Research Writing Guide

Steps Get your thesis Go to Sources to get ideas General Outline Go back to sources to get specific information Specific Outline First Draft Revise and Edit Final Draft

Thesis A thesis statement declares what you believe and what you intend to prove A good thesis statement makes the difference between a thoughtful research project and a simple retelling of facts

Get your thesis Read about the topic you have been given and choose a specific idea that you can prove about the topic. Make sure that it is something you can prove, not a fact about the topic. Make sure there is enough information on your chosen topic to write the required length

Go to Sources to get your ideas Read up on the thesis that you have chosen Look for ideas that you can use to logically prove your thesis Write down these ideas and the sources that you are getting them from

General Outline Using the knowledge you gained in the last step, break your paper into sections that you will use to prove your thesis. You do not need the specific ideas you will put into the paper, just the general sections of your paper

Specific Information Go to sources and find specific ideas you can use to help prove your thesis. You will need exact quotes, the page numbers of the quotes, the authors and all other publication information for each source Use An organized method for collecting your notes

Note Card Method Start with a “source card” On the source card write al the publication information you will need to document the source correctly On the Top of the card, label each source with a capital letter

Example Source Card A Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” The American Short Story. Parkes, Thomas K. Ann Arbor, MI- State Street Press. 1994. pp. 37-60.

Note Cards Next go through the source and put a different quote on each card After the quote put the page number or numbers. On the top of the card put the letter of the source it is from, the top of the Source Card

Note Card Example: A “We will thwart Rappaccini yet,” P. 55

Notebook method: On the top of the page write out all the documentation information Under it list all the quotes with the page number When you go to another source, draw a line and put all the publishing information for your next work and continue

Notebook method example Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “Rappaccini’s Daughter.” The American Short Story. Parkes, Thomas K. Ann Arbor, MI- State Street Press. 1994. pp. 37-60. “We will thwart Rappaccini yet,” p. 55 - ”Was it a hard doom?” p.57

Specific Outline The next step is to take your notes and put them into your general outline so that you get a specific outline If you did note cards, you can physically arrange the cards in the order you want to put them in Write out the outline so that each of your sections will be a mini-essay on that part.

Writing the draft Include an introduction that spells out your thesis and the sections of your paper Do not just write the ideas from the sources. Most of the writing should be your own ideas based on what you learned and thought about on the topic. Use the sources to back up your own thoughts on the thesis

Documenting Sources Every time you use an original idea from someone else, whether it is a direct quote or paraphrased, you MUST cite the source. Plagiarism is a crime. In high school, you will lose points, in college you will at least get a 0, in grad school, you will be thrown out and in the work place you could be sued To avoid plagiarism, you must document all your sources

Citing a source in your paper When you use someone else’s idea, you must cite the source. Cite the source by writing whose idea it is. If it is a direct quote, you must also include the page number. If it is paraphrased, you just write the person’s name.

Direct Quote example He has the character say, “We will thwart Rappaccini yet” (Hawthorne, p. 55). Hawthorne writes, “We will thwart Rappaccini yet” (p. 55). On page 55, Hawthorne writes “We will thwart Rappaccini yet.”

Paraphrasing In the story the characters were out to stop Rappaccini (Hawthorne) Hawthorne has his characters try to stop Rappaccini

Works Cited Page After the paper is written with all the works cited correctly in the book, you must then attach a works cited page. This is an alphabetical list of all works that were cited throughout your paper This is not a bibliography, which is a list of all sources related to the topic, instead it is just what you used in your paper

Works Cited Page In this list, you will put all of the publishing information that is needed to fully document the source. If you did your note taking correctly you will have all this information. You must write it in the proper format Use MLA Style to help you: http://www.wallkillcsd.k12.ny.us/mstrano/MLAstyle.pdf

Sample Works Cited Page Adams, Paul. "Furious Arafat Is Freed." Globe and Mail [Toronto] 2 May           2002: A1+. "Beginner Tip: Presenting Your Page with Style." Webmaster Tips Newsletter. July 2000. NetMechanic. 13 Oct. 2002 <http://www.netmechanic.com/           news/vol3/beginner_no7.htm>. Collins, Ronald K.L., and David M. Skover. The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The           Fall and Rise of an American Icon. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2002. Continelli, Louise. "A Place for Owls to Heal." Buffalo News 12 Jan. 2003: C2. "E-Money Slips Quietly into Oblivion." Nikkei Weekly [Tokyo] 22 Jan. 2001: 4. Gordin, Michael D. "The Science of Vodka." Letter. New Yorker 13 Jan. 2003: 7. "Ho Chi Minh."  Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2003. Britannica.com.           15 May 2003 <http://www.britannica.com>.

Rest of the writing process As always, once you have a first draft completed, you should revise and edit and do a better draft. Do it as many times as your deadlines allow you to do