Tackling the Big One:
Managing and Writing a Longer
Research Paper
Beth Towle
ENGL 106 (Adapted from ND Writing Center Workshop)
What is a Research Paper?
 An argument that is backed up by outside sources
 Focuses on a particular topic.
 Uses primary and secondary sources.
 Makes claims using evidence/support.
 Is NOT a collection of other people’s ideas and arguments.
Arguments, Claims, Evidence
 Argument: your central idea or concept
 This is your thesis
 Claims: the nods toward the central argument you make throughout the
paper; ideas; cannot exist without evidence
 Evidence: the support needed in order to make a claim
 This is where the actual research comes into play
 Quote when direct wording adds to the argument being presented
 Summarize when the general idea adds to the argument
 Be selective; only use what is relevant and necessary
Pre-Gaming: Planning Your Eventual Paper
 Decide on a rough topic. Remember that this topic can always be changed
or revised later in the process.
 Begin finding resources. Start big and work your way in:
Books > Articles > Visual materials > Reviews/short articles
 Take advantage of help: reference/subject librarians, instructor, classmates,
Writing Lab, etc.
 Think about the scope of your paper – how big or small an area do you want
to focus on?
 Create a research plan
Research Plan of Action
 Set goals for yourself
 Example:
 Write down the dates by which you
want to achieve said goals
 Week 1: begin reviewing sources
 Keep to the plan of action as
closely as possible
 Week 3: Read/view sources and take
notes as you go along; mark exact
quotes that might be useful
 Allow yourself plenty of time for
each goal and adjust it to your own
needs
 Week 3.5: Create an annotated
bibliography or general resource
outline
 The earlier you start, the better!!
 Week 2: Narrow down sources
 Week 4: Begin writing first draft.
 Week 5: Revise draft.
Finding Appropriate Sources
 Library catalog, databases, WorldCat, internet searches
 Remember to have a mix of primary and secondary sources
 Primary sources: original works (surveys, interviews, observations, studies, etc.)
 Secondary sources: review s and analyses of primary sources (articles, academic books,
reviews, etc.)
 Keep your sources organized: make piles based on usefulness, type, or topic
 Use the notes/bibliographies/works-cited sections of current sources as a
way to find other sources
 If something doesn’t seem to be that related to your topic, don’t waste time
on it!!
Organizing Your Research
 Annotated bibliography
 Type out appropriate quotes and
keep them in their own document;
makes it easier to pull them out to
use in a paper later.
 Always include 2 pieces of
information in an annotated bib:
 A brief summary of the source.
 An explanation of how this source can
be used in your paper

Langford, Barry. Post-Classical Hollywood: Film
Industry, Style and Ideology since 1945.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010.
In chapter eight of his book, Langford explores the
action film as a vehicle for exhorting the ideological
values of masculinity. He explains that culture – in this
case, film – is as responsible for distributing ideology as
politics. Langford uses the example of action movies to
show the ways in which masculinity becomes a kind of
national identity.
Although Langford’s chapter feels a little anemic, it did
get me thinking about how genre expectations in film
themselves become important to culturallydisseminated ideologies. Because hyper-masculinity is
the norm in action film, and because action films are so
popular and economically valuable, they establish
hyper-masculinity as a kind of cultural or social ideal.
300 certainly seems guilty of this identity construction.
Citation Resources
 Common styles: MLA, Chicago, APA
 Style guides
 Purdue Online Writing Lab:
 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
 Basic citation rules:
 Cite when using outside sources
 Always cite quotes
 Avoid plagiarism; when in doubt, give credit.
 Talk to the professor about citation standards in your field
Staying Focused, Powering Through
 Continually think about your thesis or basic argument.
 If you find yourself straying, figure out why. Should you maybe be writing about this other
thing instead?
 Outline, formal or informal
 Cite as you go
 Write a little bit at a time
 1 or 2 paragraphs a day go a long way
 Revise
 Use available resources – online sites (like the Purdue O.W.L.), Writing Lab,
friends and family, instructor, peer review, etc.
Basic Writing Tips
 Clear language; get technical only when appropriate
 Organization
 Am I making good transitions?
 Are my topic sentences easy to find?
 Is my introduction a good lead-way into my paper? Is my thesis statement easy to find?
 Does my conclusion wrap things up without presenting anything new and without simply
summarizing the paper?
 Plan on writing at least 2 drafts
 Reverse outline or outline as you go