HS daughter has term paper overdue

TzenaRena ↓

Mon, May 22 2006, 7:39 pm

Help! she doesn't know how to go about it. How to research it, how to put it together, how to construct it. The subject is supposed to be one of her choosing, in Kodesh subjects.

She has second thoughts now about her topic, which originally appealed to her, but no time to change to another one. Basically she is panicking. I know it's not my homework, but since she's asking for help, I'll be there for her.

Since I'm not a professor, or HS teacher, or a HS student anymore either,(who can remember so far back? Wink

) I don't know exactly what a term paper is supposed to be either.

Any explanations, tips? How does one structure a term paper?

shopaholic

Mon, May 22 2006, 7:56 pm

Wow. Seems like yesterday when I did mine (I graduated 10 yrs ago.) I did "MItzvos For Women" & concentrated on CHaNa. I don't remember what else ppl did. It should be a lot easier nowadays with the internet. Hve her speak to some past graduates about what they did. Sorry, I can't be any more help.

gryp

Mon, May 22 2006, 8:17 pm

SaraYehudis- what is the topic?
usually you make up an outline of all the different subtopics within the topic, then do all the research- finding out anywhere and everywhere it talks about the topic-, and then write it up.

Mommy912

Mon, May 22 2006, 8:22 pm

There are books on how to write a term paper: what kind of paragraphs to put where, the standards of quoting and references. Look at some sample papers to get a feel for how hers should look.
How long is her paper supposed to be?
SaraYehudis you are so good in researching things for this site - she is lucky to have you to help her.

↑ TzenaRena ↓

Mon, May 22 2006, 9:29 pm

Thanks everybody for great advice. Keep it coming! DD is starting to feel more hopeful. Very Happy

amother, it sounds like you went to a very good school! I'm afraid this is the fisrst one for dd. she's had smaller papers, but this is "major". Actually it only has to be around seven typed pages.

Topic is the ten nisyonos of Avraham Avinu, and the idea of a nisayon in general. The connection of Nisayon and Nes . We've been brainstorming, looking up different seforim, there is a maamar we're thinking of. Smile

Meema2Kids

Mon, May 22 2006, 9:46 pm

I always started a paper with an outline like this:

Intro
- thesis statement
- foreshadow each point to be made in the paper

1st point
- thesis statement for this point
- back up information
- transition statement

2nd point
- thesis statement for this point
- back up information
- transition statement

3rd point
- thesis statement for this point
- back up information
- transition statement

Conclusion
- restate your points
- draw conclusions
(don't include any new information)

↑ amother

Mon, May 22 2006, 9:53 pm

SaraG wrote:

her teacher should have given her more guidance.

when I had to do a term paper in twelth grade, (BRHS, CH) we were just told to write a term paper and hand it in. we werent given any guidance or help. no one at home was able to help me with sichos or any ideas. I ended up rewriting my friends sisters paper (she had graduated 5 years before) and still feel guilty about it till this day.

Tovah

Mon, May 22 2006, 9:54 pm

try pirkei avos, this past week had abt the ten tests. look up some mifarshim on it. theirs a great sefer on pirkei avos from kehos. the one with the new binding same as gutnick chumashim. if u know what I'm talking abt.

↑ TzenaRena ↓

Mon, May 22 2006, 11:13 pm

Thanks Meema2Kids, that outline idea is very helpful!

Quote:

theirs a great sefer on pirkei avos from kehos.

We have Biurim l'pirkei Avos, but it's by my son in Yeshiva. Very Happy

Should we buy another? (it doesn't have that kind of binding, so maybe there's a new one?) We also have Milei D'Chasiduso by R. Yekusiel Green.

SaraG, I think you are right. Step one was to tell the teacher your topic, and give a rough outline in. since she didn't do that, and it's so overdue, she's now embarrassed to approach her teacher about it, and find out if she missed getting any instructions.

↑ TzenaRena ↓

Mon, May 22 2006, 11:42 pm

SaraYehudis wrote:

Thanks Meema2Kids, that outline idea is very helpful!

Quote:

theirs a great sefer on pirkei avos from kehos.

We have Biurim l'pirkei Avos, but it's by my son in Yeshiva. Very Happy

Something funny is going on. I tried posting the above a few times, and kept getting error pages, like cannot find server... Then to my great surprise, seven of those posts had appeared on the board! When I tried to delete some of them, I was able to , but with the last one, a message came up: topic does not exist! I thought I was seeing things again, when in the forum index, the topic doesn't exist either. Then, it pops up when I come to this section, Huh?

yoyosma

Tue, May 23 2006, 12:23 am

Meema basically outlined the format of a basic essay, which is a good start! I remember in HS we had to write a term paper with footnotes of all the Sefarim we used etc.
Basically the model I followed, (subject was Ivdu Es Hashem Bi'Simcha) was I explained the sentence according to the source, used the meforshim on it from that source, then went a bit deeper with things written about the topic of Avoda and Simcha, (simcha poretz geder, etc), then I concluded with a story of the Baal Shem Tov who went to show his Talmidim a person who personified the above mentioned Pasuk.
I think thats a good formula to follow.
Basically, find the Nisyonos, explain according to Rashi and other Miforshim, then go into a deeper explanation from a source who does explanations of Rashi, like a Rashi Sicha, and then a story. Good luck to daughter.

seniormom

Tue, May 23 2006, 12:29 am

Don't worry, it's happened to me quite a bit also, usually late at night (monsters under the bed? Twisted Evil

)...and when all the many duplicates appear I scramble to delete them, or at least edit to one sentence, and issue an apology. (Sometimes I get a dialogue box that tells me I'm not permitted to delete. Oh well, so much for advanced technology!)

cutiemom

Tue, May 23 2006, 2:07 am

look at the book "Letters to a Friend" by Gila Feder. It was written a few years ago and has quite a bit of information on nisyonos. Good luck. If you can't find it anywhere (it may be out of print) PM me.

↑ TzenaRena

Tue, May 23 2006, 9:16 am

thanks, everyone for ideas and info. we really appreciate this. I hope dd will manage to do all this in the day she has left, before her class trip iy"h which she won't miss for anything. Confused

It's too much to expect for her to take it along... Now how long will her teacher wait for her?

BrachaC

Wed, May 24 2006, 10:49 am

Most teachers will contract with their students regarding late penalties. Let your daughter come up with a suitable time frame and bring it to the teacher who can then decide if she will start off "in the red" pointswise or if she is willing to let it go.

Also I found for kodesh papers that while writing it is better to start off from the Torah source and then bring it all the way down to modern day seforim it is actually easier to open a (for example) Michtav M'Eliyahu understand the concept and then take it back to the Gemorahs/Ein Yaakov that are quoted, to the Navi, back to the Chumash. Also, a kankordantzia can be helpful to look up other examples of Nes/Nisayon in the Torah and what the commentaries say there....

Good luck.