Mrs. Porter ~ Argument Research Paper

Self-Selected Controversial Issue Project -
Socratic Discussion and Argument Research Paper

You will research one controversial issue of your choice and participate in an in-class Socratic discussion activity where you will defend and refute your own topic. The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to explore and develop your own mastery of an issue currently debated and to discover new ways to analyze and discuss a controversial issue of personal interest. Bring your self-selected controversial issue research with you to school every day – you will refer to it each day in class during research sessions and class discussions.

 

 Topics:

-Euthanasia                     -Medical Marijuana and Legalization

-Immigration                               -Education- Common Core

-Standardized Testing                -College Affordability

-Gun Control       
-Electoral College and/or Party Delegates

-Same Sex Marriage

Some recommended information resources: 

VRC Databases:

•  SIRS Knowledge Source

•  Opposing Viewpoints in Context

• eLibrary Curriculum Edition 
  
  

Book & eBooks: 
Search for your topic in our book collection at Destiny Library Services or GoFollett.com

Riggio AP World History ~ Important People in World History

Background Information:  The There are several themes that have existed throughout World History  These themes are Industrialization, Revolution and Independence Movements, Nationalism, Reform Movements, Imperialism and Emancipation.  These themes illustrate the changes that helped set in motion the increase in the power of the West in the world at large.

Task:  You are to choose one of the aforementioned themes of World History and discuss TWO individuals that personified that theme.  You are to discuss ONE Male and ONE Female.  They must be related to the same theme and have had similar goals, but they do NOT have to have worked together!  You should try to avoid people from the United States.  Papers should discuss the background information of each individual, the contributions/activities of each individual and their impact on World History.  Your introduction should include a thesis and examine the theme.  Your conclusion should establish a connection between the two individuals by comparing and contrasting their achievements.

Recommended Resources:

Databases-

• History Study Center
• World Book Online (Choose Student Edition)
• Biography Reference Center
• ABC-CLIO World History Ancient & Medieval Eras
• ABC-ClIO Modern Era
• ProQuest Historical Newspapers  

eBooks & Print Book Collection- 

• Search our catalog by historical time period, persons, etc. 

  

McAuliffe~AP Literature & Composition

Assignment.  Find a topic that derives from something we have studied this year. Choose a major work or an author we have read, a novelist, playwright, or short story writer.  Or choose a poem or poet we have studied.  Consider literary theories, such as New Criticism, Reader Response, or any that have derived from Deconstruction Criticism. The topic should be suitable for a 5-7 page research paper using a minimum of three legitimate outside sources.  Your paper must follow MLA guidelines for manuscript format and citation conventions.

Getting Started.  Begin with a topic that interests you. Then follow a “true inquiry” process: ask a difficult question, offer a hunch or hypothesis, test it and ask, What else do I need to find out? Then visit a school-sponsored site (e.g. Bloom or Gale Group) or begin with a book or article.  The topic may be one that you have already thought about  (female characters in Hamlet), or it may be a question you have not yet considered ( How did a particular closed form – e.g. villanelle – develop over time?)

Read pages 2179-2184 in your textbook.  This will give you an overview of what this kind of paper entails.  It also addresses important issues like internet reliability and plagiarism.

Review the hand out, “Sample Research Topics.”  This will give you some idea of suitable topics for this assignment.  It may also stimulate ideas of your own.  Whatever topic you choose must be related directly to this course; it should not derive from a class you took previously (e.g., A.P. Language, 11 H, or 10H).

Work will be submitted through Turnitin.com. Some will be done in school, though you will have to do much of the drafting on your own time.  Steps along the way will be graded. These grades* will count for Quarter 4. 

Suggested Information Resources:

• Bloom's Literature (located under the VRC's Literature & Language)
• Gale Literatue Resource Center (located under the VRC's Literature & Language)
• ProQuest Learning Literature (located under the VRC's Literature & Language)
• WMHS Library eBook Collection (if you need a copy of a work you have read) View & checkout eBooks using your school username & password. Access at GoFollett.com
• WMHS Destiny Library Catalog for print copies of a work you have read (example: The Things They Carried, Hamlet, Song of Solomon, Jane Eyre, etc.)

