The Research
Paper
What does
this quote
mean?
What are you trying
to tell your audience?
Examples:
--the impact of the atomic bomb of
modern warfare
--how aggression and anger affects
personality
--the assassination of JFK remains one of
the biggest and most controversial
American mysteries to date
--the battle of Antietam was one of the
bloodiest battles in American history
What does your
audience need to know
about your topic to be
informed?
Shakespeare’s
Parents & Siblings
Childhood
Shakespeare’s
Education
Playwright &
Poet
Career
The
Globe
Returning
to Stratford
Death &
The Folio
Later Years
Add supporting details and extra
information
Shakespeare’s Career
-several plays on London
stage by 1592
-wrote Romeo and Juliet,
The Merchant of Venice,
Hamlet, etc.
-divided his time between
London and Stratford
What is a thesis statement?
• A thesis statement is an
opinion-based sentence that
names the topic of your paper.
It is the last sentence in your
introduction.
A thesis statement must do three
things:
• Make a claim (that is debatable)
• Be supportable with research
• Be specific and narrow (only covering
what is discussed in paper)
• Be expressed in one sentence
**You may need to revise it after you’ve
written your paper in its entirety.
Types of Claims
• Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what
the definition of something is or whether something is a
settled fact. Example:
What some people refer to as global warming is actually
nothing more than normal, long-term cycles of climate
change.
• Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one
person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to
occur. Example:
The popularity of SUV's in America has caused pollution to
increase.
Types of Claims
• Claims about value: These are claims made of what
something is worth, whether we value it or not, how
we would rate or categorize something. Example:
Global warming is the most pressing challenge facing the
world today.
• Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims
that argue for or against a certain solution or policy
approach to a problem. Example:
Instead of drilling for oil in Alaska we should be focusing
on ways to reduce oil consumption, such as
researching renewable energy sources.
**Types of Claims from Purdue OWL
Example Argumentative RP Thesis:
Example of an argumentative thesis statement:
High school graduates should be required
to take a year off to pursue community
service projects before entering college in
order to increase their maturity and global
awareness.
The paper that follows should:
Present an argument and give evidence to
support the claim that students should
pursue community projects before entering
college.
*From Purdue OWL
Weak
Drug addiction is a big problem.
Strong
Drug addiction has caused a
huge increase in violent crimes.
Weak
Home and schools.
Strong
Parents need to participate more
in the education of their children.
Weak
I want to share some thoughts with
you about the space program.
Strong
The space program is a waste of
money.
Never use first (I, me, we,
my, mine, our) or second
(you, your) person in your
final thesis statement. It’s
too informal.
Write a belief statement about your
topic:
• I believe….
Example: I believe that the SAT
tests should be eliminated.
Now add a fact to the belief statement
• I believe….because….
Example: I believe that the SAT
tests should be eliminated because
they cannot predict success in
college.
Finally, take away your “I believe”
statement and you have your thesis!
Example: SAT tests should be
eliminated because they cannot
predict success in college.
The
Introduction
The Introduction
The Hook—opening sentence that catches the
reader’s attention
1.Quote from a source
2.Startling Statement/fact/statistic (use a
misconception about the topic)
3.Vivid word picture description (of a scene or
story related to topic)
4.Image bursts (Ancient buildings. Spicy food.
Colorful clothing.)
5.Rhetorical question (make sure it is
appropriate and thought-provoking)
The Introduction
The Link-bridge between hook & thesis statement,
explaining the significance of the hook
All Hard Core Rock musicians are
drug-seeking Satan worshippers who
are hardened criminals. This is a
misconception that many people share
about those who perform Hard Core Rock
music, but this is not an accurate
image of all of these artists.
The Introduction
Thesis Statement—purpose of paper and
preview of points
Hard Core Rock music is a genre that is
misunderstood because the positive
message is often overlooked.
Write your thesis from your worksheet in the
box on your handout.
How can you avoid PLAGIARIZING in your
research paper?
1. Use QUOTATION marks to identify a
direct quote from your source. ALWAYS use
quotation marks around quotes taken from
your text which are word for word. Only use
direct quotes when it is important for the
reader to know the exact words that the
author used. You also need to cite the source
of your information immediately after your
direct quote.
