Research Paper - Statement of Purpose

EMAIL YOUR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE TO BOTH TEACHERS BY 7 PM ON WEDNESDAY 3/21!

A statement of purpose is a beefy paragraph or two which states, in some detail, what you want to learn about in your research project and how you plan to learn it.   As you can see in the example below, a statement of purpose often includes many questions.

Statement of Purpose Example

I will be researching the Crusades for my research paper.  I’ve often heard them mentioned when people talk about fighting in the Middle East now.  I’ve always been fascinated with the Middle East; this is an area of the world that I’d love to see someday.  I don’t know too much about the Crusades other than that it involved Europeans and Arabs and that they were fighting over the Holy Land.  This happened a long time ago, I think in the 1200-1300s.  I want to know why Christians and Muslims fought so hard with each other during the Middle Ages.  I want to know what exactly they were fighting about, how they fought, where they fought and what the results were.  What kinds of weapons did they use?  How did the Crusades affect life at home for both Europeans and Arabs?  Did any women fight?  What about children?  I also want to how, if at all, the Crusades have influenced Muslim-Christian relations today.  For example, did 9-11 have anything to do with the Crusades?  Is the Israel-Palestine conflict shaped by this history too?  Are we still fighting over stuff from the 1100s?  That is kind of what I have inferred from things people have said, but I want to decide for myself if this is true.

I will rely on primary and secondary sources for my research.  Because the Catholic Church was involved, I’m pretty sure I can find some documents from priests and popes that will relate to this topic.  I also think there are pictures of the weapons and armor that I can find, as well as maps.  My father used to teach a Sunday School class about the Crusades so I will also ask him for help.   He might know some good books that I can read.  I will also look on YouTube.  Even though it’s not always the most reliable, it helps me to visualize things and sometimes I can find documentary excerpts there.  Finally, I found a young adult book called Babylonne that takes place in the Middle Ages and involves events from the Crusades.  This always helps me to understand the history that I am trying to learn.  I am going to order the book from Barnesandnoble.com.