U.S. History Research Paper: Project Home

The Research Paper

In an effort to gain a better understanding of a significant event in American History, all PHS students enrolled in U.S. History are required to write a formal research paper as part of the course. Students will choose a topic of their own interest with approval from their teacher.

• Topics must be between the years 1875 and 1960. 
• Your topic should look at an American problem, significant event, or controversial subject. However, the topic must be limited enough to thoroughly examine within the required word count. Therefore, a topic such as World War II is too broad in scope, while an examination of a particular aspect such as whether or not the US was justified in dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki would be more appropriate.
• Ample time will be provided for research, construction of an outline, forming a rough draft, and submitting a final copy. See the research paper rubric for assessment categories; papers will be graded using this rubric.

Just remember, research takes time. Follow the steps one by one and meet deadlines along the way...you will be successful.

The most time consuming part of any research project is the research. Plan your time wisely. Some 70-80% of your time should be devoted to reading and research so you thoroughly understand your subject. The remaining time is for writing. However, do not leave writing of the last minute. Remember, if you leave printing o the last minute, there are bound to be printer problems!

Develop your research topic.

What are the key concepts of your topic?  Can you broaden or narrow your focus? Consider focusing on one or more of the following:

• time period
  
• place
• specific event   
• specific people

Does your topic overlap other subject areas such as anthropology, geography or political science?

Think of 2- 3 questions that you will need to explore.

• Think about the history of your topic, and its categories.
• Who are the key people? What did they do? Why did it happen?
  

Under each question, think about the following aspects:

• What do you already know about your topic or issue?
• What do you need to learn to better understand your topic or issue?
• What kind of information resource might provide the answer to these questions?

Consider your audience.

• Who will read your paper?
• Why will it be of interest to them?
• What will be new to them?

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