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Back to the Future - Sixties Research Paper - Jay's Jumpstart - Janis Joplin - Research Questions

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Question: Can Janis be compared to an artist of today?

Jay’s Jumpstart - Focusing Your Research – Asking the Right Questions

Here is where we are at.  To write an interesting profile, we will want to address important questions that our audience may have about our subject.  Remember this:  there are no boring topics, only poor questions.

Try to create questions that are specific, clear, and logically ordered.   Avoid “yes/no” questions that don’t lead to discussion.  To get started, ask yourself the following:

  1. Why is anyone going to care about your topic? What does it matter?
  • For example: If I’m writing about Martin Luther King –
  • Question: Do MLK’s achievements in the 1960’s still influence civil rights leaders of today? How so?
  1. What have I seen, read, and/or experienced that makes for a focused discussion. I mean, am I going to develop coherent support paragraphs that don’t go off on crazy tangents.  Am I going to have enough information?
  • For example: If I’m writing about the JFK assassination –
  • Question: What motivation would the Mafia have for murdering the president?

 

  1. Can I use something that’s already been said? Can I use the writing of experts in the field to support my points?  Do they see my subject any differently?
  • For example, Paul McCartney recently appeared in Coachella. He’s like 73 years old. 
  • Question: What are people saying about his music today that weren’t even alive when he was with the Beatles?
  1. What are the most common misconceptions about the topic? What do people not know?  What do they need to know?
  • For example: Most people believed Marilyn Monroe died of drug overdose, maybe suicide.
  • Question: What does the autopsy show? Could there have been foul play?

 

  1. What is the most surprising thing about my topic? Is there something there that made you take a step back and say, “Whoa?””
  • For example: The Black Eagle that is displayed proudly on Cesar Chavez’s UFW flags.
  • Question: Where did it come from?  What does it represent?

 

  1. Is there an interesting compare/contrast opportunity to develop with a subject my audience will be more familiar with?
  • For example: Janis Joplin
  • Question: Who can I compare her with today.  Is there a female artist that share any similar attributes?

 

  1. How do I feel about it? What is my connection to my subject?

For example:  The L.A. Blow-Outs.

Question:  As a teacher, how can I use this historical event in the classroom?

Here is what you do next:

  1. Create a page for your profile folder with the title: Research Questions
  2. Write your topic at the very top of your paper. Topic:
  3. Choose five research questions to answer.
  4. For each research question, write 100-word answer.
  5. Bring your work to class – 500 words.

Jay’s Sample Questions with Sample Answers (100 words each) :

Q1.  Why would the Mafia want to kill Kennedy?

A1.  In the 1960s, the Kennedys – this means the president and his brother Bobby who was the attorney general – were waging a war against the Mafia.  They wanted to clean the country of organized crime.  The president was cutting all ties with mafia leaders that had helped him win the election.  Bobby was putting high-ranking mobsters in jail.  There is a story of a famous quote heard over a government wiretap from New Orleans Mafia kingpin Carlos Marcello about “getting the stone out of my shoe.”  He was speaking in Sicilian, but FBI investigators understood him to be speaking about assassination.   Conspiracy theorists believe the Mafia were angry with both John. F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy for their attempts to destroy organized crime.  This is what the Mafia does when they get angry: they kill people.

Q2. When did all hell break loose for the Beatles?  We know about all the Beatles lovers.  Who were the Beatles haters?

A2. In March of 1966, John Lennon had granted an interview to his friend Maureen Cleeve of the London Evening Standard.  They were just speaking casually about the popularity of the band.  By this time, the Beatles were a historic phenomenon.  Everywhere they went, they played to sold-out arenas. Everything they did was watched, loved, and bought by their adoring fans.  That’s until John said, “We’re more popular than Jesus now.   He was only joking!  He didn’t have anything bad to say.  He explained he wasn’t criticizing Christ or putting down religion.  But it was too late.  Protests all around the world were organized.  Religious group began collecting and burning Beatles records.   The Beatles were accused of playing Devil music.

Q3. How would The March to Sacramento – a 300-mile walk – benefit Cesar Chavez and  his famworkers union?

A3. In 1966, Cesar Chavez was leading a long, tough strike against the grape industry.  He was fighting for the rights of farmworkers.  For his union, he demanded better pay and working conditions.  However, it was a difficult road.  His farmworkers were poor.  The growers were rich.  Everyone knew that the workers couldn’t last very long without money.  In April, Cesar came up with this idea to lift the spirits of his union members.  They would walk from Delano in the Central Valley to Sacramento. Cesar knew he had to do something dramatic to capture the imagination of the country.   Young people, old people, Mexicans, and non-Mexicans came from all over the country to join in on the parade.  Televisions stations sent reporters and cameras.  Every night you could see Cesar and his followers on the news.  AS they walked, they carried pictures of La Virgen de Guadalupe.  They sang songs.  They waved the Black Eagle flag.   When they reached Sacramento, the world’s eyes were upon them.  Cesar’s friend and confidant took a microphone in front of thousands of people and said, “You cannot close your eyes and ears to us any longer.”