Research Paper
Step 1: Choose a topic from the lists.
Step 2: Do your research. Evaluate each website according to guidelines. Complete a research form for every website your use.
Criteria for Evaluation
Authority. Who says? Know the author.
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This file contains a blank source sheet.
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Step 3: Write your topic sentence.
Thesis Statement – A thesis is a direct statement that explains the topic of your essay, what you believe about that topic, and why you believe it.
A thesis statement is made up of three different parts. Every thesis needs these three things:
You will need to form these three parts into a complete argumentative sentence:
Identification of Topic + Claim (belief about topic) + Direction (reason 1, reason 2, and reason 3.)
Thesis Statement – A thesis is a direct statement that explains the topic of your essay, what you believe about that topic, and why you believe it.
A thesis statement is made up of three different parts. Every thesis needs these three things:
- Identification (What is the topic you are talking about?)
- Claim (What do you believe about the topic?)
- Direction (What are the 3 main reasons you can support your claim? This will basically outline the body paragraphs of your essay.)
You will need to form these three parts into a complete argumentative sentence:
Identification of Topic + Claim (belief about topic) + Direction (reason 1, reason 2, and reason 3.)
Step 4: Create an outline.
Step 5: Write your opening paragraph. Create a catchy opening line, grab your readers attention.
Writing Your IntroductionA good introduction does more than just introduce the thesis, or main idea, of a research paper. It grabs the reader’s attention. One way to begin is with a question. Another way to open is with a surprising fact or statistic. Some writers interest their readers with a fascinating story related to the topic. Others start with a striking quotation. Think about the topic you have selected and the main idea you want to convey. Now develop one introduction for each approach listed below.
1. Question
2. Surprising fact or statistic
3. Story
4. Quotation
Now review your four introductions. Which one do you like best? Explain why you prefer it.
1. Question
2. Surprising fact or statistic
3. Story
4. Quotation
Now review your four introductions. Which one do you like best? Explain why you prefer it.
Step 6: Draft the rest of your paper. Use parenthetical citations!
Parenthetical Citation
What is Parenthetical Citation?
Parenthetical citation is when a writer directly puts into the text a note from where he or she got the information. Parenthetical or “in-text” citation allows your reader to know from what source each idea/fact came.
This is how it looks in the text of your paper:
“In 2007, 37 percent of American adults sought medical information from the internet regarding a health problem they were experiencing before consulting a doctor” (Smith 38).
**Notice the location of the ( ) and the period (on the outside of the parentheses).**
In the example above, notice that the author’s name and the page number on which this fact was found are set off from the text within parenthesis. The reader would understand from this citation that on page 38 of Smith’s book, this fact is mentioned. Furthermore, since the words are contained within quotes, the above example illustrates that this is a direct quote from that page.
Here is an example of the same idea presented as an indirect quote:
Instead of going to a doctor right away, a recent study found that 37 percent of Americans are now turning to the internet for medical information (Smith 38).
Citing non-print or sources from the Internet
Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers, but often, these sorts of entries do not require any sort of parenthetical citation at all. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:
Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge. Remember, this is a rhetorical choice, based on audience. If you're writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, they'll have different expectations of what constitutes common knowledge.
What is Parenthetical Citation?
Parenthetical citation is when a writer directly puts into the text a note from where he or she got the information. Parenthetical or “in-text” citation allows your reader to know from what source each idea/fact came.
This is how it looks in the text of your paper:
“In 2007, 37 percent of American adults sought medical information from the internet regarding a health problem they were experiencing before consulting a doctor” (Smith 38).
**Notice the location of the ( ) and the period (on the outside of the parentheses).**
In the example above, notice that the author’s name and the page number on which this fact was found are set off from the text within parenthesis. The reader would understand from this citation that on page 38 of Smith’s book, this fact is mentioned. Furthermore, since the words are contained within quotes, the above example illustrates that this is a direct quote from that page.
Here is an example of the same idea presented as an indirect quote:
Instead of going to a doctor right away, a recent study found that 37 percent of Americans are now turning to the internet for medical information (Smith 38).
Citing non-print or sources from the Internet
Sometimes writers are confused with how to craft parenthetical citations for electronic sources because of the absence of page numbers, but often, these sorts of entries do not require any sort of parenthetical citation at all. For electronic and Internet sources, follow the following guidelines:
- Include in the text the first item that appears in the Work Cited entry that corresponds to the citation (e.g. author name, article name, website name, film name).
- You do not need to give paragraph numbers or page numbers based on your Web browser’s print preview function.
