1.  Choose an area you are fascinated by, really curious about, or have a problem with:     Subject: Sexuality

2.  Get an overview (proceed as in the library assignment):

• encyclopaedia:  general, then particular
• fundamental texts:  textbook, recommended or basic reading,
• periodicals:  see what's new in

3.  Choose an aspect of the area.                                         Topic: Gender

4. Do preliminary research using                                [Start the cards at this stage-so read on]

• specialized reference books and
• actual books in the stacks, so that you can come up with a question which

is answerable given the limits of a 1500-word paper.
Formulate a simple, clear question: What does clothing have to do with gender?

6. Using small [3 x 5] index cards:Begin a world-class hobby - collecting information!

Why cards?
Cards are great because you never have to carry a lot of heavy books!
They only cost $1 per100. (For as long as they last, our library will give you old ones for free.)
Those, a couple of elastic bands to keep them together, and a good pen are all you need.
Paper is no good.  Pages of paper get torn, lost, wrinkled.  They come in big binders. We tend to write too much on them.
We cannot easily shift the order of ideas around.  They do not fit easily in pockets.
 

I Feinberg, Leslie.  Transgender Warriors: Making History From Joan of Arc to RuPaul. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.

< At the left is an address or ID card.

For each and every source, you write an "address" or ID card like the one above and then assign a code to it.
Here I have used Roman numeral I.
NOTE: We do it exactly as it will appear on our reference page, ie. MLA style. [Get a free sheet from the library].

• Putting 20 or so of these ID cards into alphabetical order according to author/editor to form your Works Cited or References page will then be very easy.

If you are new at this, it may be slow or tedious at first
but it is better to take the time now.  That is so that you don't have to look up the correct way later
when there may not be time.

TECHNIQUE

• Once you have a minimal grasp of the subject, you do not read through the books:

• You extract and process the information as you go through books,
• CONSULT INDEX
• SKIM LIKELY PAGE
• READ RELEVANT SECTION
• THINK WHAT IT MEANS [dictionary at hand, if necessary]
• RECORD IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS

• Do not be sparing with the cards - use lots - only 1 fact per card!
• Do not worry or keep track of the order of ideas; the coded page numbers can help with that.

Plagiarism is not just about stealing words.

• Remember, if you use someone else's organization or choice of arguments,

charts, besides ideas, you need to acknowledge that fact in your paper.

• Avoid taking out books except for brief periods like the weekend, since

you will deprive hundreds of other students of them.
 
• Be realistic about the time you will work at home
• You can probably get more work done and process many more books

in a more efficient manner at the library in a cosy carrel.
• You have access to references and other material at school
• There are fewer distractions

• Try and do a bit of research whenever you have a spare 1\2 hour.
• Do not use photocopying = procrastination.

It is a waste of time and money.  It is just a way of delaying the act of processing.
The exception is for graphs or other images (which you still have to make ID cards for.  Also,
record the page number onto the copy for your citations).

• Continue this processing work until you

8.  Assembling the paper:  Simple as 1, 2, 3
We write the paper in the format your teacher requests:
1st the cover:  A sample is on the back of a previous handout.

2nd type the text directly from the cards since they are already in your own words.
Be succinct.  Use a simple clear, brief formal style with parenthetical MLA  in-text citations,
eg.: (Feinberg 97) <--author & page without punctuation.

Find out about details:
• In referring to two different books by the same author, the date of publication is included

so the reader can tell them apart, eg. (Feinberg 1998, 97).

About formulating your text:

• Avoid writing paragraphs of rambling rubbish containing the words introduction or conclusion.

The thesis appears right off;  it is the answer to your initial question.
Here is a sample beginning:

It is, perhaps, not useful to classify all persons as either male or female.
As the well-known transvestite entertainer, RuPaul has said,
" You're born naked and the rest is drag" (Feinberg 97).  We are taught
what is appropriate behaviour and dress for our gender.  That is, our social role.

Not all societies are rigid as to gender.  Among Native American tribes
there was often room for the berdache, someone whose role was neither
completely male nor female (Feinberg 117).  Some few cultures do not require
members to display sexual differences in dress. We are among

             the opposite extreme (Charles 123).

Read your paper aloud to yourself if you generally receive lots of "corrections."
If your English is not good, ask someone to look it over.
• Leave enough time for a rewrite, in that case.
• Avoid having one or two lines of text alone on a page, and
• do not waste paper by using blank pages for covers or endpapers.
• Check that the pages are in order before you staple them together in the top left hand corner.

• Please do not put your paper into anything requiring unwrapping;

this includes folders, Duo-tangs, and those plastic things with the slider that falls off.
(Other teachers might like them, though.)

10.  Handing it in:
Do it in person unless otherwise requested by the teacher.
Make sure you know what the policies concerning this are.

• If you are experiencing difficulty meeting the deadline,

ask the teacher for permission to be late.  Expect a penalty, though.