The Crime of Plagiarism
2. CITE the source of your
information when using ideas and
information taken from the text.
Even if you put the information in
your own words, you must still cite
your source.
The Crime of Plagiarism
3. PARAPHRASE correctly. Just
changing one or two words in a
sentence from your source is not
acceptable, even if you cite it. You
must use your own sentence
structure and ideas.
The Crime of Plagiarism
4. Do NOT use others’ WORKS and IDEAS
as your OWN. The most obvious form of
plagiarism is turning in work that you did
not complete at all, but that you
“borrowed” from another and turned it in
as your own. Just changing the name and
some words does not make it yours.
Avoiding Plagiarism
• If you have any information
that contains a NUMERICAL
figure, make sure that you
document it. As a rule,
numbers are not common
knowledge.
Avoiding Plagiarism
• Do not try to write as
PROFESSIONAL as the
sources you are using. Use
coherent language and avoid
long technical terms whose
meaning you do not know.
MLA Format
Sample 1st Page*
Works
Cited
Page:
Books*
Basic Format:
Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication:
Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.
Examples:
Gleick, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York:
Penguin, 1987. Print.
Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to
Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.
Palmer, William J. Dickens and New Historicism. New York: St.
Martin's, 1997. Print.
---. The Films of the Eighties: A Social History. Carbondale:
Southern Illinois UP, 1993. Print.
Works Cited Page: Periodicals*
Article in a Magazine Format:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year:
pages. Medium of publication.
Example:
Buchman, Dana. "A Special Education." Good Housekeeping
Mar. 2006: 143-8. Print.
Article in Scholarly Journal Format:
Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year):
pages. Medium of publication.
Example:
Duvall, John N. "The (Super)Marketplace of Images: Television
as Unmediated Mediation in DeLillo's White Noise." Arizona
Quarterly 50.3 (1994): 127- 53. Print.
Works Cited Page: Web*
Web Source Format:
Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). “Article
Name.” Name of Site. Name of institution/organization
affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher). Date of last
update. Medium of publication. Date of access.
Works Cited Page: Web*
Examples:
Bernstein, Mark. "10 Tips on Writing the Living Web.”
A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites. A
List Apart Mag., 16 Aug. 2002. Web. 4 May 2009.
Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory.
Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.
"How to Make Vegetarian Chili." eHow.com. eHow,
n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2009.
Parenthetical
Documentation
Parenthetical Documentation
How much of my paper should be documented?
You do not have to document your TOPIC or
TRANSITION sentence because you wrote them. The
rest of every body paragraph must be from a
SOURCE, and must be documented.
How do you document?
To document, you put important information in
PARENTHESIS after the information you have
QUOTED, PARAPHRASED, or SUMMARIZED.
Author-Page Style*
In-text Example:
Wordsworth stated that Romantic poetry was marked by a
"spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings" (263).
Romantic poetry is characterized by the "spontaneous overflow of
powerful feelings" (Wordsworth 263). Wordsworth extensively
explored the role of emotion in the creative process (263).
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
Wordsworth, William. Lyrical Ballads. London: Oxford
U.P., 1967. Print.
Print Source with Author
In-text Example:
Human beings have been described by Kenneth Burke as
"symbol-using animals" (3).
Human beings have been described as "symbol-using
animals" (Burke 3).
Print Source with Author*
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
Burke, Kenneth. Language as Symbolic Action: Essays
on Life, Literature, and Method. Berkeley: U of
California P, 1966. Print.
With Unknown Author*
In-text Example:
We see so many global warming hotspots in North America
likely because this region has “more readily accessible climatic
data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and study
environmental change . . .” (“Impact of Global Warming” 6).
With Unknown Author*
Corresponding Works Cited Entry:
“The Impact of Global Warming in North America.”
GLOBAL WARMING: Early Signs. 1999. Web. 23 Mar.
2009.
Where do you put the period?
In-Text Citations
• 1 sentence
– “In 2013, more than 59 percent of the population
still believed that more than one person was
involved in the murder of John F. Kennedy” (“Who
shot the president” 78).
