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Table of Contents
The Argumentative Research Paper
2
The Phases of Writing a Research Paper
3
Searching for Books and Scholarly Journals Online
6
Tips for Critically Evaluating Sources
7
Is It Scholarly? Distinguishing Periodical Types
9
Evaluating Websites
11
Research Paper One
16
Research Paper Two
18
Tentative Research Paper Topic Proposal
19
Refined Tentative Thesis Statement
21
Research Information Sets
21
Sample Research Information Set
27
The Rhetorical Précis
31
Research Paper Outlines
34
Sample Outline Template
36
Copies of Sources
37
Research Paper Structure
38
Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism
20
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English 1A Research Paper Information
In this class, the main projects are two argumentative research papers. To help
students prepare for these papers, they will first write an argumentative essay using an
assigned text and at least one scholarly journal article the students find on their own. The
essay and the research papers will be preceded by a number of process steps. Students
must complete the process steps in the correct order before the essay and research papers
will be accepted.
The Argumentative Research Paper
What is an Argumentative Research Paper?
It is a thesis-driven exploration of scholarly research on a particular subject. It
presents empirical evidence and attempts to prove conclusions about a debatable issue.
A thesis statement is
1. an assertion, not a question;
2. one sentence long;
3. argumentative—it makes a case (you are assert an idea that reasonable people
can either agree or disagree with); and
4. specific—it will lead to a discussion of actions and possible specific, concrete
solutions (not merely “wishful thinking”). It will answer the question “What do
you want your readers to do?” in a such a way that they are given practical
guidelines to follow that go beyond vague, wishful thinking about what the
government or other entities “should” do.
Historically, one of the toughest issues for students writing argumentative
research papers has been understanding what an appropriate thesis statement is. An
argumentative thesis is debatable by reasonable people—it is not just an obvious fact or
“factoid.” A fact is something that has really occurred in the past or is actually the case
in the present. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability, that is, whether it can
be proven to correspond to experience. Standard reference works are often used to check
facts. Scientific facts are verified by replicable experiments. A “factoid” is an invented
“fact” believed to be true because it appears in print, is heard in media, or is simply
repeated often enough; the term also means a briefly stated and usually trivial fact.
An example of an unacceptable attempt at a thesis statement would be something
like “Eating a great deal of fast food increases rates of obesity.” That is utterly obvious.
It is not debatable by reasonable people, it can easily be scientifically verified, and it
doesn’t suggest a solution to a problem.
“Voters should advocate federal legislation to restrict the advertising of fast food
to children because these advertisements contribute to childhood obesity” is a much
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better thesis because it is debatable—it depends on the interpretation of scientific
research, and it also suggests a possible solution that people may or may not want to
accept. The paper will have to provide evidence that there is, indeed, a connection
between childhood obesity rates and advertisements aimed at children, and it will also
have to provide compelling arguments that voters should support legislative changes that
would, in effect, limit an area that some people could argue is protected by the right of
free speech.
What is the purpose of an argumentative research paper?
The purpose is to find and compile empirical evidence about a particular issue,
including problems and potential solutions; to evaluate the data; to make observations
about the data; to prove one or more points to your readers; and, ideally, provide them
with information about practical, concrete solutions to the problems discussed.
Empirical evidence is information that is acquired through research: observation,
experimentation, or a combination of both. This data is recorded and analyzed by
researchers and is a central part of the scientific method. The scientific method begins
with scientists forming questions and then acquiring the knowledge to either support or
disprove a specific theory. That is where the collection of empirical data is vitally
important. Before any piece of empirical data is collected, honest researchers carefully
design their research methods to ensure the accuracy, quality, and integrity of the data.
The Phases of Writing a Research Paper
Phase One: Preliminary Research
Brainstorm about topics that interest you that are related to the class topics. Do
some preliminary research. At this stage, you can start with a fairly casual search, simply
using the Internet. Steer clear of blogs and opinion sites. Look for sites sponsored by
professional organizations, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP);
government organizations, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);
“.edu sites” (the domain name “edu” is a sponsored top-level domain sponsored by
United States-affiliated institutions of higher education); and reputable research groups,
NGOs, and NPOs, like the Pew Research Center, The Center for Investigative Reporting
(CIR), and Reporters without Borders. Some reputable, nonpartisan periodicals, like the
Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), sponsored by Columbia University’s Graduate
School of Journalism, have articles and resources available online.
While much of what you find on the Internet is worthless and even misleading,
there are also places online where you can find information that will give you overviews
of and insights into contemporary problems relevant to our topics. (See “Evaluating
Websites” later in this class pack.) Websites may also direct you to primary research that
you can use in your paper. Look for information on problems that have solutions that
your readers can participate in. Websites of activist groups and professional
organizations can tell you what the people who have been studying problems for years
recommend.
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Phase Two: Framing Research Questions
Now you can start to frame research questions. One or more research questions
are essential before beginning the serious, scholarly stage of a research project. Research
questions are an organizing element for the topic under study. They focus the researcher’s
investigation into a narrow enough topic area and guide every aspect of the research
project. The research question responds to the inquiry, “What do I want to know about
my topic?” For example, if the topic is childhood obesity, the first research question
might be, “How many children in the United States are clinically obese?” Other questions
would include, “What are the main causes of childhood obesity?” “What is the impact of
obesity on children’s health? “What is the impact of childhood obesity upon people when
they reach adulthood, middle age, and old age?” “What are the economic costs to the
United States of childhood obesity?” and “What recommendations do experts who have
carefully researched the topic propose to curb childhood obesity?”
Phase Three: Begin to Craft an Argumentative Thesis
Develop a debatable position that you will use the evidence in the body of your
paper to defend. Your paper will be a series of arguments in support of an assertion that
reasonable people can agree or disagree with; your task is to anticipate opposing
viewpoints and present enough evidence from research and logical reasoning to make
your assertion—the conclusion of your arguments—as convincing as possible. Your
thesis is the reason for writing the paper: the organizing idea. You will explain, argue,
and justify your points. Since, in this class, you will be asked to examine a problem, you
must formulate a thesis that will allow you to suggest a solution that your paper will
present in detail in the body. This is a research class; you should not try to invent a
solution on your own. Evaluate the ideas of experts who have spent years researching the
topic and related issues. Find the solutions that you think are best, and present one or
more of them in your thesis.
As you think about solutions, make sure that you find ones that are plausible.
(This is why you should be conducting research into what experts suggest.) All too often,
students make suggestions that simply won’t work, either because they are not thinking
about the way people really behave, or they don’t understand the workings of a
democracy. We cannot, for example, pass laws where the government dictates what the
news media can and cannot do. We cannot pass laws that fast food restaurants must sell
only healthy food or that they must pay for advertisements promoting exercise or healthy
food. We cannot pass laws that say advertising agencies cannot use thin models. Keep in
mind that you should be trying to empower your readers—that is how change is brought
about. It is not enough to express wishful thinking over what other people and entities
should do; your thesis should suggest areas in the body of your paper where you will
discuss steps that your readers can take.
Remember that this is a tentative thesis. As you gather data, you may discover
new information that will cause you to change your original thesis; there is nothing
wrong with this—research is about discovering the most accurate information and the
best answers to problems. It should be a learning process.
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Phase Four: Begin Scholarly Research
After your topic and a tentative thesis have been approved, start doing serious
scholarly research. Keep all of your research questions in mind, including ones dealing
with recommendations for solutions. As BC students, you have access to hundreds of
scholarly, peer-reviewed journals—and all for free. Going online to the library website,
you will see a list of companies that provide databases. You can search these databases,
limiting your search to “Academic Journals,” meaning scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.
Books by reputable experts can give you a lot of information about a topic, as well.
Remember that you will have to evaluate your sources. (More information on this can be
found later in the class pack and in online handouts.)
Phase Five: Draft a Tentative Outline
The outline will help you organize your thinking about your research and
assertions. Think about the order in which you should present your research findings and
reasoning, you will include phrases summarizing your main points and supporting points,
as well as additional supporting detail. This will help you determine not only the most
effective order in which to present your data, but alert you to areas that may need more
research and support. Think again about the solutions that you propose. Are they
practical and concrete? Do you clearly present suggestions that your readers could
implement that have a chance of helping to effect change, or are you relying on wishful
thinking about what “the government” or other entities “should” do?
Phase Six: Write a First Draft
It is important to write a first draft as early as possible before the final draft is due.
Writing can itself be a way of creating and developing new ideas, but, apart from that, a
first draft will help show you what information from research you may need to add and
help you think more about your audience and the types of questions and skepticism your
imagined readers may have about your data and ideas. Before you start, re-read the class
General Essay Guidelines. They spell out, in detail, basic requirements about your thesis,
proper attribution of ideas, how to avoid plagiarism, use of sources and evidence,
audience, tone, style, structure, and format. As you write your first draft, keep your
tentative thesis in mind. Think again about the solutions that you propose. Are they
practical and concrete, or do they simply express wishful thinking? Would they even be
legal in the United States?
Also, don’t try to start by writing the introduction. Introductions are an overview
of what your paper is about, and they contain the thesis. Think about your thesis, but
write your body paragraphs first. The introduction may be the first part of a paper that the
audience reads, but it should be one of the last parts that you write. You can write your
introduction and your conclusion after you are satisfied with the body of the paper. They
will both be easier to write then. Remember that a conclusion sums up the points that you
have offered in defense of your thesis—it does not contain any new information.
It is important to write your first draft as early as possible because is virtually impossible
to successfully proofread and edit a paper right after you write it. When we read a paper
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we have just written, it seems very clear because we know what we meant to convey.
Our minds “helpfully” fill in gaps for us. Another reader of the paper would have a
different experience. A day or more after you write a paper, it is much easier to put
yourself in the position of a general audience member and see all sorts of gaps, confusing
material, and mistakes.
Phase Seven: Edit Early Drafts to Create a Finished Research Paper
Editing is not the same as proofreading—proofreading means looking for
mistakes in areas like format, spelling, punctuation, and grammar. With editing, you are
focusing on content—on the evidence that you are presenting and on the way that you are
presenting it and supporting your ideas. Proofreading is about looking at little details—
editing is more about looking at the big picture. Proofreading is important, but when you
look at the early drafts of your paper, you should be thinking about the depth of your
research and the persuasiveness of your arguments. You may have to go through several
drafts to create a truly successful finished research paper.
Searching for Books and Scholarly Journal Articles Online
Our library lets you search for books and find scholarly journal articles online. Go to its
home page (see the screenshot below) and choose from a series of options. EBSCOhost is
a service that provides the best databases for English 1A topics. Academic Search
Premier is a particularly useful database (just click the EBSCOhost link).
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Tips for Critically Evaluating Sources
What is a scholarly source?
Scholarly sources (also referred to as academic, peer-reviewed, or refereed) are
written by experts in a particular field and serve to keep others interested in that field up
to date on the most recent research, findings, and news. These resources will provide the
most substantial and trustworthy information for your research and papers.
What is peer review?
When a source has been peer-reviewed, it has undergone the review and scrutiny
of a board of colleagues in the field. They evaluate this source as part of the body of
research for a particular discipline and make recommendations regarding its publication
in a journal, revisions prior to publication, or, in some cases, reject its publication.
Why use scholarly sources?
The authority and credibility evident in scholarly sources will contribute a great deal to
the overall quality of your papers. Use of scholarly sources is an expected attribute of
academic course work.
How can you tell if a source is scholarly?
The following characteristics can help you differentiate scholarly sources from
those that are not. Be sure and look at the criteria in each category when making your
determination, rather than basing your decision on only one criterion.
Authors



