Introduction to Research Writing

Assignment Goals Students will be able to: -identify scholarly research sources -read and understand scholarly research sources -support a given thesis in writing by incorporating scholarly research sources -quote, paraphrase, and cite correctly in research writing

Purpose of Assignment Prepare for 12th grade English with focus on research writing (first assignment of next year) Prepare for college, majority of assessments are research papers (across disciplines, not necessarily related to literature)

Review: Reading Scholarly Sources Scholarly journal research usually broken into sections Identify which parts of the source are going to be most important to your paper Because scholarly sources are typically studies, there are sections heavily based on data and the methods used to gather information What will generally be most useful to you is the background, discussion, results, and conclusion section Other sections should be skimmed

Review: Reading Scholarly Sources While reading, highlight/underline/annotate the parts you will likely use in your paragraph (keep in mind your given thesis) Soldiers experience intense, negative mental and physical effects as a result of their traumatic experiences at war

Incorporating Research Into Writing Quoting- Quoting is taking direct sentences from a research source and using them in writing… Quotes always need to be cited. Paraphrasing- Paraphrasing means taking the information in the research source and putting it in your own words in your writing. You will do this often throughout a research writing assignment because there is no way for you to incorporate all the information from the source through quoting- you would have way too many quotes for one paper. However, paraphrasing, like quoting, needs to be cited at the end of the sentence in the same way that you would cite a quote. *Benefit of paraphrasing is you can choose parts of the article that work for your paper

Paraphrasing Sample Research Source: “The mental health impairments experienced by U.S. soldiers deployed in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) have received a great deal of attention by both policymakers and the American news media. A recent article in the Time magazine describes the mental health problems of servicemen and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan as “the U.S. Army’s third front.” Military service has been linked to greater take-up of disability benefits among some veterans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that veterans comprise nearly 20 percent of the more than 30,000 suicides each year. Public concern about the mental health problems of soldiers has prompted political action, with President Barack Obama announcing a plan to increase the ease with which veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can receive federal health benefits.” Example: United States veterans that have returned from war make up approximately 20 percent of the 30,000 yearly suicides, making the mental effects of war on soldiers a widely discussed issue in both the news and government (Cesar, Sabia, Tekin 2).

Quiz What is paraphrasing? When do you use it? Does it need to be cited?

Practicing Paraphrasing Directions: Read designated section of the article, choose the most important information, and write one or two sentences paraphrasing the information in that paragraph. Make sure you cite correctly.