1. Research Paper Tips

2. Thesis Make sure it argues something – take a stance.
Make it the last sentence of your intro paragraph.

3. Explaining Evidence (X, Y, Z)
Your topic sentence should introduce that particular element of your argument.
Everything that follows should support it.
Facts, quotations, statistics
Make sure that you ELABORATE upon your evidence – you need to spend time explaining its relevance and importance to your argument.
Don’t just repeat what the evidence said – explain why it is significant.

4. Explaining Evidence (X, Y, Z)
At the end of each paragraph, underscore how evidence X/Y/Z supports your thesis statement.

5. Choosing Your Evidence
Every paragraph should include PROOF/evidence.
Your evidence should be specific and relevant to what you want to argue – not just any random fact or statistic.
Convince the reader and provide your argument with substance and interest!

6. Researching Your Evidence
Gather facts from many sources.
Verify – check these facts using different sources.
Organize your evidence – In what area of your paper should this appear?
Obtain all information needed to cite and build your Works Cited page as you write.
Remember to cite anything that isn’t your original idea OR that isn’t common knowledge.

7. Resource for MLA Citations