Are authors’ names included?
Are authors’ credentials provided?
Are the credentials relevant to the information provided?
Publishers



Who is the publisher of the information?
Is the publisher an academic institution, scholarly, or professional organization?
Is their purpose for publishing this source evident?
Audience


Who is the intended audience of this source?
Is the language geared toward those with knowledge of a specific discipline or the
general public?
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Content






Why is the information being provided or the article written?
Are sources cited?
Are there references to other writings on this topic?
Are there charts, graphs, tables, and bibliographies included?
Are research claims documented?
Are conclusions based on evidence provided?
Timeliness (Currency)


Is the date of publication evident?
Is currency of the information crucial to your research?
Additional tips for specific source types
Each specific resource type will also have criteria that can be applied to that source. For
this course, your minimum number of required sources (as opposed to supplemental
sources that might provide useful facts and information) should be from books and
scholarly journals. (Note: a “journal” is an academic periodical that contains articles; it is
not an article itself.)
Books

Date of publication and currency
o Is the information current enough for your purposes?
o Is a historical perspective important?

Publishers
o University press - likely to be scholarly
o Professional organizations and the U.S. Government Printing Office can
also be indicators of scholarly content.

Are there any book reviews?
o Check sources such as Book Review Index and Contemporary Authors
(available through our library)
o
Search databases in the subject area or your topic to locate book reviews
(also available through our library)
Articles




Is biographical information for the author provided?
Who is the publisher?
How frequently is the periodical published?
Are there advertisements I the periodical? If so, how many and what kinds of
advertisements are present? For example, is the advertising clearly geared towards
readers in a specific discipline, age group, or occupation?
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
For more specific guidelines in identifying periodical types, see “Is It Scholarly?
Distinguishing Periodical Types” in this class pack.
Note: The look or makeup of a scholarly article varies by discipline. For the sciences,
they are broken into sections, each with its own purpose.
1. The abstract is a summary of the article. This is designed to tell you if the article
will be helpful to your own research.
2. The introduction provides background on the article’s topic.
3. The methods and materials section goes into all of the details about the
experiment or study.
4. The results section discusses what was learned.
5. The conclusion or discussion describes the implications of the study, what might
have gone wrong, and what this means for the future.
6. The references (works cited) section contains a list of the books and articles
mentioned.
Is It Scholarly? Distinguishing Periodical Types
A magazine is a periodical aimed at the general public. Journals are scholarly
periodicals aimed at researchers and specialists. While a journal contains original
research articles (primary research), magazines contain articles pertaining to current
events or general interest topics; if they discuss research studies, they are usually getting
the information second or third hand (secondary and tertiary research). Primary research
is what you should be looking for. Some magazines’ purpose is to advance specific
political and philosophical ideologies, and the articles may reflect biased viewpoints, not
objectivity.
Comparing the authors of journal and magazine articles, the former gives authors’
credentials and relevant professional university or organization affiliations, while the
latter may or may not even name the writer. Though a writer in a magazine could be a
professional, he or she may or may not be an expert on the subject.
A “jury” (review board) of experts always reviews a journal article before it is
published. But the articles in a magazine are generally reviewed or edited by the staff
editors and not by experts. The language used in both the journal and magazine is also
different. The language of journals is aimed mainly at the scholarly people with special
terminology and jargons.
The table on the following page lists some of the distinguishing characteristics of
different types of periodicals.
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CRITERIA
Purpose for
Publication
Scholarly Journals
(also called academic,
peer-reviewed, and
refereed)


General
Characteristics



Professional and
Trade Periodicals
Inform and report
original research
Provide in-depth
analysis of issues
related to a specific
discipline

Lengthy articles
Citations,
bibliographies
Charts, graphs,
tables

Popular and Special
Interest Magazines
Current trends,
news, and
research in a
specific field
Provide
employment &
career
information

Entertain,
inform, and
persuade
without
providing indepth analysis


Some research
articles
Statistics and
forecasts
Sources cited
Articles usually
fairly short
Sources
generally not
cited



Frequency of
Publication

Often quarterly

Often monthly

Usually
monthly or
weekly
Author
Information

Scholars and
professors
Researchers in the
field
Author credentials
included



Scholars
Staff writers
Freelance
journalists

Freelance
journalists
Editorial staff
Authors may
not be identified
Generally lengthy
Focus on a narrow
subject or piece of
research


Varying lengths
Research
articles
News from the
field
“How to”
information


Usually short
General
information,
little detail
Language
specific to
those in a given
profession

Common
language and
sentence
structure, no
jargon


Article
Characteristics




Words and
Jargon Used

Terminology used
by scholars in the
discipline



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Evaluating Websites
Every source that you use in a paper must be evaluated, and you will be
submitting evaluations of all the sources that you use or plan to use in a paper as part of
the research paper process steps. You can use the Internet as you collect preliminary
information to choose a topic and craft a tentative thesis statement. Following is a
discussion of how to evaluate websites.
Almost anything can be put online, so it is necessary to critically evaluate the
information you find on the web. Resources that you find on the Internet range widely—
many merely provide opinions or information in support of specific, partisan viewpoints.
A first step in evaluating an online source is to look at the “About Us” page. Who
sponsors the site? Don’t assume a scholarly, nonpartisan-sounding statement of purpose
is always accurate—you may have to look up the sponsoring organizations and their
sponsors, too. University-sponsored sites, organizations of professionals in different
disciplines, and reputable nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and nonprofit
organizations (NPOS) are often very useful.
Following are questions that you can ask when you find websites that look like
they might provide you with useful data. Just keep in mind that scholarly, peer-reviewed
journals are among the very best sources to go to for information that you can use, as
experts have already evaluated the articles that journals publish. You can find scholarly
(also called “academic” journals in databases supplied online by the college library.
Authorship




