MS. GUEVARA’S
GUIDE TO:
WRITING A
RESEARCH PAPER
TOPIC SELECTION
Five
steps
that will
make
topic
selection
easier
STEP 1: SELECT AN EXCELLENT TOPIC
Pick a topic that:
Genuinely interests you
Is consistent with the purpose of the
assignment
Shows awareness of the intended audience
Is not vague or general, for example, the
meaning of life or the causes of world conflict
STEP 2: NARROW YOUR TOPIC AND FIND AN
ANGLE
It’s a good idea to:
• Consult your teacher to make sure the topic is
suitable
• Find an approach distinguish your paper from
the rest of the class
• Focus on a specific aspect of the topic instead
of a large general subject
STEP 3: DO PRELIMINARY WORK
 Research your topic and make sure there are
adequate resources available.
 Try a variety of approaches to your topic. Look at
your topic from different angles. For example:
A. Koalas
 Threats to their survival (cause)
 Differences from bears (comparison, classification)
 Reasons for their highly specialized diet (cause)
B. Global Warming
Controversy over evidence of recent climate change
Causes of global warming (cause)
Dangerous consequences (effect)
Solutions to the problem
STEP 4: BRAINSTORM
Jot down ideas or make a rough outline
Create a concept web or branch diagram,
where you write down as many ideas as
possible that connect with the subject
Free write to generate flow ideas about your
topic
STEP 5: ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR
SUBJECT
When you find questions that interest you turn it into a tentative
thesis statement
General Subject: The Role of
American Women in World
War II
 Why were American
women not drafted into
the army?
 In what ways could women
volunteer for military
service?
 How did WWII affect
women’s demands for
equal rights?
General Subject: Substance
Abuse with Inhalants
 What are the chief products
that inhalant abusers use,
and why are these products
sought?
 What is the extent of
inhalant abuse, and why
has there been an
increase?
 What programs are
available to help inhalant
abusers?
NARROWING THE
TOPIC
Three
methods of
trimming
your topic
down to a
manageable
size
METHOD 1
To begin narrowing down your topic, ask five searching
questions about your general topic. For example:
General Subject: Football
 How has the game changed since its inception?
 How did football originate?
 How dangerous is it? Is it becoming more dangerous?
 What is the secret of being successful in pro football?
 How has the equipment changed to make the game
safer?
METHOD 2
Another way to narrow your topic is to break the general subject
into smaller parts by looking at it from dif ferent angles.
General Subject: Social criticism in Charles Dickens’s novels
 Concentrate on one novel rather than several
 Dickens’s attitude toward the imprisonment of debtors in David
Copperfield
 Dickens’s portrayal of child labor in David Copperfield
 Focus on one particular problem or aspect
 Dickens’s criticism of the judicial system in Bleak Horse
 Look at major elements in the novel – plot, characterization,
setting, theme, structure.
 Compare and contrast two novels that share important
elements: attitude toward child labor in David Copperfield
and Oliver Twist
METHOD 3
Many historical events are extremely complicated to cover adequately in a
single paper. For topics like these, focus on a single aspect or take an unusual
approach.
Treaty of Versailles:
 Prepare diary entries for
participants such as
Woodrow Wilson or George
Clemenceau
 Debate the validity of
select important points in
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
 Write an editorial
sympathizing with
Germany’s dissatisfaction
with the treaty
Struggle to establish a Jewish
state in Palestine:
 Create letters written by the
leaders of political Zionism
about the problems they
faced
 Focus on the role of the
League of Nations or the
United Nations
 Give an eyewitness account
of the first World Zionist
Congress in Basil
FORMULATING A
THESIS
STATEMENT
Writing
your own
thesis
PROCEDURE FOR ARRIVING AT A
SATISFACTORY THESIS
1. Begin by examining the general topic for angles,
aspects or approaches. Do preliminary reading to
get ideas. Write down questions about your topic
2. Select an angle that narrows the topic to
manageable proportions.
3. Propose a judgment, criticism, or evaluation that
you can support in your paper. This is a temporary
thesis that you can refine and improve.
4. Determine how you will back up your thesis by
deciding what topics will provide evidence, reasons,
and arguments that will convince the reader of your
thesis.
A GOOD THESIS STATEMENT IS:
 A declarative sentence that clearly and concisely
states the main point the author wishes to make.
 The perceived injustices of the Treaty of Versailles made it a
major cause of WWII.
 A sentence that embodies judgment, evaluation, or
criticism. Uses value terms such as valuable,
worthwhile, effective, major, significant, or should
 The major problems that made enforcement of the Treaty of
Versailles difficult concerned disarmament, reparations, and
the punishment of war criminals.
 A statement you consider significant
A GOOD THESIS MAY:
 Suggest a comparison or contrast
 The treaty that followed WWII was radically different
from the one that concluded WWI.
 Focus primarily on the causes or effects of a particular
event, condition or change
 A number of economic and political developments in
Europe made WWI almost inevitable.
 Propose a solution to a problem or recommend a policy
 Community service should be made mandatory for all
high school students, but it should take place during
the school day.
