Blow People Away

The big stumbling block for most students in 10th grade English is the Research Paper.  Throughout the year we do many narrative and expository writing assignments, but the Research Paper, because of its length is what we dread the most.  On the other hand, if we organize ourselves, put the research that we do into order, know where to look and how to supplement our references, the paper should be quite straight-forward and simple to accomplish, although understandably time consuming.  Here are the topics.

Civil Rights: Analyze the evolution of civil rights under the Constitution throughout the 19th Century, including but not limited to The Dred Scott decision, and Civil War Amendments to the Constitution. After analyzing, choose the one which you feel has had the most impact on civil rights in America.

Atomic Bomb: Was the use of atomic bombs on Japan necessary to bring an end to World War II? The impact of the bombs killed hundreds of thousands of people, and many are still feeling the effects today. People nowadays still wonder why the bombs were dropped. If these bombs weren’t dropped on the Japanese, would the war have ended and how?

The play Our Town displayed a traditional family living in New Hampshire during the beginning of the 20th century. According to many so-called experts, the traditional American family is falling apart. However, it may be that the family is not disintegrating, but rather is evolving to meet the great social and economic changes of the last several decades. Argue either that the “family” is or is not disintegrating, but rather is changing to a new and even better form than the traditional family model or that in fact the “experts” are right and the American family is falling apart.

Bill of Rights: The Bill of Rights consists of the first ten articles of Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America. They specifically guarantee each citizen individual liberties. Why is the American Bill of Rights good/bad as compared to those of other countries?

Relying on your experiences in high school and by conducting other research, construct an argument proving that our System of Education is or is not fundamentally sound. During the course of your paper, also compare and contrast America’s system of education with that of other countries.

First Amendment: The first amendment provides every American with the freedom of speech. This freedom of speech has been broadened by the courts to include verbal, non-verbal, visual and symbolic expression. With the advancements in instant communication that includes cell phones, texting, the internet, etc., should the first amendment be rewritten or limited? Is this instant communication a threat to our safety, security, and eventually our freedom?

In Our Town we experienced life in a simpler time-when the roles of men and women in America were defined and less confusing. Explore the issue of America’s Gender Expectations today. Do these expectations make life more difficult or less complicated on men and women?   If you organize yourself, do a little each day and follow the handouts, you WILL pass this project with ease.