Does the site have a named author?
What are the author’s qualifications or expertise in the area?
Is the contact information for the author or the sponsor/publisher given?
What is the relationship between the author and the sponsoring institution?
Accuracy






Is the information accurate?
Has the information been edited/fact-checked?
Is the information verifiable?
Does the site document the sources used?
If the information is historical or biographical, are the dates of events accurate?
How does the information compare with what you already know?
Currency



Is the site up-to-date?
When was the information created or last updated?
Are the links expired or current?
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Point of View





Whose point of view/perspective is given?
Is the author simply promoting an agenda?
To what extent is the information trying to sway the opinion of the audience?
Who sponsors the site? If a sponsoring organization is given, look at its “About
Us” section, but don’t stop there. Sponsors want to present themselves in the best
light possible; no group that intends to suppress information and promote only
biased perspectives is going to announce that.
Is there advertising on the page? If so, what kinds of things are being advertised?
What is the purpose of the Website?
Do a quick scan of the site. Can you determine its general purpose? Is it meant





To provide research and scholarly information?
To provide educational or factual information?
To entertain?
To advertise, market or sell something?
To advocate ideas? To persuade you?
Who is the intended audience?
The resource name component of a URL can indicate the site’s intended audience.
Knowing this provides clues as to the site’s value and reliability.
Most common domain names
Domain Meaning
.edu
created at a college or university
Example
www.indiana.edu
.gov
created by an official U.S. federal agency or office
www.federalreserve.gov
.org
varies - in most cases the site was created by a nonprofit
organization or an individual
www.npr.org
.com
varies - in most cases the site was created by a for-profit
organization
www.amazon.com
.net
varies greatly - often indicates that the site was created by a www.earthlink.net
person, group, and so on that uses an Internet service
provider
.mil
created by the U.S. military
www.usmc.mil
.in.us
created by state-supported institution of Indiana - the .us
domain requires a state code as a second level domain
www.monroe.lib.in.us
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Always look at a site’s “About Us” page or pages (some will have several sections).
Following are screenshots of some examples.
The Columbia Journalism Review.
Humantrafficking.org.
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The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW).
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English 1A Research Paper Information and List of Process Steps
Research papers must be more than merely informative; they must make an
argument. (Sections following this in the class pack will go into greater detail.) They
must use reputable, scholarly sources that you have evaluated following specific
guidelines. Each of the papers will have a different minimum number of sources and
minimum word count; read the instructions for the individual papers. There is no
maximum word length or number of sources. Scholarly sources are found in books
written and edited by experts in the specific fields and in articles found in scholarly (peerreviewed) journals, not newspapers, magazines, and websites.
You must choose topics, subject to my approval, that deal with the issues we read
about and discuss as part of this course:


Research Paper One: the food industry.
Research Paper Two: topic areas include advertising, corporations, media
multinationals, news media, and the Internet.
More detailed sample topics are provided online at your class’s website. The link to
your class’s home page can be found at http://www2.bakersfieldcollege.edu/gdumler.
(Handouts, lists of assigned readings, instructions for assignments, and other
supplemental information and materials are all on the online outlines for each class.)
Research papers should be balanced, unbiased, and free of logical fallacies, such as
begging the question, straw person, the fallacy of exclusion, and ad hominem fallacies
(online handouts will be provided.)
Research Paper Process Steps
The research papers will be preceded by a series of process steps, each of which must be
completed before you can move on to the next step. The class pack contains sections
detailing the instructions for some of the process steps; handouts for other process steps
can be found on the online outline and in the “Research Paper Information” section
available on the class web site.






Research Paper Topic Proposal
Refined Tentative Thesis for Research Paper
Research Information Sets
Outline with Updated Thesis Statement
First Draft of Research Paper
Photocopies of Sources (These can be in paper or electronic form; there will be
areas in Moodle to upload electronic copies)
In addition, after each paper has been graded, there will be an individual appointment to
go over the paper to discuss revision; each paper must be revised unless you earn a grade
of 90% or higher. (Students in online classes who cannot get to campus can arrange
alternatives to face-to-face appointments with me.)
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Research Paper One
There are many problems associated with the modern, industrialized food system in
America (and the rest of the world), such as obesity, diabetes, factory farms,
pathogens/bacteria, unfair treatment of workers, ecological/environmental problems, and
the inhumane treatment of animals.
Write a paper that achieves two clear goals for your audience:

First, it must critique one or more elements of the food system.

Second, it must suggest a practical solution that your readers could help to
implement.
You may incorporate your Fast Food Nation essay into this paper.
Think in terms of what you want your imagined audience to do. Your paper will not
receive a grade higher than a "D" if you simply discuss problems but no solutions.
(Solutions will undoubtedly be only partial; that is unavoidable when exploring complex
issues.) You must make practical, concrete suggestions to your audience about how they
can help to correct the problems that you are addressing. This is a research class; I do not
expect you to try to invent solutions. Your research should find and evaluate solutions
suggested by people who have thoroughly investigated and understood the problems that
your paper will address. Your thesis statement should anticipate what these are. It won't
be as detailed as your discussion of remedies in the body of the essay, but it will suggest
the types of remedies that you will explore for your readers. Don't try to deal with too
many issues—papers that try to cover too much may not cover anything very effectively.
Your paper must be in MLA format, a minimum of 1,500 words, and must include a
minimum of three scholarly sources that you find on your own. Scholarly sources are
articles from academic journals or articles or sections of books written by experts in a
given field. You may use supplemental information from magazines, newspapers, or
credible websites (see the class pack for details), but these sources are supplementary,
and they cannot take the place of articles from academic journals or books and
anthologies presenting the work of experts.
You must cite all of the information that you take from your sources—even when you do
not directly quote. All sources must be listed on a Works Cited page. You may use
assigned books and articles--there is no maximum number of sources.
Follow the class outline for due dates. Expert sources must be properly introduced to
your readers so that they know why they are credible. Review the General Essay
Guidelines for more details.
Having a good, debatable thesis that is very specific is crucial. A “debatable thesis”
means an assertion that reasonable people could agree or disagree with.
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Our library gives you access to thousands of peer-reviewed journals.
Remember these additional points about sources:

As a general rule, articles in magazines and newspapers are not that useful for
research essays. Exceptions are articles by investigative journalists who uncover
important information—especially when they are written by experts in their
fields—but magazine and newspaper articles are usually best for pointing you
toward scholarly sources when they are merely reporting on someone else's
research.

You may also find useful supplementary information on government web sites
and the web sites of professional organizations, such as the Centers for Disease
Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Some non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), non-profit legal clinics, and consumer's rights
organizations are also valuable, such as Doctors without Borders, Amnesty
International the Innocence Project, and Consumer Watchdog.

Do not use Wikipedia (or other wikis), Yahoo! Voices (contributors merely enroll
and hope to get paid if their articles attracts enough hits--often they are merely
students, such as yourselves), blogs or other sources that do not document their
assertions with details about relevant research. Editorials or other opinion pieces
are only acceptable if they are written by people who have expertise in the field
being discussed, and these are acceptable in your paper only as supplements to the
minimum of three research-based works.
Be sure that you adhere to the requirements detailed in the General Essay Guidelines. I
cannot stress enough the importance of reading these both before and after you complete
your first draft. Every semester, many students get knocked down a full grade or two
simply by making mistakes that the guidelines are very specific about. Reading
instructions is VERY important in college.
Having a good, debatable thesis that is very specific about what your readers can do to
help solve the problems you are exploring is crucial.
Outline your ideas before you start drafting your paper so that you have a clear
organizational plan to follow; think in terms of the most logical and effective way that
you can move your readers through your ideas. Making an outline is also a way to break
through writer's block. I will give you feedback on your outline.
Reminder to non-online students: Even if you are in a non-online class, you MUST
upload your paper into Moodle (as well as submitting the paper copy when it is due). If
you fail to provide an electronic copy, I will not grade your paper.
When you are reading about research studies and taking notes about them, remember that
you will need to be very specific in your paper. Studies should not simply be vaguely
18
referred to, with phrases like “Studies show that . . .” followed by assertions or
generalizations and little or nothing else.
The following questions about research and studies that your imagined audience might
ask should be anticipated and answered:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What studies were looked at?
Who conducted them?
When were they conducted?
How were the studies designed?
What were the sample populations (size, age groups, and so on)?
What were the actual results?
What conclusions did the researchers draw?
Were the studies replicated (repeated with the same results by other researchers)?
References to “values” and “morals” in assertions and arguments should be avoided
(values and morals differ widely among people, and you cannot assume that your
audience thinks of exactly what you do when these terms are used).
Always imagine a general audience of readers; all of these readers cannot be expected to
be experts on your paper’s subject matter, nor can all of them be expected to have read
the sources used in the paper, so terminology should be defined, contexts should be
explained, and your audience's questions should be anticipated and answered.
Research Paper Two
Write a paper that achieves two clear goals for your audience.