A GOOD THESIS STATEMENT IS NOT
 A statement of fact
 The Treaty of Versailles was signed by four major
powers and became effective January 1920.
 Merely the expression of personal opinion
 I think the Treaty of Versailles was a foolish mistake.
 A vague generalization
 The Treaty of Versailles caused the world a lot of
problems.
 A question
 Was the Treaty of Versailles a major force in
precipitating WWII?
EXAMPLES OF GOOD THESIS
STATEMENTS
 General subject: Teenage runaways
 Specific topic: Reasons why adolescents run away from home
 Thesis: Many adolescents run away from home, not
because of delinquent activity but because they are
seeking help.
 General subject: History of Jewish People
 Specific topic: The attempt to establish a Jewish homeland
 Thesis: American Zionists played an important role in the
struggle to establish a Jewish homeland.
 General subject: The electromagnetic spectrum
 Specific topic: Use of X-rays in the analysis of paintings
 Thesis: Radiography makes possible the verification of
paintings by revealing age and underlying brushstroke
techniques.
SUPPORTING A
THESIS
STATEMENT
SUPPORTING A THESIS STATEMENT
 After formulating your thesis statement, your next goal is
to find topics that support it. This will help you put useful
topic headings on your note cards, distinguish relevant
from irrelevant information and know how to use the
relevant material.
 Once you have turned a topic into a thesis statement, the
next step is to divide the narrowed topic into three or
more major topics that provide support for your thesis.
Let these be arguments and evidence that will convince
the reader that your thesis is valid.
 This process enhances your Method of Development
(MOD).
SUPPORTING TOPICS
 Thesis: Throughout histor y, dogs
have been useful to mankind in
many ways.
 Hunting and tracking
 Guarding and attacking
 Sniffing out drugs or bombs
 Acting as guide dogs for the
blind
 Providing companionship
 Pulling sleds in snowy regions
 Finding buildings in collapsed
buildings
 Herding sheep and other farm
animals
 Now that we have suppor ting
topics, we can group them into
paragraphs:
Throughout histor y, dogs have
been useful to mankind in many
ways.
 Hunting
 Guiding
 Providing companionship
 If when researching, you come
about another promising topic,
you may add it as a subtopic.
 B. Guiding
 Subtopic: Aiding the deaf
by recognizing sounds like
the doorbell or phone.
THESIS STATEMENTS WITH SUPPORTING
TOPICS
 Thesis: there seem to be some negative, long -term consequences
of marijuana smoking, but the evidence is inconclusive.




Alteration of attention
Memory impairment
Physical addiction
Increased risk of lung cancer
 Thesis: Loneliness and alienation are dominant themes of the
fiction of J. D. Salinger.
 Isolation from family
 Isolation from individuals
 Isolation from society and institutions
 Thesis: Cheating has been part of professional baseball in the
United States since the first game was played in 1871 .
 Tampering with equipment
 Dishonest grounds keeping
 Using illegal devices to steal signals
CREATING A
TOPIC OUTLINE
OUTLINES:
 Provide the structure for your paper
 Allow you to see relationships among main ideas and
supporting facts.
 Change. You should keep revising your outline as
your research and writing progress so that it reflects
new insights, deletions, modifications, connections,
and improvements.
 Are finished only when your paper is finished. Then
you can write it in cement.
PRELIMINARY TOPIC OUTLINE
 Thesis Statement
A.
First major supporting statement
1.
2.
3.
B.
Second major supporting statement
1.
2.
3.
C.
Specific examples, details
Specific examples, details
Specific examples, details
Specific examples, details
Specific examples, details
Specific examples, details
Third major supporting statement
1.
2.
3.
Specific examples, details
Specific examples, details
Specific examples, details
EXPANDING AN OUTLINE
Thesis: The danger s of
professional football.
 Head injuries
 Shoulder and spinal
cord injuries
 Knee injuries; leg
fractures
Thesis:
Despite ef for ts to improve safety
through rules and equipment
changes, professional football is a
violent game that causes many
serious injuries.
 A . Head injuries
 Statistical or numerical evidence
– the incidence of head injuries
in the National Football League
 Quotation from Dr. Cantu,
medical director of the National
Center for Catastrophic Sports
 Example: Drew Bledsoe, who has
suffered multiple concussions
TOPIC OUTLINES
 The number of subtopics is not fixed either but
should never be less than two for each given topic.
 Always aim for logic, consistency, and completeness
in your outline.
 A topic outline, rather than a full sentence outline, is
usually sufficient for most research papers.
 A well-done outline changes as your essay
progresses.
5 THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN WRITING
A RESEARCH PAPER
1. Find an appealing topic within your general subject
area.
2. Narrow it by finding a specific angle or approach.
3. Locate sources of information about your topic;
record information on source cards.
4. Formulate a tentative thesis statement that states
the central idea of your paper.
5. Determine the major topics that will support your
thesis statement. These become the main topics in
your outline; they are also the topic headings on
your note cards.