In-Text Citations
• More than 1 sentence
• In contrast to the conclusions of the Warren Commission,
the United States House Select Committee on
Assassinations (HSCA) concluded in 1978 that Kennedy was
probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. The HSCA
found the original FBI investigation and the Warren
Commission Report to be seriously flawed. While agreeing
with the Commission that Oswald fired all the shots which
caused the wounds to Kennedy and Connally, the HSCA
stated that there were at least four shots fired (only three
of which could be linked to Oswald) and that there was a
high probability that two gunmen fired at the President.
(“Who Shot JFK” 56-58)
In-Text Citations
• More than one source in a sentence
• Although some medical ethicists claim that
cloning will lead to designer children (Miller
12), others note that the advantages for
medical research outweigh this consideration
(James 46).
Body Paragraphs
Writing Paragraphs
• Organized around one “controlling” idea that is
usually stated in a topic sentence
• Made up of supporting sentences that develop
the main idea
• Typically 5-8 sentences
• Topic Sentence: doesn’t have to be the first
sentence (you can begin a paragraph with details
that build up to a summary topic sentence)
• Topic Sentence formula: topic + something
particular about the topic
• You should always be able to find a topic
sentence in a paragraph!
Body Paragraphs
Topic Sentence—clearly identifies main
point of the paragraph…it is like a mini
thesis statement for each paragraph.
The variety of cuisine in Brussels provides a
delicious culinary experience.
Write a topic sentence for each of your
body paragraphs.
Body Paragraphs
Transition sentence to next point (reviews current
paragraph and previews relationship with next
paragraph; it is the puzzle piece that connects
your paragraphs).
Belgians enjoy eating their delicious food
while watching popular sporting events.
Write a transition statement for each of your
body paragraphs. The last body paragraph’s
transition sentence is a summary of that
paragraph’s main idea.
Body Paragraphs
Meat of the paragraph:
• Find information about the topic of each
paragraph and put it in your own words.
• Start writing after the topic sentence.
• Make sure you are putting the
information in a logical order and are
paraphrasing correctly!
• Don’t forget to document at the end of
each block of information you
paraphrase from a source.
THE WORKS CITED PAGE
General Info. About Works Cited:
• The title of the page, WORKS CITED, is centered at
the top of the page.
• Everything on the page is DOUBLE-SPACED, never
more than that.
• Entries on a Works Cited page are called
BIBLIOGRAPHIC entries, which means “Biblio”BOOK and “graphic”-WRITING.
•  The entries on the Works Cited page are in
ALPHABETICAL order.
General Info. About Works Cited:
When you alphabetize, you alphabetize by the
FIRST word of the bibliographic entry, unless it
begins with the three English articles, A , AN ,
and THE. You ignore these words and
alphabetize by the SECOND word in the title.

•You do not INDENT the first line of a
bibliographic entry, but you do indent the
SECOND line of a bibliographic entry. It is the
opposite of a PARAGRAPH in an essay where
you indent the FIRST line.
General Info. About Works Cited:
• All of your SOURCES must be
DOCUMENTED in your paper, so be sure
to put only the sources you used on
your Works Cited page.
• Every PERIOD, COMMA, and COLON are
very important, so do not get careless
when you create your entries.
WRITE ROUGH DRAFT WORKS
CITED PAGE
THIS WILL BE GRADED!
The Conclusion
Restate Thesis (paraphrase your own
thesis…no more than three words in
a row from the original)
NEVER BEGIN WITH
“IN CONCLUSION” or “As you can
see,” or “As already stated,”
The Conclusion
Intensified Insight leading into a
quote (Give any final thoughts and lead into a quote
that you find in your source.)
People should make informed decisions about
Heavy Metal music before criticizing it. Neil
Young agreed with this when he said, “All that
stuff about heavy metal and hard rock, I don't
subscribe to any of that. It's all just
music…Who's to say what is and isn't a certain
type of music?” (Young 1).
The Basic Principles of Persuasive
Writing
Tips for Writing Your Argumentative
Research Paper
Persuasive writing is…
• Writing that sets out to influence or change
an audience’s thoughts or actions
You are subjected to persuasion
everyday…
• From the time you wake up until the time you
go to bed…
• When you turn on the radio, television, read
the paper or a magazine…
• Buy a product or use a service, your choice
has likely been influenced by a persuasive
marketing ad.
