Question

I'm working on a research paper for English and I'm having trouble making notecards

Answer 1

decide approximately the area of research that you want to write about.
guess at an approximate title for your work.
Perhaps they could be your first two notecards.

Now, IF you're being asked to give a presentation of your work, then maybe some "cue cards" or note cards as you put it may be a good idea - for those moments when you lose concentration.

With a bit of luck, you may be starting to have an "internal dialogue" with yourself (obviously), and with more luck, ideas may start to come to you.
If they do, grab them onto a cue card.
When you've got a few, or just when you fancy it, spread the cards out and admire your handiwork, and see if you like it.
The idea is to build up "mental momentum"/"concentration momentum"/confidence for your task.
I use something like what I've written above when I'm doing something on powerpoint. I just stick anything that seems remotely relevant onto the slides, have a look at them, see the mistakes etc and re work it accordingly. And, every so often, it actually works to my satisfaction ...