Building a Successful Paper
A Common Complaint
 Student writers don’t plan. They just sit down and
start writing.
Prewriting Gives you a Head Start!
 It involves:
 Planning
 Organizing
 And leads into:
 Drafting
Prewriting Benefits
 Planning and organizing before you start writing
doesn’t add work; it redistributes work.
 Yes, it will take longer to start writing, but…
 It will take less time to write the paper, and…
 Your paper will be much better!
Planning
 Assess the writing situation
 Form a research question
 Research your topic from multiple viewpoints
 Draft a working thesis
Assess the Writing
Situation
 Before writing, all authors assess their situations.
 Here, we consider what we call a rhetorical triangle:
Now, you’re
the author!
 So you need to think about these things.
 Subject
 What am I writing about?
 What do I already know about this?
 What different points of view exist?
 Purpose
 What am I hoping to accomplish?
 Do I want to inform, persuade, analyze, etc.?
 Audience
 Who are you targeting with this paper?
 What assumptions can you make about this audience?
Form a Research
Question
 First, make sure you understand what your
assignment asks.
 Read very carefully!
 Next, form a basic question that will guide your
research.
 Should the government adopt a single-payer
healthcare system?
 Are student/teacher conferences worth the time and
inconvenience?
Research Your
Topic
 Pay attention to your assignment’s source
requirements.
 Use the tools at your disposal.
 Library
 Internet
 Interviews
 Consider multiple points of view!
Draft a
Working Thesis
 Your thesis should:
 Answer your research question.
 Show where you stand on the issue.
 Show your audience where the paper will go.
 The success of single-payer healthcare systems in other
nations suggests that America would benefit by adopting
one as well.
 Student success begins at home, and the relationship
between teachers and parents built in conferences is
essential to fostering a home environment that is
beneficial to education.
Organizing
 An outline is a great way to organize.
 When organizing, break your paper down into three
main parts:
 Intro
 Body
 Conclusion
Outline
 You’ve seen these before.
 Thesis at the top.
 Each Roman numeral provides a
main line of reasoning.
 Each subheading is support for that
line of reasoning.
Example
Thesis: The success of single-payer healthcare systems in other
nations suggest that America would benefit by adopting one as
well.
I.
Health care in Switzerland
I.
II.
III.
Example from Jones article
Quote from Swiss doctor
Quote from EU official
Health care in Canada
II.
I.
II.
Example from Jones
Quote from Prime Minister
Objections to Plan
III.
I.
II.
Quote from Sarah Palin
Quote from Obama refuting Palin
Drafting
 Your outline is like a skeleton…
 Put some meat on those bones!
Plan an Introduction
 A good introduction should:
 Grab the reader’s attention
 Give background information and history, enough to get
the reader up to speed on the issue

This includes major points of view
 Introduce your thesis
Body Paragraphs
 Each paragraph should contribute to supporting your
thesis.
 Either by using sources to confirm your claims…
 Or by refuting claims that dispute your thesis.
 Open paragraphs with a topic sentence (similar to
Roman numeral bullet from outline).
 Support with quotes, paraphrases, and summaries
from research.
Conclusion
 A good conclusion reiterates main ideas; it doesn’t
repeat them.
 Emphasize your thesis.
 Remind us of key arguments.
 Close by returning to grabber to bring paper full
circle.
If you plan well…
 Writing the paper is as simple as elaborating on your
outline!
 All you have to do is connect your main points.
 Saves time.
 Better organized.
 Won’t leave anything out.
But what if…
 You have to write a very long paper?
Time
 Plan early, start early.
Your Working Thesis
 “I don’t know what I think until I see what I say.”
Start with an Observation…
 “Many college students
work full time.”
Convert it to an Announcement…
 “In this paper I want to
write about the fact
that many college
students work full
time.”
Pose a Question or Questions…
 “Why do so many college students have to work
full time? Does this affect their grades?”
Your paper will answer the question(s)!
Begin to sculpt support
At first...
THERE WILL BE CHAOS!
Find ways to organize data.
 Maps
Gloss
Paragraphs
Color Code
Too much information?
 Cut off a limb!
Too little information?
 Thanksgiving Dinner
Draft, supporting with quotes,
paraphrases, and summaries.
Avoid over-quoting and strings of
direct quotes.
 Use your own voice.
 Paraphrase and summarize.
 Think conversation.
Complete a rough draft.
 It doesn’t have to be pretty!
Now, time for revision.
 Revision = RE-VISION
Narrow your thesis.
 Now you can see what you say!
Thesis is like a mini-outline.
 “Because many students work full time, they are
unable to keep up their grade point averages, some
with a 2.0 and under, so they risk future job
opportunities because employers see poor grades
on college transcripts.”
Reverse Outline
 Logical organization?
 Supports thesis?
Read for clarity.
 Will another reader understand each step of your
argument?
 Are their logical transitions between sentences,
paragraphs, and sections?
Read out loud.
Proofread
 Find another reader to help.
Visit the Writing Center
 HPAC 136
 503-5883
 MWF 9:00-4:00; TR 10:00-5:00