Writing the research paper
General Directions
Research Paper Steps
• Choose a topic
• Research a topic
• Take notes based on your
research.
• Create a thesis statement: a
provable assertion [Analyze
notes and see what type of
information you have the
most of and develop this
into the supportable/
provable thesis.]
• Create an outline based
on the thesis statement
and note cards.
• Write a draft
• Proofread and Correct
the draft
• Submit a final copy.
Note Card Format: Book
Bibliographical Info:
Last, first name. “Title of Article.” Title of Book. Mary Lou Retton, ed. City of
Publication: Publishing company, copyright year.
Note from source above
Note from source above
pg#
Note from source above
pg#
Note from source above
pg#
pg#
Note Card Format: Web Site
Bibliographical Info:
Last, First Name. “Title of Web Article.” Person/Group responsible for site. Date of access
or latest update. <url>
Note from source above
Note from source above
Note from source above
Note from source above
The Hybrid Outline
• Introduction
•
Grabber:
• Thesis:
• Main Points:
– I.
– II.
– III.
• First Body Paragraph
•
Main Point I:
•
Details: A:
(in-text citation)
•
B:
(in-text citation)
•
C:
(in-text citation)
•
D: Last sentence should explain how this main point proves the
thesis statement.
• Second Body Paragraph: MP 2, Details A-D [Do the same as above]
• Third Body Paragraph: MP 3, Details A-D [Do the same as above]
• Conclusion: Restate thesis, sum up the main points, and add a clincher (the
last thought on your topic that you want your audience to think about ).
Composing a research paper
• You’ve done the legwork: taking notes and
composing an outline.
• Now you need to use the outline and your
notes to prove your thesis statement.
Writing introduction paragraphs
• Follow the details on the outline; they tell you
what belongs in the introductory paragraph:
– You must have a grabber [Get your reader’s
attention.]
• Ask a question and link it to the topic
• Or, provide startling statistics or facts
• Or begin by setting up a scenario related to your topic.
• State your thesis in the form of a sentence.
• In separate sentences, provide the main points
which will prove the thesis.
Writing concluding paragraphs
• Restate your thesis in the form of a sentence
• Restate your main points, in separate
sentences
• Link the main points to the thesis statement
• End with a clincher sentence.
– The clincher is the last thought you leave your
reader about the topic
• It could answer the opening question
• It could offer a different set of statistics, or comment that the
opening statistics would change as a result of …
• It could offer a different scenario from that which opened the
paper.
Proving your thesis statement
• Each of your main points will contain details that
prove your thesis statement.
• Your main points are in the form of a sentence.
• These sentences become the topic sentences of
each body paragraph.
• The details from your outline (and others that you
have on your note cards) will then be included to
support the main point.
• At the end of each main point paragraph, add a
sentence which links the information back to the
thesis. This sentence must explain how the
information in the paragraph proves the thesis.
In-text Citations
[or, how not to plagiarize]
• If you are using information that did not
originally come from your own brain,
YOU must give credit to the person who
originally had the info, or who inspired the
thought.
• There are several ways to do this:
– Direct quotation
– Embedding
– Paraphrasing
All require
citing your
source.
Quotation
• “Criminals obviously have illegal ways of
obtaining guns” (Cassidy 22).
• Long direct quotations: single space, 2”
margins left/right
Shortly after her husband left for work, a Waco
Texas housewife heard the front door window
break. A strange man reached in, unlocked the
door, and entered the front room. The housewife ran to the Bedroom. She locked the door
and grabbed a handgun kept beneath the mattress.
The intruder kicked the door. He saw the gun
aimed at him. He left (Leddy 144).
Let’s say this info is from a website:
“Criminals obviously have illegal ways of obtaining guns” (Cassidy).
Let’s say this info is from a website and has no author:
“Criminals obviously have illegal ways of obtaining guns” (“Gun Control…”)
Embedding
• Embedding is a combination of your own
wording of the sentence, and part of someone
else’s words.
– Daemmrich believes that the purpose of this
amendment was to “secure each individual the
right to keep and bear arms so that he could protect
his absolute individual rights…” (110).
Let’s say this info is from a website:
There is a belief that the purpose of this amendment was to “secure each individual the right to keep
and bear arms so that he could protect his absolute individual rights…” (Daemmrich).
Let’s say this info is from a website and has no author:
The purpose of this amendment was to “secure each individual the right to keep and bear arms so
that he could protect his absolute individual rights…” (“Women Get…”).
Paraphrasing
• You take someone else’s words and rephrase
them or put them in your own words:
– Gun shops reported huge increases in sales prior to
the new law’s implementation (Leddy, 20).
Let’s say this info is from a website:
Gun shops reported huge increases in sales prior to the new law’s implementation
(Leddy).
Let’s say this info is from a website and has no author:
Criminals obviously have illegal ways of obtaining guns (“Gun Control…”).
How to put the bibliography page
together:
• Alpha order
• Start at the margin, let the computer bring you
down to next line, complete citation, then
indent the 2nd line.
• Single space within a citation
• Double space between citations.