First, it must critique one or more problems in the topic area that you choose
(corporate America, News Media, Media multinationals, advertising, and the
Internet; follow the links provided in the online version of this handout for lists of
acceptable subjects).

Second, it must suggest a practical solution that your readers could help to
implement.
You can also further explore-food related topics, as long as you choose a different set of
problems than those you explored in Paper One. If you include any information that you
already used in Paper One, this information will not count toward your minimum word
requirement; you must have at least 2,000 words of original information. Your paper
must be in MLA format, a minimum of 2,000 words, and must include a minimum of five
scholarly sources that you find on your own.
Review the instructions for Paper One. With the exceptions of the topics, the minimum
word requirement, and the minimum number of scholarly sources that you must find on
your own, the instructions are exactly the same.
19
Tentative Research Paper Topic Proposal
Your document should be in MLA format. Include the following information:
1. The topic you have chosen (please make sure you read the information on
acceptable topics for Paper One and Paper Two, respectively;
2. Your working (tentative) thesis statement (what you hope to be able to prove);
3. A summary of at least one major argument that you will develop in your paper, a
potential counterargument, and your rebuttal of the counterargument;
4. At least three original research questions.
A topic is simply the general issue (subject) that you are thinking about conducting your
research on, like “abuse of migrant workers in the food industry” or “fast food
advertising and obesity in children and adolescents” Topics can start be fairly broad at the
start of the research process and start to narrow as you begin your actual research.
A thesis statement is (1) an assertion, not a question; (2) one sentence long; (3)
argumentative (this means that you are asserting a position that people can either agree or
disagree with); and (4) specific—it will lead to a discussion of possible solutions: what
do you want your readers to do. Your thesis should do more than express “wishful
thinking” about what individuals, businesses, industries, professions, or segments of the
government “should” do. Look at what consumer advocates, for example, advocate in the
way of specific solutions.
An argument is something debatable that you offer evidence in support of. A
counterargument presents an opposing claim to the one that you assert. You must be
able to offer a rebuttal to a counterargument in order to bolster your claims. Here are
some examples on the topic of euthanasia (which is not a topic that we will address in
this class):
Sample argument for euthanasia:
People should not be forced to go through terrible suffering when they develop
illnesses that are both extremely painful and incurable.
Sample counterargument:
Where there is life there is hope; a cure may be found in the future for conditions
that now seem hopeless.
Sample rebuttal counterargument:
20
Even if researchers suddenly discovered a possible cure, there must be years of
experimentation on animal subjects and then “blind” studies on human subjects
before these potential cures can legally be made available to the general public. A
person who is given an estimate of six months or less to live with an untreatable
brain tumor, for example, knows that a cure literally cannot be made available in
time even if there is a scientific breakthrough.
A research question responds to the inquiry, “What do I want to know about by my
topic?” It is an organizing element for the topic under study. For example, if the topic is
mental illness and homelessness (not a topic that we will be addressing), the first research
question might be, “How many homeless people are suffering from a mental illness?”
Other questions could include, “How many homeless people who are mentally ill are
dangerous to themselves or others?” and “What are the laws regarding treating mentally
ill people who may not wish to receive drug therapy?” Empire State College has a useful
webpage on “Developing a Research Question”; a link is found on the online version of
these instructions.
I will use the following checklist to evaluate the assignment:
Yes
No
On time?
In MLA format?
Adequate development?
Topic?
Working (tentative) thesis statement?
At least one major argument?
Potential counterargument?
Rebuttal to counterargument?
Three research questions?
Thorough and thoughtful response?
As you think about topics that you would like to research and write about, keep in
mind that your paper must offer evidence to support a debatable thesis.
21
Refined Tentative Thesis Statement
Don’t do this assignment until you read my feedback on your original paper proposal.
Some of you will only be turning in a revised thesis. However, if I also asked you to
choose a new topic or broaden or narrow your original proposed topic, begin with that. If
I did not ask you to make any changes to the topic, just write a refined thesis.
Write a refined tentative argumentative thesis statement. Review the section on thesis
statements in the General Essay Guidelines.
I will use the following checklist to evaluate the assignment:
Yes
No
On time?
In MLA format?
Thesis is one sentence long?
Thesis is an assertion, not a question?
Thesis is debatable, not simply a fact or factoid?
Thesis is specific enough to set up a discussion of actions and
possible solutions?
Research Information Sets
The final drafts of research papers will be preceded by a series of process steps, each of
which must be completed before you can move on to the next step. See the class outline
for due dates. You will be turning in research information sets for each of the scholarly
sources that you find on your own for your research papers. Scholarly sources are articles
from scholarly (also called “academic,” “juried,” and “peer-reviewed”) journals or
articles or excerpts from books written by experts in a given field. (You may use assigned
readings, such as books assigned for the class and articles that I have provided the class,
but you must find additional scholarly sources on your own. Also, please note that the
articles linked on the outline are not all scholarly--they are informative articles from
newspapers, magazines, etc. designed to give you background information on topics
relevant to the class.) Each of the sets will be for a separate, individual source. There is
no maximum number of sources for your paper. See the example later in this section to
see what an information set should look like, but make sure that you read all of these
instructions first.
22
Paper One and Paper Two have different requirements for the minimum number of
sources, so be sure to read the instructions carefully.
Submit the sets to me through Moodle on the dates listed on the outline. Make your last
name, followed by your first initial, the first part of the document title (for example, Doe,
J RP 1 Info Set 1). I will grade them electronically and email them back to you. Make
sure that you download the sets after I return them and open them using your word
processor to see my comments. Any comments that are electronically inserted (as most
will be) will not open otherwise.
Your primary sources should be from scholarly journals, books, or scholarly reports and
articles published on the web sites of professional organizations, reputable nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and government departments and
agencies. However, do not assume that an article or report on an organization's site or a
government site is scholarly—you need to look at the authors' credentials and affiliations,
the in-text citation, and the Works Cited pages (also sometimes called Sources Cited,
References, and Bibliographies). Our library gives you access to thousands of peerreviewed journals for your research. Here is a supplement to help you find sources:
Finding Scholarly Journal Articles Online at the BC Library. Sometimes articles in
magazines, newspapers, and web sites can give you relevant supplemental facts and
information, but think of these as additional sources, not as your primary sources. The
backbone of your paper will be scholarly work.
When you are searching a database, start by limiting your search to scholarly journals,
referred to in databases as “academic journals.” Limit to “full text,” too, so that you know
that you will have access to the article.
If you do a broader search, know what all the icons at the left of the database article titles
mean. Even though the term “periodical” literally means anything published periodically
(including journals), in the databases, the term is used to refer to magazines. “News”
denotes a newspaper, and “review” denotes a book or film review, but it does not tell you
what type of periodical the review is found in.
23
Magazines, some online sites, and newspapers may provide you with factual information
useful in your paper, such as recent reporting on events (if you do a paper on
corporations, for examples, recent legal cases, employee demonstrations and strikes, etc.,
would be relevant); however, these would be supplements—they would not count among
your three scholarly sources. I would still like you to do information sets on these
sources so that I can give you feedback.
If you find a good article in an anthology (a book with a collection of articles from
different writers), the article is your source work—not the entire anthology. Make sure
that you evaluate the author of the article and that it is not simply a newspaper article. If
you plan to use only one work from an anthology, use the format for a single work from
an anthology for your work cited entry. If you plan to use more than one work, use the
cross-referencing format.
Indicate through use of quotation marks (and indentations for quotations over four lines)
when a source's exact wording is used so that you do not find yourself inadvertently
plagiarizing on your research paper when you use information from your sources. Include
in-text citations for your notes; that will make it easier for you when you write the paper.
Format your document according to MLA format as you would an essay or any other
writing assignment, with your name, your professor's name, the class, and the date in the
upper left-hand corner of the first page; a title centered on the first page above the body
(just identify it as a research information set, with the number); and your last name and
page number in the upper right-hand corner of every page.
Each research information set should include these four sections, in the following order:
1. An MLA-style work cited entry in exactly the format that you will be using for
your research paper. For example, if you have two or more articles from one
anthology, then you should do a cross-referenced entry, meaning that you will
have one entry for the anthology and one entry in abbreviated format for the
article: author, title, editor's last name, and page numbers.
2. A brief annotation (summary) of the essay, article, book, or chapter of book that
you use. You may make this a rhetorical précis if you choose.
3. An evaluation section using an objective source and indicating what that
objective source is. This means that you are using reference guides, reviews, and
so on to evaluate sources, not giving me your opinion of the source. For help on
evaluating sources, see the section below, "Instructions for Evaluations."
Remember, if you do not tell me where you got the information, I will not give
you credit for the evaluation.
4. Please note that the fourth section contains five notes, properly cited, containing
information from your source (not your own ideas) that you believe you will
be able to use in your paper. Make sure that the notes are clearly
24
understandable—don’t offer snippets of information that make no sense out of
context. The notes can be summaries, paraphrases, direct quotations, or any
combination of the three. (Just remember that the paper itself should contain no
more than 15% to 20% direct quotations. You may, of course, use more
information in your paper from a particular source then what is included in your
information sets, but I only need to see five notes in each set.
Instructions for evaluations:

