Title: The Research Paper
1The Research Paper
- I Process1. Choosing a topic 2.
Collecting information3. Analyzing the
information, organizing ideas, and working out an
outline 4. Writing the first draft and
5. Revising the draft and finalizing it.
(Ding 296-97)
21.Choosing a topic pp297-300
- Dont get married to a topic.
- If you dont like it.
- If it is not working out for any reason --Get
rid of it, change topics.
3Requirements for final topic.
- 1) It should be a topic that is meaningful and
serious. - Important topic (It should have some value, i.e.
sth. new, different, or original). - Should have depth (Not shallow, not fluff/light
or waste). - 2) It should be a topic within the range of your
abilities. - Within your ability to discuss.
4Requirements for final topic.
- 3)It should be a topic for which sufficient
materials are available. - You should have plenty of resources.
- 4) It should be a topic that can be treated
objectively. - You should have an objective treatment (to your
thesis).(Though we cant be purely objective,
well try to put our bias aside. If you dont
know the other peoples views, you cant do it
well. Anyway its not research.)
5Requirements for final topic.
- 5) It should be a subject that is not too topical
to draw conclusions on. - A conclusion should be possible (You should take
firm stand). - 6) It should be a clear thesis statement.
- Narrow down focus (clear thesis statement)
- Neither too broad nor too narrow
62. Collecting information pp. 300 309
- Begin collecting information immediately
7A-Using the library,
- Using the library, internet everywhere in China.
(with your ID card or work card) - Visit universities libraries, looking for the
information concerning your subject and author - Look up in the card catalogue drawers. (You can
find the books you need, if they are available, - according to the last names of the authors
- or the first word of the titles of books, which
are all arranged alphabetically.)
8Using the library,
- You can also go to the subject catalogue to find
out what has been written on your topic, or at
least find some titles which seem to be related
to your topic. (Literature, Language, Education
etc.) - Read encyclopedia which may give you some help.
(Read all the articles on or related to your
subject in it). - Look at the brief bibliographies and reference at
the end of each article you will be able to
collect a number of titles.
9Using the library,
- Copy all the titles, preferably on cards.--- For
bibliography forms see pp.341-52-----Bibliography
cards for books pp.342-345
10 B-Reading
- First scan (a book)
- Table of contents
- Index
- Bibliography
- Skim the irrelevant pages rapidly until you find
the information you need. - Reliable information
11C-Taking notes
- While reading take the information down as you
go - Take notesyour memory will fail you.
- Use professionally printed note cards
- Look for any fact, idea, or opinion not generally
known but relevant to your topic
12Taking notes
- One note /one fact/ one thought /one idea per
card (easy for you to shuffle or rearrange) - Take more information first sort later
- Get a focus on the material soon so that you can
become more selective in the notes you take.
13Taking notes
- Make sure that documentation is complete.
- The information,
- he authors last namethe page number
- Abbreviated form of the works title
14Three kinds of notes
- Quote (direct /exact/use ellipses)
- Paraphrase (words very similar to the original)
- Summary (general statement of authors idea)
- Put Quote, Paraphrase, Summary on the
card.
15Quotation of sources
- Copy the quotation exactly as it appears in the
original. ( sic, the Latin word for thus) - Underline sic when you type or write the word.
In print, the word would be italicized.
Non-English words are usually underlined. - Place spaced dots all the way across the card to
indicate the omission of a whole paragraph or two
- Place three spaced dots (an ellipsis) where the
sentence or part of the sentence has been left
out.
16Caution about using the ellipsis
- Never alter the meaning of the original by using
an ellipsis - e.g. This was not the most important cause of
the war. If the original statement reads like
this and it would be dishonest if we use an
ellipsis to omit the word not. - Do not omit from the sentence important elements
such as the subject and the verb.
17Caution about using the ellipsis
- Make careful notes (make sure that pronoun is
clear and context is clear) by putting the
information in brackets not parentheses. - e.g. He Marx suffered extreme hardship.
- In that year 1848, Karl Mark and Fredrich
Engels published the Communist Manifesto. - Be very careful about assuming that just because
sth. is published, that it is then true. (Just
because sth. has been published does not mean it
is true.)
18Arrangement of notes
- Put your notes in order
- When you feel you have collected enough material
to start planning your paper, and when you find
that additional references are merely repeating
the information you already have, it is time to
stop reading awhile and put your notes in order.
19Arrangement of notes
- Put your notes into groups under different
headings - Reread your notes to refresh your memory and at
the same time put them into groups under
different headings. - e.g. For your notes on Ernest Hemingway, your
heading might include - Hemingway and the Lost Generation,
- Hemingways Life,
- Hemingways Works, and
- Hemingways Contributions to American
Literature. - You may want to subdivide some of these headings,
- e.g Hemingways Works,--Hemingways Themes,
--Hemingways Style and Techniques,
--Hemingway on Writing.
20Arrangement of notes
- Use pencil when making note headings
- Write a brief heading in ink in the upper right
hand corner of each card (so that it can be seen
quickly as you shuffle through your cards) - Arrange note cards (logically before starting to
write) - Rearrange note cards if necessary
21Here is a note card for your reference Page 309
-
Hemingways ThemesR.E. Spiller, p. 200In one
sense Hemingway was more limited in scope than
most of his contemporaries, for he had but a
single themehow man may meet death in a world
stripped of all values except that of
intensity.
