Research Writing Guide

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Research Writing Guide
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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Example Source Card

• A
• Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Rappaccinis Daughter.
  The American Short Story. Parkes, Thomas K. Ann
  Arbor, MI- State Street Press. 1994. pp. 37-60.

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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

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Note Card Example

• A
• We will thwart Rappaccini yet,
• P. 55

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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

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Notebook method example

• Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Rappaccinis 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

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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.

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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

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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

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Citing a source in your paper

• When you use someone elses 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 persons
  name.

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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.

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Paraphrasing

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

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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

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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

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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
  lthttp//www.netmechanic.com/
•           news/vol3/beginner_no7.htmgt.
• 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
  lthttp//www.britannica.comgt.

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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