Starting Research Paper (Kring's "Heroes")

Hi Everyone, Im pretty new to the forum, just had a few questions regarding how to start my research paper.

The topic for my senior year research paper is British Literature, there was not prompt assigned.

the topic choice was pretty open so I chose the following as mine:
"Supernatural abilities as seen in Tim Kring "Heroes" can be proven possible by basic evolutionary principles expressed by Charles Darwin in his "Origin of Species."

I really have no idea where to get started, I have tried to write out an outline, but its not going too well. Im using inspiration, but I can seem how to figure out where to get started and what my main topics should be...

My next question is, for the intro, can I use a quote to start it off and then the thesis, or how is the first paragraph supposed to be formated? Next, could I begin the second paragraph by explaining what "Heroes" is all about? or should I start off by talking about Charles Darwin's theories on evolution?

Also, maybe I could prove and disprove certain types of "abilities" within the show by using Darwin's book and also using sir Issac newtons series called "Principia" to disprove some others?

Ugh, this whole process of beginning is agonizing!

Any and all help would be appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Donal.

heres what I have for an outline so far...Supernatural Abilities
I. Introduction

A. What are supernatural abilities
B. Thesis

II. Body
A. Charles Darwin
1. natural selection
a. struggle for survival
b. survival of the fittest
2. variation
a. mutations
b. inheritance

B. "heroes"
1. what are supernatural abilities
2. activating evolution
3. Types of abilities

III. Conclusion
A. Example of some non fiction abilities

To be safe I would not start the introductory paragraph with a quote. It does depend, however, on what exactly your teacher wants. Has he/she been really stressing the "hook/thesis statement/ elaboration" format or has he/she been more relaxed about formating?

Also I would be careful about telling the readers to much about the specifics Heroes. Of course you will be talking about it but what I mean is that you should try to avoid falling into summary of plot or to much introduction for it. Only tell the readers exactly what they need to know about the show in order for it to be relevant to your paper's topic. (same goes for Darwin's work too!) The abilities will need to be elaborated on a bit, of course, but only in relation to how they could be realistically predictable in Darwin's theories.

For examples you might find a quote from On the Origin of Species then explain it a little and relate a particular ability from Heroes to what Darwin is saying. Just make sure that you stay on topic and try to make as many connections as possible between the two subjects you are dealing with(Heroes and On the Origin of Species) while staying focused of course. :)
Good luck!

How will you successfully argue that supernatural abilities are possible? This will have to be a biology paper... that is the problem. If you decide to keep that thesis statement, I say change possible to "plausible," but perhaps tweaking the thesis is necessary.

Make it very abstract and philosophical, and think about why is it meaningful that they are plausible within the framework of ev. theory??.

Yes, beginning is agonizing when you are trying to do the impossible. Be VERY general when talking about ev. theory, and just mention a few main principles -- like natural selection -- but do not set yourself up to have to go into detail about evolution. Holy moly, what an awful thing to do to yourself! :)

The brunt of this can be analysis of the stories and characters with a theme of Darwinian evolution.

I wonder, would you want to include a section about "intelligent design" arguments to go with it?? That would be sort of cool...

You are suffering from the fact that your thesis is wrong. Charles Darwin's theory absolutely does not allow for the development of supernatural abilities. At all. Period. It certainly doesn't allow for the abilities in Heroes, as good as that show is, and in spite of the ostensible theory woven into the mythology of the show about a key genetic marker underlying those abilities. If you really want to write about Charles Darwin, why don't you write about how his theory affected literature in the Victorian and Modern periods. The Time Machine, for instance, shows how humans might evolve over time into two separate species. Most of Charles Dickens work is a rejection of the ideas of the social Darwinists, who believed taht the poor shoudl be allowed to perish for the good of the human race. And so on.

lol, well charles darwins evolutionary theories could allow for some of the abilities such as regeneration or the ability to read minds in some regards or even superhuman strength agility and perception, but I also want to disprove others such as flying and the ability to move objects with the mind using newtons principles of physics...

this is what i have for an intro paragraph:


"The Human Genome Project has discovered that tiny variations in man's genetic code are taking place at increasingly rapid rates. Teleportation, levitation, tissue regeneration. Is this outside the realm of possibility? Or is man entering a new gateway to evolution? Is he finally standing at the threshold to true human potential?" (CITATION) One is often faced with such questions when envisioning the future of our species; where are we headed and what is our eventual destination? When faced with such questions it is often hard to put forth a single answer that can be accepted by all. Regardless, there is an answer to these questions that suffices; the evolution of our species is at its pinnacle, "we are finally standing at the threshold to human potential." When a species, such as ours, is faced with dramatic global challenges, dramatic climate change, disease and hunger that species will make drastic changes in its physiological aspect in order to adapt to these new conditions. Perhaps fantasies of super hero powers are not too far out of scope for our species; such ideologies may become reality as our species continues to develop and grow. Tim Kring's provides a fictional scenario in Heroes where supernatural abilities possessed by humans are possible; most of these abilities can be proven plausible when compared to the basic principles of evolution as expressed in Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, whereas some are disproven by Sir Isaac Newton's series on physics entitled Principia.