Periodicals
When using a library database, you can limit your search to scholarly (also called
academic and peer-reviewed) journals. A scholarly journal is, by definition, peerreviewed by specialists in the field, so that is relevant information for your
evaluation. If the journal has an online component, it probably has some kind of
“about” section that will give you more information about the journal itself. The
article should give you credentials and university or organization affiliations of
the authors. People do not write reviews about articles, so simply indicate that the
article is from a scholarly journal and give relevant information provided for the
authors. The online version of this handout has a link with explanations and
examples of how to find that information.
Magazines for Libraries (MFL), which is available in the BC library, can be very
helpful. The title is somewhat misleading—it contains references to periodicals
other than magazines, so it is more helpful than it sounds. This will give you the
reputation of the periodical, including indicating if it is a scholarly (peerreviewed) journal. If the periodical is not found in Magazines for Libraries, use
the “publication information” in Gale Expanded Academic or EBSCOhost. The
BC Library page Evaluation of Print Sources can help you, too. You can also
often find out information about scholarly journals and other periodicals by doing
a search online.

Books
You can summarize reviews taken from sources like Book Reviews Digest or
discuss the author’s credentials and expertise with information from
Contemporary Authors. You can often find reviews in scholarly journals and in
respected newspapers and magazines, such as New York Times, that employ
experts in the given areas to review books. Check Gale Expanded Academic or
EBSCOhost for a review. Go to the BC Library page Evaluation of Print Sources
for help. You can go to the library to consult the volumes of Book Reviews
Digest. When you find information in BRD, please indicate where BRD found the
review. Online, you can also use Gale Expanded Academic, EBSCOhost, or
LexisNexis for reviews. Do not assume that the comments included with a book
itself are objective—people who are trying to sell books are not objective about
their products. If you can find no information except from the book itself, tell me
25
where you looked first (see above) and tell me that the information is from the
book. In the following examples, I simply typed review in one search field and the
title of a book in the other.
The following screenshot clearly indicates that the review is found in a journal.
Here are two more screenshots.
26
The previous two screenshots show a review from a magazine and another from a
scholarly journal. Reviews in magazines can often be helpful, but reviews in journals can
be even more helpful, offering more expert insight and even pointing you to other
sources. In these two examples, the “Review” icon is used, but this icon does not tell you
what type of periodical the review is found in. You have to look each of them up.

Websites
See the BC Library’s page “Evaluation of Websites.” Remember not to use
Wikipedia, Yahoo! Voices, blogs, and amateur sites. Web sites for professional
organizations, some NGOs, and government web sites are acceptable, but only as
supplements, unless they provide access to academic journal articles.

