Writing the Research Paper English 1302

How to Do It Come up with a thesis Generate an outline Conduct your research Draft your essay Insert your research Write your works cited page

Coming up with a thesis In this essay, as in your previous one, the thesis sentence Tells the subject of the essay Indicates the organization of your thesis

For illustration, I tried to pick a character that nobody would want to write about: Roderigo. Thesis: Roderigo embodies the worst qualities of all the major male characters in the play: Iago’s lack of moral center, Cassio’s naïve gullibility, and Othello’s blind passion.

Generate an Outline Remember that a well-written thesis implies its own outline.

You need at least this much of an outline before you begin your own research.

How to do the research For this essay, I’m asking you to find two secondary sources that will enhance or augment the argument you’ve making in your essay. A secondary source is a book or article that someone has written interpreting the piece of literature. A primary source is the piece of literature that you’re writing about. You will quote one time from each of your two secondary sources.

The two secondary sources One online source One bound source

Online Sources For this essay, you must use a subscription-based online database to find a credible, academic source. You CANNOT use the Internet; You CANNOT use a study aid, like Cliff Notes or Spark Notes, etc.

More about Subscription-Based Databases What is a subscription based database? It’s a database that you can only access through a library; What does it do? It lists credible, academic sources similar to those that you’d find housed in print in a library. How can I tell what constitutes a credible academic source? Generally, it’s a book or article which contains a work cited page

How Do I Do It? Refer to notes I gave in class (until I can revise this part of the presentation)

The Bound Source—”Old School” A bound source refers to a source that you actually handle in its print form in the library as opposed to reading it electronically online. You can find bound sources in OC’s LRC by using an index, like The Essay and General Literature Index You may also come across a citation, which will require you to find the bound source.

The Essay and General Literature Index This is a print index that lists essays published in book form, as part of a collection of essays; OC has bought books listed in this index for years, so you’re likely to find research material using this index. Each volume covers a different set of years and contains different sources;

How to Use It Look up the writer that you’re researching, alphabetically by last name Shakespeare, William

Normally... If the author is important, there will be multiple sections under his/her name General essays about the author Essays about specific works arranged alphabetically by the work’s title

General essays about the author

Essays about a particular work

Let’s look at an entry more closely

This is the name of the person who wrote the essay Look at this entry This is the name of the essay itself This is the name and author of the book where the particular essay exists. Look for the word in and the information that follows it To find the essay, you have to find the book that it’s in—in this case, the book by J. Bayley, The Uses of Division, unity and Disharmony in Literature.