How do we get others to accept
our point of view?
• By appealing to their reason
• By appealing to their emotions
• By appealing to their ethics
AND…
• Offer opinions (not for your RESEARCH paper)
• Urge actions
• Back up points with evidence
Appealing to Reason
• Remember that an argument is an appeal to a
person’s sense of reason; it is not a violent fight,
dispute or disagreement. It is a measured, logical
way of trying to persuade others to agree with you.
• One critical thing to remember is that there are at
least two sides to every issue. If you take the
attitude that there is only one side--your side--you
will quite likely alienate your reader.
– Examples: Statistics, Court Cases, Studies, Expert
Opinions (Quotations), Historical Examples
Appealing to Emotion
• The logical appeal is certainly an extremely
persuasive tool. However, our human
nature also lets us be influenced by our
emotions.
• One way of evoking emotion in your reader
is to use vivid images or language that is
emotionally charged
– Ex: anecdotes, vivid images, details of the pain
of certain procedures
Appealing to our Good Character
• The appeal to your ethics can occur on one
or more of the following levels in any given
argument:
– Are you a reasonable person? (willing to
compromise/concede?)
– Are you authoritative? (knowledgeable?)
– Are you an ethical/moral person? (is argument
ethically sound/morally right)
The ethical appeal…
• Is based on the audience’s perception of the
speaker.
• Don’t overlook it! It can be the most effective
of the three!
Elements of a good argument
• Remember to identify any unfamiliar or uniquely
used terms in your argument!
• If you forget to define your terms, (or choose not to
define them) you run the risk of alienating your
audience or confusing them!
• Ex: If you argue that teachers should “monitor”
their students, the word monitor should be
defined. What does monitor mean? Does it
include looking through their registrar’s files?
Reading through their notebooks?
To assess the validity of your paper…
Ask yourself the following questions:
• Do I have enough evidence? (Is it sufficient?)
• Will my audience believe my evidence? (Is it
trustworthy?)
• What are the assumptions built into my
argument, and are those assumptions fair? (Is it
verifiable?)
• Does my conclusion follow logically from the
claims I make?
Complexify your argument
•
•
•
•
•
•
There are several rhetorical “moves” or patterns writers can utilize to enhance
their argument and demonstrate critical thinking about their topic. Cause and
effect: discuss what has led to your topic becoming an issue and why the issue
is affecting people.
Qualification: “qualification” here means to limit your position to specific contexts
or situations, a “yes, but…” perspective. Qualifying not only can demonstrate that
you understand the complexity of an issue but can show you have a unique
perspective on it.
Examination of the opposing argument: know thy enemy. Analyzing other
perspectives on your topic has three key advantages: you demonstrate a broad
understanding of the issue; you can strengthen your position by comparing it to
others; and you’ve given yourself plenty more to write about.
Concede a little, as necessary: it’s perfectly okay to admit your position is not
perfect; in fact, breaking down what works and what doesn’t about your topic can
enhance your analysis. Anticipating and alleviating your reader’s concerns can be
incredibly persuasive.
Propose a solution: a logical and feasible solution to your issue provides authority
and credibility, and it can make for a strong conclusion.
Examine the implications: what effect will this issue have on individuals and/or
the world? Discussing what lies ahead for your topic also makes for a strong
approach to a conclusion.
Note: there is no “correct” strategy about how to integrate these techniques into
your writing, nor is there a desired amount or limit to how many can be used. Use
your best judgment.
Reminders for your paper.
• Make sure you have parenthetical
documentation in EVERY PARAGRAPH and
a Works Cited page.
• Highlight all direct quotes (only 3 allowed)
• No 1st or 2nd person (I, me, my, you, our, us,
we)
• No contractions (can’t, won’t, shouldn’t)
Works Cited Page
All information on this PowerPoint was
copied from the following website:
-“The Basic Principles of Persuasive
Writing.” UBC Writing Centre. The
University of British Colombia, 8
March 2010. Web. 23 March 2010.
-www.eNotes.com/topics/how-writeargumentative-essay
Starred Slides from Purdue OWL
Purdue Writing Lab Phone Number: 765-4943723
Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/