Research Paper

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Research Paper Assignment is a written assignment of 10 pages in length. You may write 2 pages more than this limit, but you cannot write less than 10, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font, 1-inch margin pages. The subject will focus on Emperor Ashoka and The Mauryan Dynasty arguing how the king unified society through the Buddhism belief. Also, clarify how Ashoka converted and became Buddhist expecting his empire to follow his path and your argument for why that society was successful or unsuccessful. The purpose of the assignment is to demonstrate your ability to write a coherent paper about the importance of the society you choose and what contributed to its success or failure. Besides the normal biographical information about the society, YOU NEED TO HAVE AN ARGUMENT ABOUT IT. Your paper must have a Works Cited attached and you must use at least 5 different sources in your paper. This assignment is a research assignment. Do not use Wikipedia, dictionaries, or encyclopedia sites as sources in your paper. These resources are helpful for providing a baseline understanding of your topic but are not credible enough to cite. You should explore primary sources like the memoirs, diaries, journals, newspaper articles and government agency-issued documents I assign in class. Good secondary sources include historical interpretations, analyses by historians and biographies. Educational facilities and government institutions are also good secondary sources. This assignment must meet the following criteria to receive credit. There are no exceptions. Read and follow the instructions carefully on the Research Paper Requirements, given out in class. Some of the requirements include

  • Provide your name, date, course title, and title of your paper at the top of the first page.
  • Each page must have the page number, bottom right-hand corner. Use 1 inch margins for all four sides of each page. Since this is a research paper, avoid use of “I”s or “you”s in the paper as much as possible. A preferable example would be; “Historians may view Alexander Hamilton as a leader who believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution, but the reverse was true.”
  • Double-space
  • Indent first word of each paragraph using the “tab” button
  • Cite your sources. If you use material that is word-for-word or verbatim from the source, then you must use quotation marks and cite the source, giving credit to the original author. Anything that is not common knowledge that you gain from your research should be cited. Use in-text or footnote citations. An in-text citation is the author’s last name and page number surrounded by parentheses (Smith, 26). If you use a source and paraphrase the material, you must still cite the source in the same manner (Smith, 26). You may use internet sources, but make sure they are good primary or secondary sources. Cite them the same as a book—Author (last name first) if known; the title of the work; the internet address (http://www.historychannel.com/hamilton ); page number if listed; the date of the material. If in doubt, cite the source of the information. If you prefer to use footnote citations please refer to the guidelines on the Chicago Manual of Style at Purdue University’s website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/717/01/
  • Works Cited page must list each source used in your research—USE Chicago guidelines found at the website linked above. Each source must be listed alphabetically with last name of author. If the author is not shown or known, such as on an internet source, then list the title of the information you are using and put it in alphabetical order. If there is no title, put the web address in alphabetical order.
  • A Hard Copy of paper must be submitted as well as a word file sent directly to my email address

Evaluation Criteria on research paper: Since this is a research paper, I am looking for your original work—your words to describe and characterize this subject. You do the research about Emperor Ashoka and The Mauryan Dynasty arguing how the king unified society through the Buddhism belief. Also, clarify how Ashoka converted and became Buddhist expecting his empire to follow his path and your argument for why that society was successful or unsuccessful and then write on any aspect or aspects of that society that you believe contributed to its success or failure. You cannot just copy off the internet or from books. The criteria include organization, clarity of thought, analytical reasoning and mastery of subject. Grammar and spelling will not be strictly graded – however, egregious or frequent errors that inhibit your paper’s comprehensibility will negatively affect your grade. The paper must have a beginning that indicates the scope of your report, a middle with the information you choose about your society and an ending that pulls the report together. It is your research paper—make it your own by choosing how you want to portray this subject.

Proof- read your work before you turn it in. It may help you to read your paper aloud, which may assist you in spotting errors of logic, awkwardness of language as well as spelling or grammatical mistakes.