YOUR RESEARCH PAPERS Things to keep in mind for your final draft

SENIORITIS: WHAT IT IS AND WHY YOU’RE NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE IT YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE COLLEGE CREDIT FOR A COURSE YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR ALL YEAR.

Overview of the Organization of the Essay They Say, I Say article Specific topics and original claims that will support that thesis statement Your Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement: Your thesis statement cannot be the same thesis statement as the one in the The Say I Say book. You need to add to the conversation. The relationship between your argument and the argument in the TSIS article is not clear. Your thesis statement should also include a HOW you will go about proving this idea. What will you examine to prove your argument. EX Thesis statement: The internet is more dangerous than helpful which is evidenced by the harmful effects of cyberbullying.

Topic sentences Your topic sentences drive your arguments forward. They are the transitions that walk your readers through your ideas. When you include topic sentences that are facts from your sources, or when you include topic sentences that are very vague, you are setting yourself up for a disorganized paragraph with no purpose. In a research paper, each body paragraph should have a CLEAR IDEA YOU need to distinguish between what YOU SAY and what THEY SAY, not only in the thesis statement, but throughout your paper.

ORGANIZATION DO NOT organize your research paper by EXAMPLES/EVIDENCE/SO URCES. You should be organizing your paper by IDEAS

NOT GOODGOOD Body Paragraphs 1 and 2 TS: An argument from S1 Quote from S1 Statistic from S1 TS: An argument from S2 Quote from S2 Body Paragraphs 1 and 2 1) TS: Your own original IDEA Quote from S1 Quote from S2 2) TS: Your own original IDEA Quote from S3 Quote from S1

Thesis statement Smaller claim Evidence

You must all hand in some sort of outline

Take risks, be creative Just because we stress a strict organizational structure for your papers, does not mean that there is no room for creativity. The BEST papers are papers that use evidence unexpectedly, or make unexpected connections between texts to prove original ideas. The creativity all comes from your interpretation of your evidence. Analysis is the driving force of the entire essay. COMPLEX AND THOROUGH ANALYSIS is exactly what you should constantly be aiming for. Be creative by approaching your evidence through different lenses.

EXAMPLE: from “Hidden Intellectualism” “We assume that it’s possible to wax intellectual about Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution, and nuclear fission, but not about cars, dating fashion, sports, TV, or video games” (Graff 265). “Give me the student anytime who writes a sharply argued, sociologically acute analysis of an issue of Source over the student who writes a lifeless explication of Hamlet or Socrates’ Apology” (Graff 270).

Conclusion End by answering the questions: So what? Who cares?