note.
7. Concluding thought
Use at least five (5) quotes from at least four (4) different secondary sources in points 2-6 above.  You may include more quotes and add the number of points you intend to make in your Final Draft.  See the Documentation requirements below for the proper format for citing your sources.
B. Evidence
Purpose:  In the next three paragraphs, students will examine the themes discussed in the introduction by offering evidence drawn from the primary sources.  These paragraphs give the student a chance to show the reader the evidence they have collected and how that evidence supports their contention in the thesis statement.

Directions:  Collect selected quotes from the primary sources that illustrate the first of the three (3) points made in the introduction and which support the thesis statement.  Organize your evidence as follows:

[Outline format]

1. Topic sentence

[NOTE: In each and every sentence of the outline and final draft be sure to: 

Explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why.' Begin your paragraph with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader who did what in the paragraph and why it matters. When you tell your reader what you are going to talk about, you describe. When you explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why' it matters, now you analyze. So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies the key historical actor or actors, explains what they did, and why.  So be sure to tell the reader: 'who' did 'what' and 'why.]

2. Quote from primary source with end note.
3. Quote from primary source with end note.
4. Quote from primary source with end note.
5. Quote from primary source with end note.
6. Quote from primary source with end note.
7. Concluding thought
Use at least five (5) quotes from at least four (4) different primary sources in points 2-6 above.  You may include more quotes and add the number of points you intend to make in your Final Draft.  See the Documentation requirements below for the proper format for citing your sources.
C. Evidence
    Purpose:  See B. Above

    Directions:  Collect selected quotes from the primary sources that illustrate the second of the three (3) points made in the introduction and which support the thesis statement.  Organize your evidence as follows:

    [Outline format]

      1. Topic sentence

[NOTE: In each and every sentence of the outline and final draft be sure to: 

Explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why.' Begin your paragraph with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader who did what in the paragraph and why it matters. When you tell your reader what you are going to talk about, you describe. When you explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why' it matters, now you analyze. So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies the key historical actor or actors, explains what they did, and why.  So be sure to tell the reader: 'who' did 'what' and 'why.]

      2. Quote from primary source with end note.
      3. Quote from primary source with end note.
      4. Quote from primary source with end note.
      5. Quote from primary source with end note.
      6. Quote from primary source with end note.
      7. Concluding thought


    Use at least five (5) quotes from at least four (4) different primary sources in points 2-6 above.  You may include more quotes and add the number of points you intend to make in your Final Draft.  See the Documentation requirements below for the proper format for citing your sources.

D. Evidence
Purpose:  See B. Above

Directions:  Collect selected quotes from the primary sources that illustrate the third of the three (3) points made in the introduction and which support the thesis statement.  Organize your evidence as follows:

[Outline format]

1. Topic sentence

[NOTE: In each and every sentence of the outline and final draft be sure to: 

Explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why.' Begin your paragraph with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader who did what in the paragraph and why it matters. When you tell your reader what you are going to talk about, you describe. When you explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why' it matters, now you analyze. So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies the key historical actor or actors, explains what they did, and why.  So be sure to tell the reader: 'who' did 'what' and 'why.]

2. Quote from primary source with end note.
3. Quote from primary source with end note.
4. Quote from primary source with end note.
5. Quote from primary source with end note.
6. Quote from primary source with end note.
7. Concluding thought
Use at least five (5) quotes from at least four (4) different primary sources in each point 2-6 above.  You may include more quotes and add the number of points you intend to make in your Final Draft.  See the Documentation requirements below for the proper format for citing your sources.
E. Reaction
This is most important paragraph in the Final Draft.  Here, you will evaluate your evidence and compare that to the analysis provided by the secondary sources.  Does your research support, contradict, and/or modify the existing literature?  Your research might do some of all three.  Show how and why with specific examples from the secondary and primary sources.

[Outline format]

1. Topic sentence

[NOTE: In each and every sentence of the outline and final draft be sure to: 

Explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why.' Begin your paragraph with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader who did what in the paragraph and why it matters. When you tell your reader what you are going to talk about, you describe. When you explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why' it matters, now you analyze. So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies the key historical actor or actors, explains what they did, and why.  So be sure to tell the reader: 'who' did 'what' and 'why.]

2. Quote from primary/secondary source with end note.
3. Quote from primary/secondary source with end note.
4. Quote from primary/secondary source with end note.
5. Quote from primary/secondary source with end note.
6. Quote from primary/secondary source with end note.
7. Concluding thought
Use at least five (5) quotes from at least two (2) different primary sources and two (2) different secondary sources in points 2-6 above.  You may include more quotes and add the number of points you intend to make in your Final Draft.  See the Documentation requirements below for the proper format for citing your sources.
III. Summary
In this paragraph you must summarize your paper.  Briefly restate your purpose, summarize your main points, and offer some final thoughts.