Evolution takes place in slow, gradual steps. Read The Blind Watchmaker, by Richard Dawkins, for a really good explanation of why this is so. It takes place over many, many generations (and each generation takes around twenty years). So, having a regular person, or the son of a regular person, suddenly wake up with the ability to levitate, or shoot lightning out of their hands, or regenerate lost limbs, is not possible under Darwin's theory. Certainly, humans could, over a very, very long period of time, develop the ability to deliver electric shocks (electric eels have this ability) or to regrow lost limbs (as certain amphibians and reptiles can) but it would take millions of years for any of these abilities to manifest themselves through natural evolution. Also, natural selection selects for variations that help people to survive. How does the ability to teleport, levitate, or regenerate help us to deal with hunger, disease, or, for that matter, climate change? Perhaps you need to study the theory of evolution in more detail before coming up with your thesis . . . sorry.

lol, well I think you need to re-read my thesis statement... when I say most of these abilities I obviosuly do not mean flying or teleportation, im talking about regeneration, super strength, larger capacity for memory, faster reflexes, better sight, better hearing/smell, and im comparing these abilities to evolution, being that the ones that are presented in Heroes might eventually arise as man continues to evolve, it doesnt mean tomorrow... im just arguing the point that they are possible with time.

Well, in that case, as long as you make it clear that you understand the time scales involved, you should be okay. Good luck, and I look forward to reading the completed draft if you post it here.

Awesome, you guys, this is a very interesting one. When I saw that Sean wrote that you cannot evolve supernatural powers, it made me think of what definition of supernatural powers we are using... I guess, by definition, "supernatural" is something that can't naturally happen. But, then again, "evolve" refers to a natural process of changing what abilities are possible. Weird stuff here, I like it.

You write very well!!

...the evolution of our species is at its pinnacle, and "we are finally standing at the threshold to human potential" (citation).

thanks for the compliment! lol, yep, sean sorry I sounded a little ticked, i didnt make what I was trying to say clear at all, my bad.


I also have another question...
Am I aloud to refer to the human species in my paper as "our species" or "we" and am I aloud to ask questions in my paper like, "where are we headed?"


Thanks,
Donal.

Depends. Some teachers really don't like it when you use "we," because it's a variant of the first person, and someone somewhere once told them that formal essays shouldn't use the first person. On the other hand, these teachers are idiots. Good teachers will recognize that referring to humans as "we" will sound a lot more natural than artificially trying to discuss your own species as if you weren't a part of it. So, really, it depends upon the views on essay writing held by your teacher.

lol, ya... its been really hard writing this paper trying to to use the word "we" or "our" it feels so un natural...

Of course, if you have evolved superpowers, I suppose you would no longer qualify as human. That is, the amount of genetic change necessary to support such powers would probably be great enough that superpowered people wouldn't really be human at all, from a strictly scientific viewpoint. So, you might have to make a them/us distinction at some point.

lol, I wish i was able to, Im limited to only 9 pages. Teacher wont read over 9 pages, even if its one line on the tenth page. :(

Well, I look forward to reading your draft, should you choose to post it here. I'm sort of curious as to how your essay turns out.

Just remember that the prompt is about British Literature. This means that the focus of your paper should be about the peice of literature you chose.(Darwin's Book) The TV show Heroes was not in the prompt so just make sure that it is supplementing your paper and not taking it over. Just try not to make it seem like you are using Darwin's book as an excuse for writing about a TV show you like. I'm not saying that you would do that I'm just saying that whoever assigned the prompt wants you to talk about a British Literature so your paper must be focused on that. All other things, though they can be used as good support, must be secondary.

In keeping with Tyler's comment, I repeat what I said before: "If you really want to write about Charles Darwin, why don't you write about how his theory affected literature in the Victorian and Modern periods. The Time Machine, for instance, shows how humans might evolve over time into two separate species. Most of Charles Dickens work is a rejection of the ideas of the social Darwinists, who believed that the poor should be allowed to perish for the good of the human race. And so on." This would have the benefit of keeping your paper focused purely on British Lit, without moving into the realm of television at all.