- Unless you must list the Web site name in the signal phrase in order to get the reader to the appropriate entry, do not include URLs in-text. Only provide partial URLs such as when the name of the site includes, for example, a domain name, like CNN.com or Forbes.com as opposed to writing out http://www.cnn.com or http://www.forbes.com.
Common sense and ethics should determine your need for documenting sources. You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or common knowledge. Remember, this is a rhetorical choice, based on audience. If you're writing for an expert audience of a scholarly journal, for example, they'll have different expectations of what constitutes common knowledge.
Step 7: Write your conclusion. Summarize effectively. Wrap things up.
What to Include in a Conclusion!
Strategies for an effective conclusion
Concluding strategies that do not work
- Your conclusion wraps up your essay in a tidy package and brings it home for your reader
- Your topic sentence should summarize what you said in your thesis statement
- This suggests to your reader that you have accomplished what you set out to accomplish
- Do not simply restate your thesis statement, as that would be redundant
- Rephrase the thesis statement with fresh and deeper understanding
- Your conclusion is no place to bring up new ideas
- Your supporting sentences should summarize what you have already said in the body of your essay
- If a brilliant idea tries to sneak into the final paragraph, you must pluck it out and let it have its own paragraph in the body, or leave it out completely
- Your topic for each body paragraph should be summarized in the conclusion
- Wrap up the main points
- Your closing sentence should help the reader feel a sense of closure
- Your closing sentence is your last word on the subject; it is your "clincher"
- Demonstrate the importance of your ideas
- Propel your reader to a new view of the subject
- End on a positive note
- Your closing sentence should make your readers glad they read your paper
Strategies for an effective conclusion
- Play the "So What" Game.
- When you read a statement from the conclusion, ask yourself, "So what?" or "Why should anybody care?"
- Ponder that question and answer it
- Basically, I’m just saying that education was important to Douglass
- So what?
- Well, it was important because it was a key to him feeling like a free and equal citizen
- Why should anybody care?
- That’s important because plantation owners tried to keep slaves from being educated so that they could maintain control. When Douglass obtained an education, he undermined that control personally.
- Return to the theme or themes in the introduction
- This brings the reader full circle
- If you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay is helpful in creating a new understanding
- Refer to the introductory paragraph by using key words, or parallel concepts and images that you also used in the introduction
- Summarize
- Include a brief summary of the paper’s main points, but don’t simply repeat things that were in the paper
- Pull it all together
- Show your reader how the points you made and the support and examples you used fit together
- Include a provocative insight or quotation from the research or reading you did for the paper
- Propose a course of action, a solution to an issue, or questions for further study
- Point to broader implications
Concluding strategies that do not work
- Beginning with an unnecessary, overused phrase
- These may work in speeches, but they come across as wooden and trite in writing
- "in conclusion"
- "in summary"
- "in closing"
- "as shown in the essay"
- Stating the thesis for the very first time
- Introducing a new idea or subtopic in your conclusion
- Making sentimental, emotional appeals that are out of character with the rest of the paper
- Including evidence (quotations, statistics, etc.) that should be in the body of the paper
Step 8: Create your works cited page.
Works Cited Page
Works Cited Checklist
Step 1: Create new word document.
Step 4: Paste citation into word document.
Step 5: Repeat steps 2-4 for each source you used.
Step 6: Use copy and paste to put citations in ABC order by the first word in the citation.
Step 7: Highlight all citations. Change all to Times New Roman, 12 pt font. Double space document (no extra spaces between citations. Make sure there are no blue words and no underlines.
Step 8: Tab second (and third) lines in each citation.
Step 9: Proofread document for typos and spelling, capitalization, and grammar errors.
Step 10: See sample above for how your page should look!!
Works Cited Checklist
Step 1: Create new word document.
- Center title: Works Cited in 12 pt font. (not bold)
- Add last name only as header
- Do not add MLA heading
- All words in titles must be capitalized.
- All names must be capitalized.
- all words must be spelled correctly.
Step 4: Paste citation into word document.
Step 5: Repeat steps 2-4 for each source you used.
Step 6: Use copy and paste to put citations in ABC order by the first word in the citation.
Step 7: Highlight all citations. Change all to Times New Roman, 12 pt font. Double space document (no extra spaces between citations. Make sure there are no blue words and no underlines.
Step 8: Tab second (and third) lines in each citation.
Step 9: Proofread document for typos and spelling, capitalization, and grammar errors.
Step 10: See sample above for how your page should look!!
Step 9: Revise AND edit. Revise to make sure your ideas flow and things make sense. Edit for spelling and grammar.
Step 10: Use the rubric to check your paper. Are you going to earn an A?