[Outline format]

1. Topic sentence

[NOTE: In each and every sentence of the outline and final draft be sure to: 

Explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why.' Begin your paragraph with a dynamic topic sentence that tells the reader who did what in the paragraph and why it matters. When you tell your reader what you are going to talk about, you describe. When you explain 'who' did 'what' and 'why' it matters, now you analyze. So be sure to start your paragraph with a topic sentence that identifies the key historical actor or actors, explains what they did, and why.  So be sure to tell the reader: 'who' did 'what' and 'why.]

2. Restate topic sentence to II. A.
3. Restate topic sentence to II. B.
4. Restate topic sentence to II. C.
5. Restate topic sentence to II. D.
6. Restate topic sentence to II. C.
7. Concluding thought

Format Requirements

ALL ASSIGNMENTS -- TOPIC PAGE, ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, OUTLINE, AND FINAL DRAFT -- MUST CONFORM TO THE FORMAT SPECIFICATIONS BELOW. 

If you do not follow the format requirements for the completed Topic Page, Annotated Bibliography, Outline, and Final Draft listed below, then you will lose Points:

Please:

DO NOT BOLDFACE; or
DO NOT ITALICIZE; or
DO    NOT         JUSTIFY

your text.

The above particulars are designed to ensure that all students complete works of similar length.

Please:

Do NOT use folders or other such binders; and
You do NOT need a cover sheet.

Documentation

ALL ASSIGNMENTS -- TOPIC PAGE, ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, OUTLINE, AND FINAL DRAFT -- MUST CONFORM TO THE DOCUMENTATION SPECIFICATIONS BELOW. 

The documentation requirements for the completed Topic Page, Annotated Bibliography, Outline, and Final Draft are:

Please use endnotes and a bibliography to refer to the source from which you extracted information. To ensure that you give credit where credit is due, use Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 8th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013). Please use the ACC Library link to Turabian.  Save yourself considerable time confusion and do NOT use any other Turabian web page. Seriously. Most are incorrect. For the correct style, you can also see John Grossman, ed., The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). Both guides can be found at the ACC Library. 

Please do NOT use reference style where you put the author's name and page number at the end of the sentence. (Lauderback 2013, 1) Instead, be sure to insert an endnote in your text to tell your reader you have details that come from a source that is not you. Go to Microsoft Word Help and enter 'endnote' for how to insert notes. See the ACC Library link to Turabian for:

The ACC Librarians have put together a remarkable page with all kinds of details and examples for you to follow. And, a link for asking questions! Check out Turabian. Please use the appropriate formatting -- including margins, font size and type, and spacing (see above).

Include a Bibliography on a separate page (with no page number), at the end of your Topic Page, Outline and Final Draft.  Here you provide a complete citation for each source cited. A bibliography is NOT the same as a Works Cited. And, a bibliography is NOT the same as the endnotes. And while a bibliography includes most of the same information as the notes, there are important differences, e.g., the order of the author's names, the use of commas, periods, parentheses, and page numbers. Please use the appropriate formatting -- including margins, font size and type, and spacing (see above). 

And, please, do NOT ask if you can use MLA.  Use Turabian. Thank you!

Grading Policy

The Outline will receive a maximum 25 points. Recognize that an Outline rife with misspellings and grammatical errors will NOT be considered acceptable. Any Outline that does NOT conform to the Format and Documentation specifications above will NOT be accepted. If you submit your Outline before the deadline date in the Course Schedule and it is graded “NOT ACCEPTED” you may revise it and resubmit it prior to the deadline date. Any Outline that is NOT submitted by the deadline listed in the Course Schedule will NOT be accepted.

Deadlines

STUDENTS WHO SUBMIT AN OUTLINE THAT IS "NOT ACCEPTED" WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO SUBMIT A FINAL DRAFT.

STUDENTS WHO DO NOT SUBMIT AN OUTLINE BY THE DEADLINE LISTED IN THE COURSE SCHEDULE WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO SUBMIT A FINAL DRAFT.

REMEMBER:  THE OUTLINE IS DUE NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM ON THE DEADLINE LISTED IN THE COURSE SCHEDULE.

and

YOU MAY SUBMIT ANY OR ALL OF THE PARTS OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT ELECTRONICALLY VIA EMAIL AS A WORD DOCX FILE.

and

IF THE ATTACHED FILE CANNOT BE VIEWED BY THE INSTRUCTOR THEN THE ASSIGNMENT WILL BE MARKED “NOT ACCEPTED.”

The Research Project has several components.   Please see the Course Schedule for the dates by which you must submit your: Book choice, Topic Page,  Annotated Bibliography, Outline, and Final Draft.

© David Marcus Lauderback, 2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED