LA 11 - Persuasive Paper

Research Paper: Establish Your Topic and Statement of Purpose

1. Choose a topic from the list that genuinely interests you, chances are you'll enjoy spending time working on it and it won't seem like a chore.

2. Once you have a topic, you will probably need to narrow it down to something more manageable. For example, Choose a view point to support.

3. A Statement of Purpose is a sentence that you write, which states, in some detail, what you want to learn about in your research project. • The statement guides you as you work so that you will

read and take notes only on what's needed for your project. Don't worry if you're not totally sure, your Statement of

Purpose may change 3 or 4 times before you're done.

Research Paper: Statement of Purpose – Cont.

To write the sentence, first answer these questions for yourself as best as you can:

1. What is my real personal interest in the topic? (There will always be something that can interest you)

2. What do I specifically want to learn about my topic? (Don't overwhelm yourself with too many things. Two or three are plenty.)

Start your Statement of Purpose with words like "I want to learn about..."

A Bit Too General

"I want to learn about the Dalai Lama."

More Specific"I want to know what role the Dalai Lama plays as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people."

Change Statement of Purpose into a question

Place the following on one note card

Topic: _______Tibetan Culture_____________________________

Narrowed Topic: ______Dahlia Lama_______________________

Statement of Purpose: _______I want to know what role the Dalai Lama plays as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people.___

Statement of Purpose as a Question: __What was the role of the Dalai Lama and how did he spiritually lead the Tibetan people.

Research Paper: Source Cards

Index cards on which you put all of the information you will need about all the sources you use.

Identify the sources of quotations and ideas for citing your sources later (giving credit to your sources). Find sources again if you need them. Make your works cited (a list of the sources from which you used borrowed material in your project).

Research Paper: Source Cards--Continued

Use index cards to make your source cards, use only one card per source.  

Code each source its own number, starting with the number 1. You will later link your notes to these code numbers.

There are many, many different types of sources: books, websites, videos, TV shows, people, to name a few.

1Brown, Samuel Money is the Name of the GameChicago: Bullet Publishers, 1998.

Print

Author

Source Number

Book TitleCopyright datePublishing Company

Place of publicationMedium

Book Source

2Amber, Jeannine

If Hip Hop Ruled the WorldEssence June 1997InfoTrac

Web3-24-2012

Author Source Number

Article Title

Name of Magazine and date

Database or website NameMedium

Date Accessed

Database or Internet Source

Do not confuse the URL address with the Website Title

Source Cards …… Continued

Things to include…….

Source NumberAuthorEditor

Title of BookTitle of ArticleMagazine Title

Day, Month, yearPublication Information

Medium of publication (print, web, film, CD-Rom, or DVD)

Page number if applicableTitle of Website

Date you accessed web articleDatabase title

---- Remember, not everything from the above list will be required for every source. Document only the information that the source offers you. ------

Research Paper: Take Notes

After you've gathered your sources, begin reading and taking notes. Use 3 x 5 index cards, one fact or idea per card. This way related ideas from different sources can be easily grouped together or rearranged.

On each index card, be sure to note the source card number.

---Summarize ------Quote ---

---Paraphrase ---

Summarize

Writing a summary involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s).

Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source.

Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

Direct quotations ----incorporating another person's exact words into your own

writing.

1. Quotation marks always come in pairs.

2. Capitalize the first letter of a direct quote only when the quoted material is a complete sentence.

Mr. Johnson, who was working in his field that morning, said, "The alien spaceship appeared right before my own two eyes."

Although Mr. Johnson has seen odd happenings on the farm, he stated that the spaceship "certainly takes the cake" when it comes to unexplainable activity.

4. If a direct quotation is interrupted mid-sentence, do not capitalize the second part of the quotation.

"I didn't see an actual alien being," Mr. Johnson said, "but I sure wish I had."

Direct quotations

5. In all the examples above, note how the period or comma punctuation always comes before the final quotation mark.

6. When quoting text with a spelling or grammar error, you should transcribe the error exactly in your own text.

Mr. Johnson says of the experience, "it's made me reconsider the existence of extraterestials [sic].“

7. Quotations are most effective if you use them sparingly and keep them relatively short. Too many quotations in a research paper will get you accused of not producing original thought or material (they may also bore a reader who wants to know primarily what YOU have to say on the subject).

Paraphrase

A paraphrase is...

your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form. a more detailed restatement than a summary.

5. Steps to Effective Paraphrasing

1. Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.

2. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.

3. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.

4. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.

5. Record the source (including the page) on your note card.

Baseball becomes popular

Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) outfielder one of the great all-time players. Another star was Honus Wagner, a bowlegged shortstop.

"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball."

1Star players become national heroes

Many Americans could name every major league player, his batting average, and other accomplishments.

(What batting records were set?)

Good Note card•Lists source Number •Includes heading or subtopic Is limited to one fact Has personal note/question

Bad Note Card•Source not indicated in top right corner •Heading too vague Too many facts •No name after quotation

Research Paper: Organize Your Ideas

Using the information collected on the note cards, develop an outline to organize your ideas. An outline shows your main ideas and the order in which you are going to write about them. It's the bare bones of what will later become a fleshed-out written report.

1. Write down all the main ideas.

2. List the subordinate ideas below the main ideas.

3. Avoid any repetition of ideas.

Below is a partial sample outline for a research paper entitled The Early Days of Baseball.

Early Days of BaseballThesis: Baseball has been around for many generations becoming popular during the 1900s and becoming America’s modern day favorite pastime. I. Baseball is born

A. Rounders 1. Originated in England in the 1600s. 2. Differences between rounders and baseball.

B. The Abner Doubleday theory 1. Many people think Abner Doubleday invented baseball

in 1839. 2. Historians say theory is bogus.

II. Baseball becomes popular A. Interest soars after 1900

1. Kids' favorite warm-weather sport. 2. Known as "the national pastime.“

B. Pennant races soared.III. The Babe Ruth era

A. Babe Ruth joins NY Yankees, 1920 1. Plays outfield. 2. Hits more and longer home runs than anyone before.

B. Other heroes 1. Lou Gehrig. 2. Rogers Hornsby.

VI. Conclusion: Baseball, the American sport has been around for years. The theory that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in England is debatable; however the sport has continuously gained popularity through American history. The greats such as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig have made baseball the amazing sport it is today.

No part of this outline may be

reproduced

Please.

Thesis

Thesis : A thesis statement is a strong statement that you can prove with evidence.

It is not a simple statement of fact. 

Your thesis statement will be the main idea of your entire project and it will be present in the introduction.

Statement of Purpose:"I want to find out some ways to stop teen gang

activity."

Thesis:“Teen gang activity in the United States can be stopped by a combined approach which consists of supervised youth programs, more job availability, and closer family relationships.

There are more helpful hints on the Quia webpage.

Research Paper: Write a First Draft

Every essay or paper is made up of three parts:

1. introduction 2. body

3. conclusion

Research Paper: Write a First Draft-- Continued

•The introduction is the first paragraph of the paper. It often begins with a general statement about the topic and ends with a Thesis a more specific statement of the main idea of your paper. The purpose of the introduction is to

- let the reader know what the topic is - inform the reader about your point of view

- arouse the reader's curiosity so that he or she will want to read about your topic •The body of the paper follows the introduction. It consists of a

number of paragraphs in which you develop your ideas in detail. • Limit each paragraph to one main idea. (Don't try to talk about

more than one idea per paragraph.)

• Prove your points continually by using specific examples and quotations from your note cards.

• Use transition words to ensure a smooth flow of ideas from paragraph to paragraph.

• After presenting your supporting points, develop one paragraph to explain and then refute the most significant opposing view.

•

•The conclusion is the last paragraph of the paper. Its purpose is to summarize your points, leaving out specific examples and restates the main idea of the paper.

• Try to leave your audience even more connected to your topic and persuaded by your main idea or perspective.

• Do not restate your introduction in the conclusion.

Research Paper: Write a First Draft-- Continued

Citing Sources in a Rough Draft

As you write your paragraphs, Every time you use a note card or information from a source it must be cited. After each use of a note card, place the source number in parenthesis directly after the paraphrase, quote, or summary.

For example, Germany numbered five million military-eligible men prior to World War II but suffered 3.5 million military deaths during the war (3).

Errors to Avoid in a formal paper………

Do not use I, me, my, mine, you, your, or you’re in any formal paper that is not specifically about you or your opinion.

NEVER start sentences with like, plus, and so.

Who(m) is for people. That is for animals and things.

Whom can be replaced by him or them. Who can be replaced by he, she, or they.

NEVER make reference to your own paper or your own writing. Your paper is NOT a speech, so don’t directly announce your plans. In other words, DO NOT write things such as “I’m going to tell you about…” or “This paper is about…” or “As I mentioned earlier…” or “As you can see from the example I’ve listed…”, etc.

MLA ----Parenthetical Documentation ---MLA

Whenever you use material that you got from another source in your research project, you must let your audience know immediately where it came from, right after you use it.

If you do not cite your sources, you are committing plagiarism (Plagiarism is an unlawful act in which you use someone else's work as if it is your own. It can get you in big trouble. Avoid it.). Direct quotations whether in written or oral formats (includes

stories, speeches, fiction and nonfiction)Paraphrased quotations (these are quotes whose words you have changed somewhat)Statistical Data (numbers about things)Images that are attributed to someone (includes cartoons, photos, maps, artwork, computer graphics-but not free "clip art")Song lyricsOriginal ideas that are attributed to someone else, even if you put them in your own words

Parenthetical Documentation Cont…………

The word "parenthetical" is a clue to the meaning. It means "within parentheses".

At the end of the borrowed material, put in parentheses the author's last name and the page(s) where the material is found

within the source.

Example“No nation in the world has so many drastic problems squeezed into so small a place, under such urgent pressure of time and heavy burden of history, as Israel"  (Tuchman 123).

Research Paper: Revise the Rough Draft

1. Try to set aside your draft for a day or two before revising. This makes it easier to view your work objectively and see any gaps or problems.

2. Revising involves rethinking your ideas, refining your arguments, reorganizing paragraphs, and rewording sentences. You may need to develop your ideas in more detail, give more evidence to support your claims, or delete material that is unnecessary.

3. Read your paper out loud. This sometimes makes it easier to identify writing that is awkward or unclear.

4. Have somebody else read the paper and tell you if there's anything that's unclear or confusing.

Research Paper: Proofread the Rough Draft

Look for careless errors such as misspelled words and incorrect punctuation and capitalization.

Errors are harder to spot on a computer screen than on paper. If you type your paper on a computer, print out a copy to proofread. Remember, spell checkers and grammar checkers don't always catch errors, so it is best not to rely on them too much.

Research Paper: Final Draft

Correct and Revise the Rough Draft – This creates a final Draft.

Research Paper: Works Cited

A Works Cited is an alphabetical list of the sources (also called "works") you used in the body of your project. It should be the last

page in your project.

If you do not cite your sources, you are committing plagiarism by calling someone else's work your own.

Citation Machine

Follow the steps

• HHS Media Center Webpage• Useful links• Helpful links

• Citation Machine• MLA

• Choose the correct source type• Fill in the blanks

If you used the

databases, copy and

paste

Research Paper: Works Cited…Continued

Works Cited

"Blueprint Lays Out Clear Path for Climate Action." Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental Defense Fund, 8 May 2007. Web. 24

May 2009.

Clinton, Bill. Interview by Andrew C. Revkin. “Clinton on Climate Change.” New York Times. New York Times, May 2007. Web. 25 May

2009.

"Global Warming Economics." Science 9 Nov. 2001: 1283-84. Science Online. Web. 24 May 2009.

GlobalWarming.org. Cooler Heads Coalition, 2007. Web. 24 May 2009.

Leroux, Marcel. Global Warming: Myth Or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology. New York: Springer, 2005. Print.

Uzawa, Hirofumi. Economic Theory and Global Warming. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.

Make sure your Works Cited page looks like

the example!!

Standard Title Page

GangsMegan FixMrs. Perry

LA 11, Period 4May 9, 2011

Center – Horizontally

and vertically

Include title, your name, teacher’s name, class, and date.

What to hand in?

Include the following in your Manila Envelope…….

All Rough DraftsRough OutlineNarrowed Topic Statement of PurposeSource CardsNote CardsThesis Statement

Staple top Left Corner:

•Title Page•Final Outline•Final Paper•Works Cited.

Sources

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/

https://www.crlsresearchguide.org/ http://www.teachervision.fen.com/research-papers/writing/2123.html