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Research Paper

3K views 24 replies 5 participants last post by  nanay 
#1 ·
In English class, we are going to be writing a research paper. With a thesis kind of thing, and we are defending a position. It can be on anything we want. I, of course, want to include birds in my paper.
An example our teacher showed us was a paper about German Shepherds being the best service dogs for police. There is no real argument in that, but she is still defending that statement in the rest of her paper. It is more of a fact than an opinion kind of thing.
So I've been brainstorming some bird related things I could do, but I haven't really come up with anything. Maybe something about African Greys being one of the most intelligent birds? I don't know. Anybody got any other ideas?
 
#2 ·
You could talk about African greys and their intelligence and say that they're good mimics etc but you could argue that they can't actually talk and then argue back with the case of Alex :)
 
#5 ·
You could maintain that clipping or not clipping your birds is the best option, pellets over seed like Bob suggested, birds should have proper lighting, etc. Find something that relates to proper bird care that people would be interested in, but that you can easily find factual information on from a reliable source, as I'm sure your teacher wants you citing your sources if you use direct quotes or paraphrasing :)
 
#6 ·
Oh sorry I think I misread that. Jenny's and Bob's ideas are great :D
 
#7 ·
Abby,
Any of the suggestions so far would work well. If you are interested in training, you could discuss training theories. I know some books you could read regarding training. You should pick something that already interests you because you will need to do a lot of reading.

How long do you have to do the paper? If you need help with specific things at you go along, let me know.
 
#10 ·
Ah that's okay then. It gives you a longer amount of time to think about what you want to do it on!
 
#11 ·
After further clarification, my teacher told us that we do pick an argument (such as abortions, school uniforms, that sort of thing) and pick a side to defend, but we don't defend it with our opinions or our knowledge, but we research that side. We won't be using words like "I" or "our" or "we" or "you". It's more formal, if you get what I'm saying.
I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the pellets versus seed, defending the pellets side. I think my teacher thinks I'm crazy for picking that....
 
#12 ·
Abby,
I think it is a great topic for you! You will be able to use it just as the term paper directions require. Even though I personally would choose something about training parrots if I were writing, because I am more interested in that myself, I think that for you that is probably a much more easily researched and defended topic. I bet your teacher doesn't think you are crazy, but DO ask her if she thinks there is a problem with the topic just in case she has a valid reason for worrying. She may think you won't be able to find enough information, or perhaps that the topic is actually too narrow to write a full paper on.

I'm glad you are listening to the directions and figuring out exactly what is required.
 
#15 ·
In that case, Abby, I'd gather all the information you can immediately. Then, if you find it really is too narrow, she can help you come up with something to expand before it is too late. The most common pitfall with term papers is getting the topic narrow enough, so you might have quite enough. I'm thinking she is worried about you having enough source information, so get it gathered together as soon as you can.
 
#16 ·
I want to get started on some research, I'm looking forward to writing this paper. I love writing and for most of the year we have just read Shakespeare and stuff. I also get to do something bird related, whether the pellets vs. seed topic works out or not. Do you know of any other topics that are being debated over that have to do with birds, just in case my topic doesn't work out?
 
#18 ·
The clipping one is a very good idea because you can discuss safety and stuff but at the same time stuff like exercise
 
#19 ·
As much as I wanted to show my teacher I could do the parrot diet subject for my research paper, I was suddenly finding stuff on Alex the parrot and I thought it would be cool to do a paper on animal intelligence, more specifically parrot intelligence if I can.
 
#21 ·
Not to sound the buzz kill or school marm, but as someone who has written an ungodly amount of research papers - what argument will you take in your paper, if you do avian intelligence? Are you just proving a point with your paper or are you arguing a point, and giving both sides, proving why yours is right? Depending on the purpose of your paper, you will wanna pick a different topic.

If you need any help with your paper, let me know :) I don't remember MLA style for your footnotes or bibliography, but if you need someone to proof read or give editorial critique, I'll go thru it for ya. If you need help finding sources I have some books on avian intelligence and behavior at the house, I can dig em out and give you their titles so you can find them too. I'm currently working on a 30 page research paper for my Senior Seminar for school lol. I had to write a 12 page paper last semester, and I'm writing 2 10 page research papers for other classes this semester too :svengo: The downside of a history major - it's all research and writing papers proving your point! :giggle:

To give you a taste of what I deal with? I wrote my 12 (6,000-8,000 words) page paper on women's involvement in the Nationalist Revolution in Egypt from 1919-1924, arguing that women played an active part in the revolution and used it as a platform to push their feminist agenda lol. This semester I'm probably going to write my 30 page paper on the decline of Hellenistic culture and philosophy in Alexandria, Egypt due to the Arab Conquests and the conversion from Christianity to Islam in the region xD

So if you need any help with your paper, let me know :) It may take a few days to get back to you, but I'd be happy to offer help with your writing
 
#22 ·
Abby,
It is important to write about something you can easily find information for. That is a topic you will certainly enjoy, too, so that makes it doubly good.
 
#23 ·
Jenny, thank you so much! Sounds like you've dealt with a lot of research papers.

At first I was unsure about that, too, Jenny. When you first suggested doing something that has to do with the Alex & Me book since I've already read it, I didn't know if there was much of a definate position to defend. She wants us to pick a side, only defend that side, but using the facts and and research we do. We don't use our own knowledge and opinions.

I have to come up with a three part thesis statement, listing three points that I will defend in three different body paragraphs. So for example, "German Shephereds are the best K9 unit dogs because of their loyalty, intelligence, and compatability." (I don't know if that is correct or not, it is an example our teacher gave us.) So there was the three points. With that in mind, what exactly would I do with the parrots intelligence thing? What three points?
 
#25 ·
If you want to prove parrot intelligence, you could discuss three aspects of intelligence. To do that you'd need to look up several definitions of intelligence and pick three aspects of that. The definitions of intelligence would also be parts of your research.
 
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