Sussin/Jourdain~Pesticides Research Assignment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines a pesticide as “any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest.”

A pesticide may be a chemical substance or biological agent (such as a virus or bacteria) used against pests including insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes, and microbes.  These organisms may compete with humans for food, invade lawns and gardens, destroy wood in houses, spread disease, or just be a general nuisance in our everyday lives.  Pesticides are usually, but not always, poisonous to humans.

There are 5 major types of pesticides you will encounter: insecticides (insect killers), herbidicides (weed killers), fungicides (fungus killers), nematocides (roundworm killers), and rodenticides (rat and mouse killers).  Be aware that although the 5 are listed here, there are many others (e.g. algicides, miticides).

Available Resources- Dr. Hatcher recommends the following:

Library Databases (VRC):

• Health Reference Center: Contains full-text nursing and allied health journal articles, and reliable health information. Search in multiple languages by subject, keyword or by specific publication title. 
• ProQuest Education (K-12): Includes Dissertations, Scholarly Journals, etc. 
• eLibrary Science: Science content, tools, video, links to manipulative, interactive activities, science news, famous scientists, science history, clickable periodic table, hundreds of educator-approved websites.
• Science Online: A comprehensive overview of all sciences includes biology, chemistry, computer, earth, environmental, forensic, and marine sciences, mathematics, physics, space, astronomy, weather and climate. Timelines, videos, animations, diagrams, experiments, essays, definitions, biographies, conversion calculators, scientific dictionary, and links content to state and national standards including Common Core.

Search Engines:  

• Google Scholar: "provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. From one place, you can search across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research." (Google Scholar)

Print Collection: 

• eBook and print resources available by searching the WMHS library catalog in Destiny. Use your school username & password for viewing/checkouts. 
• Access eBooks also at GoFollett.com

Search term examples: Pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, etc. 

SLIME Maker Expo

2nd Annual SLIME MakerSpace Expo

AP Study Guides Available

We have AP study guides available in the library.   Print copies are located near the front desk right next to the textbooks.

Available Titles:  Print & *eBook format:

• *Barron's AP English Literature
• *Barron's AP English Language and Composition
• *Barron's U.S. Government and Politics
• *AP Calculus
• *AP Computer Science A
• Barron's AP Physics C
• AP Calculus AB & BC

and more............search catalog for additional titles

Use your student computer username and password for eBook access/checkouts.

Mrs. Porter ~ The Great Gatsby and the Roaring '20s Research

The Great Gatsby Research Paper and Gallery Display Project

   The purpose of the research is for you to put together necessary and important information that will add to the reading and understanding of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.

   
 You will be researching your topics using books, databases, and the internet.  

eBooks Available:  Log in using school username & password. 

• The Roaring Twenties: discover the era of Prohibition, flappers and Jazz (unlimited copies unavailable)
•  The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression 
• The Roaring Twenties
• Fashion in the Time of the Great Gatsby
• Understanding Women's Rights
• The Feminist Movement 
• Women at War: the Progressive Era, WWI and Women's Suffrage

and more ....................search catalog for additional titles

 Print Books: 

• U.S.A Twenties 
• Anything goes: a biography of the roaring twenties by Lucy Moore
• The Roaring Twenties: 1920 to 1929 by Rodney Carlisle
• Roaring '20s Fashions: deco by Susan Langley
• Flappers: Six women of a dangerous generation by Judith Mackrell
• Flappers and the new American woman: perceptions of women 1918 to 1920
• Bootleg: murder, moonshine and the lawless years of prohibition
• Last Call: the rise and fall of prohibition by Daniel Okrent
• The Harlem Renaissance (several titles available) 

    and more.....................Search catalog for additional titles

 Databases:

•  History Study Center 
• Sirs Decades (See 1920's)
• Issues & Controversies in American History
• ABC-CLIO American History 
• Biography Reference Center

See Dr. Hatcher in the library if you need assistance with any of our resources.