In some cases, you will not be able to find an evaluation for a source.
When that happens, you must still indicate where you looked and the steps that
you followed in your attempt to evaluate the source. Don’t simply stop at a web
search—I expect you to start with the library reference materials.
Ask the BC reference librarians for help when you need it. They are extremely
knowledgeable and helpful. “Critical Evaluation of Sources” (the link is on the online
version of this section) may also help you—It has useful information, explanations, and
links to other material on source evaluation.
I will use the following checklist to evaluate each information set:
Yes
No
On time?
In MLA format?
Work Cited entry in correct MLA format?
Uses an appropriate source for a research paper?
Cites source in MLA format?
Includes annotation?
Includes objective evaluation of source and indicates where
the evaluation comes from?
Includes five notes from the source?
Cites source in MLA format?
Following is an example of a research information set from an earlier semester. I have
added some notes in brackets.
27
Alexandra Morgan
Professor Dumler
English 1A: 1:00 TR
27 September 2011
Research Information Set #1
Work Cited
Taylor, Philip M. Munitions of the Mind: War Propaganda from the Ancient World to
the Nuclear Age. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2003. Print.
Annotation
Philip M. Taylor, in his book Munitions of the Mind: War Propaganda from the
Ancient World to the Nuclear Age, argues that misguided wars are more easily launched
and maintained when a single propaganda source (usually controlled by the government
in power) gains a monopoly over the information and images that shape people’s
emotions and thoughts. He provides a history of war propaganda from its earliest known
instances, examines the psychological methods used to make a country’s people fight or
support a war and the methods used to try to get people on the other side of the issue or in
the other country to abstain from fighting, and analyzes the role war propaganda plays
today. His purpose is to help readers gain an understanding of both the negative and the
positive aspects of war propaganda in order to recognize when they are being
manipulated to support the military and political goals of forces in their own countries
and to analyze the effects of propaganda on other populations in the world. The book is
28
useful for people interested in a serious analysis of cultural history, military history,
politics, media, and communications.
[Note: the annotation is a rhetorical précis, but any effective summary will work. A
section on writing rhetorical précis follows the sample information set. ]
Evaluation
Book Review Digest included excerpts of several reviews. A review in the journal
History called it a “classic work.” The reviewer said that the book “has an extraordinary
range and offers an original and cohesive analysis,” making it “an ideal text for . . . media
and communications studies, cultural history, military history and politics.” Using a
search engine, I found an article on Dr. Taylor at SourceWatch, an online encyclopedia
“of people, issues, and groups shaping the public agenda” (“About”). According to
SourceWatch, Taylor is a professor based at Leeds University (UK), and his research
interests are “Government-media relations, public and cultural diplomacy, propaganda,
psychological operations/warfare, information operations/warfare, military-media
relations, international film, radio and television (international communications), all in an
historical or contemporaneous context.”
[I do not require works cited entries for the sources of information used in the evaluation;
just make sure the sources are clearly indicated in the evaluation itself.]
Note #1
According to Philip M. Taylor, a professor of International Communications in the
Institute of Communications Studies at the University of Leeds and an expert on
propaganda, Paul Joseph Goebbels was Adolph Hitler’s “evil genius” of propaganda, and
29
he spent six years, starting in 1933, preparing the German population to accept the idea
that Germany should wage war against other European countries, such as Poland, France,
and Russia, in order to achieve what Hitler and his followers considered Germany’s
“rightful” place in the world as the home of the “master race.” Goebbels was the head of
Hitler’s Ministry for Propaganda and Public Enlightenment. It had twelve separate
departments infiltrating every area of German life, such as radio, press, theaters, film, and
culture (214).
[Note that the student begins by properly introducing her expert. Also, since she indicated
in her passage who the writer is, all she needs in the citation is the page number. If this
were an electronic source with no page number indicated, such as an eBook, a chapter or
section number, if provided, would suffice. If neither of those were available, use the
author’s name even if already indicated in order to indicate where the information from
the source ends and to avoid charges of plagiarism.]
Note #2
In his book Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler wrote, “The psyche of the masses is not
receptive to anything that is weak. They are like a woman, whose psychic state has been
determined less by abstract reason than by an emotional longing for a strong force which
will complement her nature. Likewise, the masses love a commander, and despise a
petitioner” (qtd. in Taylor 213-14).
[The abbreviation “qtd. in” is used in the citation when the source quotes someone else.]
Note #3
According to Hitler, it was useless to aim propaganda at intellectuals, who could
easily see through it. He believed that propaganda consisted of “attracting the crowd, and
30
not in educating those who are already educated,” and he saw the crowd as “brutal,
violent, emotional, corrupt, and corruptible” (qtd. in Taylor 214).
[The student is always careful to use quotation marks when using the source’s exact
words.]
Note #4
Taylor states that the medium that both Hitler and Goebbels were most interested in was
film. They used newsreels more than anything else to drive forward the “glory” of
German military supremacy once the war started, with combat footage skillfully edited so
that the film footage shown German audience would be effective for propaganda. The
films were intended to make Germans believe that their armed forces were clearly
superior to all others, and that this was the natural consequence of their racial superiority
and the leadership of Hitler (218).
[Note that the period follows the parenthetical in-text citation in this and the earlier notes.
There is no period inside the quotation mark, and the quotation mark directly follows the
quotation, preceding the parenthetical citation. Periods always follow citations unless you
have a lengthy (five lines or more) indented quotation. ]
Note #5
The British recognized the value of censorship as “negative propaganda,” that is,
persuasion through the restriction of information. The government tried to control access
to information and prevent any information from reaching the public that might damage
morale and pro-war spirit. At the beginning of the war, cameramen weren't even allowed
to accompany troupes to France (Taylor 301).
[Note that the author’s last name is needed in a citation when not provided in the text.]
31
The Rhetorical Précis
Margaret Woodworth developed a reading/writing method called “the rhetorical
précis,” which significantly helped students at various levels, particularly in their reading
comprehension and preparation for using source materials in their own academic writing.
A rhetorical précis has only four sentences, each of which has specific guidelines:
1. Name of author, genre, and title of work, date in parentheses, a rhetorically
accurate verb (such as “asserts,” “argues,” “suggests,” or “claims”), and a “that”
clause containing the major assertion (thesis statement) of the work. Optional: an
appositive (a phrase describing the author) following the author’s name.
2. An explanation of how the author develops and/or supports the thesis, usually in
chronological order.
3. A statement of the author’s apparent purpose, followed by an “in order” phrase.
4. A description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author
establishes with the audience. (Establishing the tone of the piece can be helpful
with this last part; see the MacFarquhar and Dionne examples.)
Examples
Example #1
In the article “Who Cares if Johnny Can’t Read?” (1997), Larissa MacFarquhar
asserts that people in the US are reading more than ever despite claims to the contrary
and that we should reconsider why “experts” value certain kinds of “high culture”
reading so much. MacFarquhar supports her argument about American reading habits
with facts and statistics that compare past and present reading practices, and she
challenges common assumptions by raising questions about reading’s intrinsic value. Her
purpose is to dispel certain myths about reading in order to raise new and more important
questions about the value of reading and other media in our culture. She seems to have a
young and somewhat irreverent audience in mind, possibly college students, because her
tone is sarcastic, and she suggests that the ideas she opposes are old-fashioned positions.
[Note that the writer properly formats the article title with quotation marks and follows it
with the year of publication; if more information is given for an article, such as day and
month. That should be provided.]
1. The first sentence identifies the author (Larissa MacFarquhar), the genre (article),
the title and date, and uses an active verb (asserts) and the relative pronoun that to
explain exactly what MacFarquhar asserts.
2. The second sentence explains how the writer supports her assertions by stating, in
chronological order, that MacFarquhar first presents facts and statistics and next
32
challenges common assumptions by raising questions.
3. The third sentence presents the author’s purpose and why (in order to) she has set
out that purpose (or seems to have set out that purpose—not all works are explicit
about this information, and readers have to put the pieces together).
4. The final sentence identifies what appears to be the primary audience of the essay
(college students) due to her tone.
Let’s look at another example and then break it down, sentence by sentence, in order to
understand how the author of the précis meets the requirements:
Example #2
In an excerpt from his book Why Americans Hate Politics (1991), reprinted in the
anthology Left, Right, and Center, edited by James Cornwell, E. J. Dionne, a Washington
Post political columnist, argues that strident ideologues on both the left and the right
shave polarized politics and crowded out serious debate and reasonable compromise
about fundamental problems. He supports his claims by providing examples of divisive
positions taken by influential leaders on each end of the political spectrum and providing
evidence of disillusionment with politics and politicians among the rank and file,
contrasting this with movements toward democracy in other parts of the world (328-45).
Dionne’s purpose is to warn readers that democracy may be failing in the United States
because of powerful special-interest groups and voter apathy in order to stimulate people
to a “back-to-basics” approach to politics that recognizes the importance of civil
discourse, compromise, and the search for common ground in order to accomplish real
and needed change. His tone is serious but also cautiously hopeful; he has in mind an
audience of intelligent, concerned people who have not become too alienated to no longer
care or believe that they can effect change.
[Note that the writer properly formats the book title with italics and follows it with the
year of publication.]
1. “In an excerpt from his book Why Americans Hate Politics (1991), reprinted in
the anthology Left, Right, and Center, edited by James Cornwell, E. J. Dionne, a
Washington Post political columnist, argues that strident ideologues on both the
left and the right shave polarized politics and crowded out serious debate and
reasonable compromise about fundamental problems.”
Who is the author of the work? E. J. Dionne, a Washington Post political
columnist. What is the genre? It is an excerpt taken from a book written by
Dionne. What is the title and date? The excerpt itself does not have its own title,
but the book it is taken from is called Why Americans Hate Politics, and it was
published in 1991. What is the rhetorically accurate verb (what is Dionne
33
doing in the piece?) “asserts.” What does he “assert”? “[T]hat strident
ideologues on both the left and the right shave polarized politics and crowded out
serious debate and reasonable compromise about fundamental problems.”
2. “He supports his claims by providing examples of divisive positions taken by
influential leaders on each end of the political spectrum and providing evidence of
disillusionment with politics and politicians among the rank and file, contrasting
this with movements toward democracy in other parts of the world.”
How does the author develop or support the thesis? “[B]y providing examples
of divisive positions taken by influential leaders on each end of the political
spectrum and providing evidence of disillusionment with politics and politicians
among the rank and file, contrasting this with movements toward democracy in
other parts of the world.”
3. “Dionne’s purpose is to warn readers that democracy may be failing in the United
States because of powerful special-interest groups and voter apathy in order to
stimulate people to a ‘back-to-basics’ approach to politics that recognizes the
importance of civil discourse, compromise, and the search for common ground in
order to accomplish real and needed change.”
What is the author’s apparent purpose? His “purpose is to warn readers that
democracy may be failing in the United States because of powerful specialinterest groups and voter apathy”; he does this in order to “stimulate people to a
‘back-to-basics’ approach to politics that recognizes the importance of civil
discourse, compromise, and the search for common ground in order to accomplish
real and needed change.”
4. “His tone is serious but also cautiously hopeful; he has in mind an audience of
intelligent, concerned people who have not become too alienated to no longer care
or believe that they can effect change.”
Who is his intended audience? “intelligent, concerned people who have not
become too alienated to no longer care or believe that they can effect change”;
what relationship does the author establish with the audience? “[H]is tone is
serious but also cautiously hopeful,” [so he seems to want to win his readers over
to his way of thinking for their own—and the country’s—good.]
A link to other examples and a template for developing a rhetorical précis can be found
on the class online outline (in the section preceding the first rhetorical précis assignment
for the class).
[Note: “précis” is the correct spelling of both the singular and plural forms.]
34
Here are examples of terms that can be used in a rhetorical précis:
genre
rhetorically
accurate verb
verb followed
by evidence
in order to
the author's
tone is
article
argues
comparing . . . . convince
formal
book
asserts
contrasting . . . . inform
earnest
book review
claims
defining . . . .
persuade
grave
chapter in ___
explains
describing
point out
humorous
excerpt from ___
implies
exploring . . . .
demonstrate
concerned
that
column
suggests
explaining . . . . show
informal
editorial
questions
illustrating . . . . suggest that
serious
Research Paper Outlines
Create preliminary outlines of major points that you plan to include in a paper.
This will provide the structure and specific arguments that you are mapping out. As you
prepare an outline, you should keep in mind areas that will need more development.
The introduction and conclusion of your paper are not included in your outlines.
The thesis is a single statement that precedes the outline. Use Roman numerals to
indicate the main body sections of your paper and capital letters for the next subsections.
You must always have more than one subsection. Subsections of these are indicated with
Arabic numerals, and, if you have further subdivisions, use lower-case letters. Write
phrases or sentences that will make sense and clearly indicate what you will be talking
about. Use parallel structure—be consistent in your pattern of phrases and sentences. If
you state your first main section as an assertion, state all of the following in the same
way. If you frame your first main body section heading as a question, do the same with
the following.
Types of Outlines
The two main types of outline are the topic outline and the sentence outline. In the
topic outline, the headings are given in single words or brief phrases. In the sentence
outline, all the headings are expressed in complete sentences. For this class, topic
outlines are fine. You may do a full-sentence outline of you choose; just do not mix
phrases and sentences. Choose one approach and stay with it.
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Format for Outlines
Subdivide topics by a specific system of numbers and letters, followed by a
period. Please pay careful attention to the sample on the next page so that you do not mix
up Roman and Arabic numerals, letters and numerals, and so on. Make sure that you
indent sections and subsection properly.
The only sections included in an outline cover body paragraphs, not introductions
or conclusions. There is no set number of main sections—obviously, you will have at
least two, but you may have more. Each heading and subheading must have at least two
parts. If you cannot think of two parts, than that information would simply be a
subheading of the section above it.
Include your thesis at the top of the document, before you begin the actual outline.
Remember the following:

