Short Research Paper
(Be sure to read the McConnell paper in the Student Papers section of the web site.)
The short research paper should be between 3-4 pages of text. The assignment is to pick a (separate) historical development from two major periods of Japan’s history--- the pre-1850 and the 1850-1950 periods---and show how each development affected Japanese culture, values, and behavior.
Note that this is a research paper, and not merely a re-statement of the lectures. In addition, it is not a history paper that only discusses the development itself. Rather, it is primarily a discussion of the effects of the developments that can be seen in today's Japan. You should spend no more than 1/4 page on identifying each historical development and its characteristics. The bulk of your paper should be a discussion of the consequences of thoses developments. Don't try to connect the two developments. This will be possible only rarely. Most of you will have to write your papers in two sections.
You’re expected to use at least three print sources (but no texts or class material, encyclopedias--either hard copies from the library or those found on the internet--or Time-Life or other series) to support your views. Make sure your sources are relatively recent, i.e. 1990 or later. Most of you will need two history books-an Early and a Modern-to provide material on the historical developments. The third will be a sociological study, or an anthropological work, or something similar that discusses the Japan of today. It could be a book or an academic journal article. This will be the source of material about how the influence of the historical developments can still be seen (although the authors may not choose to specifically identify them--it will be up to you to recognize that certain behaviors or values of today's Japanese can be traced to the developments you chose. This is the hard part of the assignment.
Internet sites may not be used.
With respect to the printed sources, they should be scholarly works, either books or articles in academic journals. (For those not used to research materials, the term 'scholarly' can be taken to mean that the author(s) identify their source material in footnotes or endnotes and a bibliography. If the work does not contain references, but it seems to have useful material to you, check with me. The fastest way would be to use email. Send me the standard bibliographic information: name, name of author, publisher, date of publication. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Naturally, since this will be the first time most of you will have investigated the topic, nearly all that you write will require an indication of the source. Hence, it is expected that nearly every sentence, and certainly every paragraph will require a citation (except your introduction and conclusion.) You may use either footnotes or end notes, but regardless of which form of citation you also must include a Bibliography.
I will hand out citation guidelines. They are from the University of Chicago and were authored by Turabian. They can also be found on the College Library web site.
Do not quote from your source material. Put the material you borrow into your own words so that the paper becomes your voice and not a collection of other peoples’ voices. (But don’t forget that even though you do not quote from another author, you still must give him or her credit for providing you with their ideas and the results of their research--remember, plagiarism is a felony and can be grounds for automatic failure for the course.)
In the writing, make sure that you do not simply make assertions based on material from your source, and then give credit to the source with a reference. Just because a statement has a reference, it must still give the reader an understanding of why it was made. You have to give examples, or make comparisons, or explain. It is not enough just to 'claim' that something is so, or caused something else, or exerted influence. Even though you cite a source for the assertion or statement or comparison, you also are required to provide an explanation.
There are five stages. First you must have your topic aproved by the instructor. Next is the collection of source material, then the writing of several drafts. Next is having your paper critiqued by your groupmates, and last is the writing of a final draft. The papers will be evaluated based upon your understanding of the material, the logic of your argument, how well you support that argument with rationale, and the quality of your writing--clarity, simplicity, and mechanics (spelling, punctuation, and grammar).
Student Papers
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