Research Paper
Central Idea
Thesis Statement
Outlines
Plagiarism Letter
Central Idea
• Central idea: This is a sentence or pair
of sentences that tells what you want to
accomplish in your paper.
Example: The purpose of this paper is to
select a person of interest that would be
considered a great “teacher”.
Thesis Statement
• After gathering sources and previewing
some of the information, you should have
a better idea about the focus of your
topic. Now it is time to develop that
controlling idea (what you want to
accomplish in your paper) into a sentence
referred to as the THESIS. State your
controlling idea, which must include facts
and an opinion, in one to two sentences.
The thesis has
three important tasks:
•
•
•
1. A thesis statement states the main point of the
paper.
2. It suggests the path your paper will follow by
indicating what your 3 main points will be. For
this paper, your 3 main points will be the reasons
you think your “teacher” makes an influence on
others.
3. A thesis statement should be considered
significant, so that if someone says, “So what?”
you can answer the question.
REMINDERS
• One to two sentences
• No run-on sentences
• No “In this paper, it will be shown…” or
“The purpose of this paper is…”
• Example of a Quality Thesis Statement:
_____________________ is an example
of an exemplary teacher because he/she
________________, _______________,
and ________________________ which
demonstrates a commitment to their
community.
• Example of a Bad Thesis Statement:
-I researched Oprah Winfrey
-She is a good teacher because a lot of
people know her.
• What does the thesis statement do
for you and your research paper?
-The thesis statement will help you to
keep your topic and purpose in mind as
you read and take notes. Also, it will help
to focus and organize your paper.
• Where does the thesis statement
belong in the paper?
-The thesis statement is the last sentence
in your first paragraph.
Graphic Organizers and
Outlines
• What do a graphic organizer and an
outline do for you and your research
paper?
-They provide the structure for your
paper.
-They allow you to see relationships
among main ideas and supporting facts.
Graphic Organizer:
• A graphic organizer is a summary of the
main points about your topic and the
ideas that support them. While you take
notes from sources (note-cards), you will
begin to group the note cards into
different classifications. As you decide
how to classify and organize your notes,
you will take the first step in completing
the graphic organizer.
• The following steps will help you complete the
graphic organizer that will eventually become
the full-sentence outline you will use to prepare
the rough draft of your paper.
1. Group together note cards on similar topics.
(Example: Reason #1 your teacher is
exemplary)
2. Within each group, place similar note cards
together.
3. Arrange your 3 main topics to build your
thesis.
4. Fill in each box on the graphic organizer.
5. Keep all note cards, even those that do
not fit under any heading on the graphic
organizer. You may need them later.
Graphic Organizer
• Make sure you develop the graphic organizer
into specific examples and details from your
research.
• You need to include parenthetical citations.
Anytime you use information from your notecards you need to cite the source!!!!