223) Analysing the information, organising ideas
and working out an outline
- After you get sufficient information, you can
start to write. - Brainstorming / speed writing is for breaking
writers block. - Writers block (when you dont know what to
write) Whatever comes in your mind, you just
write down. Any idea. - Write thesis statement.
- Complete affirmative declaration.Consider
brainstorm thoughtsEliminate irrelevant Retain
relevantLogical order
23Write an outline / contents
- topic outline
- sentence outline (Dont mix them. )
24e.g. Food
- I. FruitA. Apples B. OrangesC. Green
beansII. VegetablesA. B.C.III. MeatA.B.
C.
25e.g. Transportation
- CarsTrucksAutomobilesTrainsPlanesBicycles
- The items should have equal importance.
264) Writing the first draft
- Once you have your thesis statement and outline,
you are ready to begin writing your first draft.
You may have to write more than one draft before
you have your final paper done. - All the rules of good writing you have learned
apply to the writing of your paper. Here are a
few points that deserve special attention
27Effective paragraphs
- three major concerns / areas
- Unity--content--theme (thesis) (beginning,
middle and endEvery sentence should be related
back to the theme (thesis.)
28three major concerns / areas
- Coherence / cohesion --form / organization
--logical progression
29three major concerns / areas
- Transition --Parallel structures /
Parallelism --Repeated words / groups of words
--Pronoun /Antecedents --Consistency in
person, number of nouns / pronouns and verb
tense --Perspective, the 3rd person in academic
writing always. --transitional expressions
P85-p87
30Notes
- Using your own words (Page 313)--Dont string
together a branch of quotations--Do remember not
to quote more than 10 percent of your paper. - To use your own words in writing your paper is
not always easy. You may be tempted to quote a
great deal. Lets look at the example pp.313-314
in which the writer merely strings note or
borrowed material together.
31Notes
- Using the proper tenses
- When you are dealing with an event or a concept
of the past, the past tense should be your basic
tense. - Biographical details of a persons life should
normally be reported in the past tense.
32Notes
- If you mention events in a story in chronological
order, use the simple present for all of them. - But the simple past or the present perfect
should be used for an event that happened before
one that has been mentioned.
33Notes
- The present tense should also be used for your
comments on the content of a book or the language
and style of an author. - When you quote from an authority, the reporting
verb can also be in the present tense. So instead
of Richard Chase said, Professor Cowley
wrote, or T.S. Eliot stipulated, you can write
Richard Chase says, Professor Cowley writes,
and T.S. Eliot stipulates.
34Notes
- Uniting facts and views
- A paper is weak if it is crowded with facts which
do not prove or disprove a point of view. The
reader will certainly wonder what all those facts
are there for. He will not be enlightened on the
subject even if many of the facts are
interesting. - A paper is just as weak, however, if it expresses
a lot of views, even original ones, without
supporting facts. The reader may be struck by
those views at first, but very soon he will begin
to doubt if they are really sound. He will even
think that the writer is not serious or honest in
producing such a paper.
35Notes
- A research paper must combine both facts and the
assessment of facts, both authentic, verified
factual information and views firmly founded on
it. - Good papers are invariably marked by the unity of
facts and ideas.
36Notes
- Paying attention to logic and the organization
- Composition/ Paper should be unified--Unity,
coherence and transitions are important.--Remove
irrelevant--The whole composition is composed of
several / many paragraphs.--Each paragraph
should have a central idea.--Arrange your work
logically.--Hook together your sentences and
paragraphs.--Everything should be separate but
related.--Proportion (art)
37If the introduction is too big, and the body is
too small, its out of proportion.
38Proportion
- Introduction 5-10 of the whole paper
- Introduction includes your thesis and some of
background of your material. (AC attention
catcherbackground thesis) - Body 75-80
- The main parts of your paper, the body
(Presentation of facts/ ideas/ proposals) - Conclusion 5-15
- Tell us what you told us.
- Conclusion should be short and powerful.
- Have some backbone. State it clearly and
powerfully. Not maybe. It should be strong.
39Notes
- Spaces necessary for correction (Page setup,
spacing) - Double space allows you to do some editing.
- Make your tone objective rather than
personal--objective facts--relevant data--no I
or we, no personal experience - Choosing the right style--use formal written
style--do not use contractions --need not be
pompous and difficult to understand
405) Revising the draft and finalizing the paper
- Dont turn in first draft
- Allow time for objective reflection
- first draft means expression of ideas in words.
Writing is art. (Our words should paint the
pictures in our minds. They should give images.) - Check grammar / spelling and punctuation
- Microsoft word contains a lot of tools. Green
line means grammar problems.
41Editing is necessary for all good writing.
- All good writing is the result of much revision.
- Some thoughts you need to think about Page
151-page152-page153QuestionsIs the thesis
clear? --Is the content related?
--Does the content support? So after
the draft is finished, you revise it and see that
your essay reaches sth.Check words, structures,
spelling, and grammar. For a fair tone, wed
better avoid sex discrimination, using he/she,
chairperson etc.