A thesis statement is a single declarative sentence—an assertion, not a
question—that asserts what your essay will prove;

Your thesis should make an assertion that reasonable people can disagree
about, not simply state a fact or “factoid” (avoid simply stating something
obvious);

Your thesis should suggest what your readers can do about the problem or
problems your paper will address;

Your thesis should be well supported by the body of the paper—you should be
able to convince skeptical readers, not just people who already believe as you
do.
A properly formatted outline template follows.
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Outline
Thesis statement: Remember, this precedes the outline.
I. First main body section (Roman numeral)
A. First subheading (capital letter)
1. Supporting information (Arabic numeral)
a. More Detail (lowercase letter)
b. More Detail (lowercase letter)
2. Supporting information (Arabic numeral)
a. More detail (lowercase letter)
b. More detail (lowercase letter)
B. Second subheading (capital letter)
1. Supporting information (Arabic numeral)
a. More detail (lowercase letter)
b. More detail (lowercase letter)
2. Supporting information (Arabic numeral)
a. More detail (lowercase letter)
b. More detail (lowercase letter)
C. Third subheading (capital letter)
1. Supporting information (Arabic numeral)
a. More detail (lowercase letter)
b. More detail (lowercase letter)
2. Supporting information (Arabic numeral)
a. More detail (lowercase letter)
b. More detail (lowercase letter)
II. Second main body section (Roman numeral)
[sections divided like those above]
III. Third main body section (Roman numeral), etc.
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There is no set number of main sections; just remember that any section and
subsection should have a minimum of two parts, but no section or subsection is limited to
just two parts. Also, the introduction and conclusion are not part of the outline because
they simply summarize what you will write about and prove, or have written about and
proven; they do not contain any information not found in the body.
I will use the following checklist to evaluate the assignment:
Yes
No
On time?
In MLA format?
Thesis precedes the outline?
Outline is in proper outline format?
Outline is sufficiently developed to give a clear idea of the
information that will be in the paper?
Copies of Sources
It is the policy of instructors of English 1A that students turn in copies of the sources that
they use for their research papers. Sections that are quoted, paraphrased, or summarized
should be highlighted so that they may be easily found. (You could even use a highlighter
to bracket or circle the sections—anything that helps me easily find the information.)
If you use an article from a scholarly journal or reputable magazine or website, please
turn in a copy of the entire article. If you use an essay, article, or chapter from a book,
copy the essay, article, or chapter. If the chapter, essay, or article is long and you only
used a small amount of information, copy just those pages and any other pages necessary
to give context to the information.
If you are able to make electronic copies of any of your sources and highlight them and
submit them as electronic files, that is permissible. With eBooks that you are not allowed
to copy by the publisher, screen shots should work. I do not need both paper and
electronic copies. I just need to have copies that I can check, whether paper or electronic,
when I read and grade your papers. To highlight online copies, you can paste them into
Word documents. Please let me know if you have any technical difficulties.
You do not need to make copies of articles you use from books or articles that I provide
the class. For an example, see the online version of these instructions.
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Research Paper Structure
Structure and organization are integral components of an effective argumentative
research paper.
The Introduction
Simply enough, the introductory paragraph introduces the argument(s) of your
paper. A well-constructed introductory paragraph immediately captures the interest of
your audience and gives appropriate background information about the paper’s topic.
Indicate why the problems that you are exploring are worthy of serious consideration. Try
to imagine a general audience of diverse people with different backgrounds and
viewpoints. This paragraph might include a brief summary of the ideas to be discussed in
your paper’s body, as well as other information relevant to your paper’s argument. The
most important function of the introduction, however, is to present a clear statement of
your paper’s argument(s). This sentence is your paper’s thesis. The thesis sentence should
reflect both the position that you will argue and present a preview of what suggestions the
paper will make to readers about how they can help provide concrete, practical solutions
to the problem (or aspects of the problem). The most effective place for a thesis in a
college paper is the last sentence. That helps to make your point clearer and more
forceful. The preceding sentences should build up to that sentence. The following are
helpful questions for you to consider when formulating a tentative thesis sentence:



What is the debatable argument that I am trying to convince my readers to
accept?
How exactly do I expect to convince my readers that this argument is sound?
What, exactly, do I want my readers to do?
While the introduction is the first part of your paper that your audience will see, it
should not be the first part that you write. Create a tentative thesis first because that is
what guides the body of your paper, but the introduction shouldn’t be written until after
you have finished the body of the paper. It is a lot easier to introduce a paper that you
have written than one that you haven’t written. The introduction and the conclusion are
like mirror images of each other: one tells your readers what you will prove, and the other
tells your readers what you have proven. You can write them both after you have
finished the paper’s first draft. (Writing tip: Do not use phrases like “This paper will be
about,” “This paper will explore,” and so on; such phrases are obvious, boring, and make
a paper look amateurish.) When you are ready to begin your introduction, some possible
questions to consider are the following:





How can I grab my readers’ attention?
Why is what I am writing about important?
What is the scope of the problems that this paper will explore?
What are some of the questions that this paper’s arguments raise?
What are some real-world applications of this paper’s arguments?
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The Body
The body of your paper contains the actual development of your paper’s
argument. Each body paragraph presents a single idea or set of related ideas that provide
support for your paper’s argument. Your paper will be composed of numerous body
paragraphs, and the paragraphs themselves should be ordered in a logical manner. Each
section discussing main points will probably involve several paragraphs. Drafting an
outline before you begin writing is a very helpful step in this process. Because each body
paragraph should be a step in your argument, you should be mindful of their overall
organization.
The first step in writing an effective body paragraph is the construction of the
topic sentence. The topic sentence may be the first sentence in the paragraph, but other
strategies include beginning with a transitional sentence linking the paragraph to the one
before it (though it is equally effective to use the last sentence of the preceding paragraph
to provide the transition), beginning with an interesting quotation, or beginning with a
rhetorical question. Just make sure that the paragraph has a clear topic sentence
somewhere. Just as the thesis sentence holds your paper together, a topic holds each
individual body paragraph together. A body paragraph’s topic sentence serves one main
purpose: clarifying the content of the paragraph and connecting it to the overall purpose
of your arguments.
A good way to test the strength of both your topic sentences and your arguments
is to construct a preliminary draft outline of your paper using only your paper’s thesis
statement and topic sentences. This outline should be a logical overview of your paper’s
arguments; all of your paper’s topic sentences should work together to support your
thesis statement. While these topic sentences would not be main headings in your
outline, they indicate the information included in subsections, and such a preliminary
draft outline is a helpful first step in creating your more formal outline, which you will be
turning in as part of your research paper process steps.
The Conclusion
The basic purpose of your paper’s conclusion is both to restate the paper’s argument
and to restate how you have supported this argument in the paper. However, your
conclusion should not simply be a copy of your introduction. The conclusion draws
together the threads of the paper’s argument and shows how the empirical evidence you
have provided from your research and the logic of your arguments has supported your
thesis, which you should reiterate. Restate the content, but with different wording for the
sake of variety. (Tip: Do not begin a conclusion with phrases like “In conclusion . . .”;
they are obvious, boring, and make a paper look amateurish.) As with your introduction,
some possible questions to consider when writing your conclusion are the following:



