Before you begin, please identify the holiday/ritual. In this section, try to discuss the basics: who, when, why, where, and/or how. For example, who typically celebrates this? When does it occur? How often? Where does this take place? How do you celebrate it? Meaning, what kinds of things do you do…foods do you eat? Do you dress a certain way? The first section of your paper is your opportunity to introduce your topic, your research questions, and give reasons why you have chosen this topic to investigate. Use Show-Don’t-Tell to get the reader interested in your topic. Tell what you know about the topic. Tell what you want to find out. Discuss how you intend to find answers (your research strategy). Discuss what you think you will find when you are done with your investigation (your hypothesis). SECTION 2: RESEARCH In the second section, discuss what you did to find out more information on your topic. Sure you may already know a lot about the topic, but dig deeper for possible historical information or information that you did not already know. Write an introduction (each section should stand alone as a paper). Tell the reader where you looked, who you talked to, and what you did to research this topic. For each piece of research information you gather: Introduce the source of the information. Synthesize (condense, bring together) all the information you learned in this research. Introduce this section by giving a brief synopsis (overview) of the research you did. Now that you have all the facts, what do they mean? How do they all tie in together?
