Your Research Paper is Due No Later Than 5 December.

1.  Your research paper is due no later than Monday, 5 December.  That's a no-later-than; you really should turn it in much sooner.
2.  Work / think / consider your TOPIC and THESIS STATEMENT now.
3.  Dig through the 'net for good, academic sources.  Your sources must be authoritative.  When considering a book or essay or schema as a source, think -- think -- about who wrote it.  Does this person know what he's talking about, or is this just some twaddle submitted by a high school student?  You would not (one hopes) take medical advice from a comic book.
4. Demonstrate initiative always; never WAIT to be told to work.
5. After the mid-term exam we will spend much class time on writing research papers, including time in the writing laboratory, but none of that is nearly enough.  You will have to work mostly outside of class.
6. You CANNOT PASS this class without submitting a well-done research paper.
7. Plagiarism is a crime.
8.  The instructor is available for you before class, after class, and on the 'net for individual assistance with writing assignments;  the instructor is not your therapist and cannot live your life for you.