Why is what I am writing about important?
What are some of the questions that this paper’s arguments raise?
What are some real world applications of this paper’s arguments?
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Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism
Types of Plagiarism
We can divide plagiarism into five main categories: total plagiarism, substantial
plagiarism, incidental/occasional plagiarism, “buddy”/tutor plagiarism, and accidental
plagiarism.
Total Plagiarism occurs when students turn in other people’s work as their own.
It is intentional and the most blatant and offensive form of academic dishonesty, and it
can meet with very harsh punishments. Total plagiarism might involve an entire paper
copied or purchased off the Internet or written by another student, or a “patchwork quilt”
of a paper stitched together from a series of other works. Such papers may have language
changed and may even have citations from sources the student has found and inserted in
order to disguise the paper’s true origins.
Substantial plagiarism occurs when students do most of the writing in their own
papers but frequently (1) borrow ideas and rephrases them without giving credit to the
original source, (2) borrow exact phrases and sentences without enclosing them in
quotation marks and without giving credit to the original source, (3) or borrow exact
phrases and sentences without enclosing them in quotation marks even though credit is
given to the original source. These acts of plagiarism are also deliberate and blatant.
Incidental/occasional plagiarism occurs when students write their own papers,
but there are sections that will not withstand strict scrutiny because of one or more
passages where exact quotations of sentences and phrases are not enclosed in quotation
marks even though they are attributed to their sources, or there are one or more passages
where paraphrased ideas are not attributed to their sources. Sometimes examples of
plagiarism in this category may be accidental.
“Buddy”/tutor” plagiarism occurs when students get too much help from
friends or tutors. It is certainly a good idea to have someone else look at your paper, but
don’t allow or ask them to help you rewrite it. Use another person’s input to help you
find technical errors or to alert you to areas that aren’t clear, but do the rewriting yourself.
Remember, tutors are there to show you your mistakes and to teach you how to correct
them; they are not supposed to simply correct your paper and fix all the problems for you.
Accidental plagiarism occurs when students don’t realize that using other
people’s ideas and paraphrasing them is plagiarism if the source is not clearly identified.
It can also occur when people haven’t been careful when taking notes and forget to put
quotation marks around direct quotations, or they polish up the paraphrased language of
an attributed source and inadvertently rephrase it into the original language of the source
without adding quotation marks. This is perhaps the most common form of plagiarism
and can be corrected with proper citations and documentation format.
Avoiding Plagiarism
There are three rules for avoiding plagiarism, the first of which is pretty obvious:
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1. Be honest. Don’t buy, borrow, or steal anybody else’s words or ideas.
Students often get desperate and resort to plagiarism when they run out of time,
but plagiarism will earn a paper an automatic zero.
2. Cite all material that you take from a nonfiction source, whether you quote,
paraphrase, or summarize, unless it is common knowledge (we’ll discuss that
in greater length later). You should also cite any graphical material that you copy,
such as charts and illustrations. If you are writing an essay about a single work of
literature, the convention is to cite page numbers only for direct quotations from
the work of literature, and not when you summarize any sections, but you still
must cite all information you take from critical sources concerning the work of
literature if you use any outside sources.
3. Use language and sentence structures that are essentially your own—simply
changing or rearranging a few words here and there isn’t enough to avoid charges
of stealing.
Following are examples of different types of plagiarism using a paragraph written by
British author George Orwell (most famous for his novel 1984).
Original paragraph written by George Orwell in his essay “Politics and the English
Language”:
Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English
language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action
do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent, and our language—so the argument
runs—must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against
the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or
hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is
a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.
Plagiarized paragraph, with plagiarized words and phrases underlined
Many individuals who bother with the issue would admit that the English
language is in terrible shape; however, we generally assumed we cannot alter this by
conscious action. Our society is decadent, so our language, it is argued, shares in the
problem. Some people might argue that trying to stop the abuse of language is oldfashioned and useless because they half-consciously think language is natural instead of
something we shape as we please.
The student who wrote the paragraph above is guilty of plagiarism for three reasons: 1)
phrases are copied verbatim from the original but are not enclosed in quotation marks, 2)
the original author is not given, and 3) there is no citation indicating the page number the
material was taken from. The effect of the plagiarized material is to indicate that all the
words and ideas are the student’s own.
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Plagiarized paragraph, with plagiarized words and phrases underlined:
Many individuals who bother with the issue would admit that the English
language is in terrible shape; however, we generally assumed we cannot alter this by
conscious action. Our society is decadent, so our language, it is argued, shares in the
problem. Some people might argue that trying to stop the abuse of language is oldfashioned and useless because they half-consciously think language is natural instead of
something we shape as we please (Orwell 12).
The paragraph above is still plagiarized because even though the author and page number
appear in a parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence, phrases are copied verbatim
from the original but are not enclosed in quotation marks. The effect of the plagiarized
material is to indicate that although the ideas are Orwell’s, all the words are the student’s
paraphrase of the original passage, which is clearly not the case.
Plagiarized paragraph:
Many individuals who ponder the condition of the English language are likely to
conclude that it is in terrible shape, but they probably take for granted that we cannot
think of any solutions. Some people might argue that society is in a moral and cultural
decline; therefore, it follows that our discourse must also decline and that to try to fight
this shows an inability to deal realistically with the times. This attitude suggests an
unexamined assumption that language is something that evolves on its own, as opposed
to a tool we utilize for our own purposes.
Though the paragraph above is an effective paraphrase (we don’t worry about the
words “English language” not being enclosed in quotation marks because there is no
other logical way to name it), the student has still clearly plagiarized because 1) the
author is not given, and 2) there is no citation indicating the page number the material
was taken from. The effect of the plagiarized material is to indicate that all the ideas are
the student’s own.
Unplagiarized paragraph:
Many individuals who ponder the condition of the English language are likely to
conclude that it is in terrible shape, but they probably take for granted that we cannot
think of any solutions. This attitude suggests an unexamined assumption that language is
something that evolves on its own, as opposed to a tool we utilize for our own purposes.
“Our civilization is decadent, and our language—so the argument runs—must inevitably
share in the general collapse” (Orwell 12).
This example is not plagiarized. Most of the paragraph is put into the student’s own
words, and the passage ends with both a direct quotation and the correct MLA style
parenthetical in-text citation. The direct quotation is clearly indicated with quotation
marks.
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Unplagiarized paragraph:
As George Orwell points out about the English of his time—and his observations
hold true today—many individuals who ponder the condition of the English language are
likely to conclude that it is in terrible shape, but they probably take for granted that we
cannot think of any solutions. Some people might argue that society is in a moral and
cultural decline; therefore, it follows that our discourse must also decline and that to try
to fight this shows an inability to deal realistically with the times. This attitude suggests
an unexamined assumption that language is something that evolves on its own, as
opposed to a tool we utilize for our own purposes (12).
This paragraph also avoids plagiarizing. It is the same paraphrase from the previous
example, but it begins by attributing the ideas to their originator, George Orwell, and
there is a parenthetical citation at the end to let the reader know the page number of the
original material (the last name is not needed in the parenthesis in this case because the
Orwell is mentioned before the paraphrase).
Unplagiarized paragraph:
Many individuals who ponder the condition of the English language are likely to
conclude that it is in terrible shape, but they probably take for granted that we cannot
think of any solutions. Some people might argue that society is in a moral and cultural
decline; therefore, it follows that our discourse must also decline and that to try to fight
this shows an inability to deal realistically with the times. This attitude suggests an
unexamined assumption that language is something that evolves on its own, as opposed
to a tool we utilize for our own purposes (Orwell 12).
This example contains no verbatim word use, and it has a proper citation, so this student
has also avoided plagiarism.
Common Knowledge Exceptions
“Common knowledge exceptions” refer to generally-known facts. Here are examples of
different types of common knowledge exceptions:
1. Information known by the average person (i. e., President Abraham Lincoln was
assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865; U.S. and British forces invaded Iraq
in 2003).
2. Information known by the average scholar in a particular discipline (i. e., William
Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of 52; Milton Friedman won the Nobel Prize
for Economics in 1976).
3. Information that is repeated in many different sources (i. e., thalidomide is known
to cause birth defects; the Great Fire of London happened in 1666). “Many” is an
ambiguous term, and there is no universal agreement on exactly how many
sources it takes to make something “common knowledge,” but the standard
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assumption in academia is that facts are common knowledge if you can find the
same information reported in at least five different sources (it isn’t a bad idea to
ask your own professor for guidance).
To be safe, if you aren’t sure if an idea is “common knowledge,” assume that it isn’t, and
cite the source of your information. After all, it is a lot less hazardous to have a citation
that you don’t need than it is to risk a charge of plagiarism.
Frequently, students get nervous and worry that they have “too many” citations.
Think about it: you are writing research papers, which means that you are presenting
research—you are supposed to have a lot of in-text citations. Citations let your reader
know what sources you used, the page numbers of information found in print sources,
and where to look for complete publication information on your works cited page.