Your teacher may give you the topic to write about, or you may have a selection of topics to choose from. Choose a topic that interests you to make your research interesting and enjoyable.
Not every source that comes up in search engine query is a quality source. Your teacher may give you guidelines about which sources are allowed. Check with your teacher or a librarian if you are not sure whether a source is acceptable.
Your thesis should be one or more sentences at the beginning of your paper that clearly states your position on the topic. Your outline should be a detailed plan of the ideas you argue in the paper. Don't forget to include opinions by other writers that contrast with yours and address them in your paper.
The most common academic style guides are the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, the Modern Language Association Handbook and the Chicago Manual of Style. Format your paper and cite your references as instructed in the appropriate style guide for your course.
Read your paper out loud to make sure your sentence structure is clear. Run a spell and grammar check on your paper. Manually proofread your paper to check for misspelled words that don't show up in electronic spell check.