drafting your research paper outline

7/31/2019 Drafting Your Research Paper Outline

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Drafting Your Outline

What to do in the next week!



How long will my researchpaper be?

Approximately 10 pages,double-spaced, does not includecover sheet and Works Cited

Page Font (Times 12)

Please do not use a document

cover/folder for this assignment.Just staple it together and turn itin.



How do I organize a researchpaper?

You will need to make somedecisions about how to bestorganize your information. The

following are some guidelinesfor you to follow.



Decide Where to State YourMain Point

Introduction or Conclusion? What‟s

best for your paper?

Introduction – readers feel no

suspense about your claim. Youmake a contract with you reader asto what they will learn from yourpaper and you don‟t let her down!

You hand over control to your reader



Decide Where to State YourMain Point

In the conclusion – You keep controlof the paper. You say to yourreader:

“Follow me through this report andconsider every item that I offer. Inthe end, I will reveal my conclusion.”

You force your readers to figure out

where your evidence is leadingthem, as they would in a murdermystery.



Introduction

Write a brief context

Succinctly state your researchquestion

State why it‟s important

Write the answer that youdiscovered (if you know it! You

may not have or discover ananswer until you‟ve written thepaper! Or…your outline)



Sample Introduction

First-born middle-class Caucasianmales are said to earn more, stayemployed longer and report more jobsatisfaction. (context)

But no studies have looked at recentimmigrants from Southeast Asia tofind out whether they repeat thatpattern. If it doesn‟t hold, we have tounderstand whether another does,why it is different, and what itseffects are (question)



Sample Introduction (cont.)

Because only then can weunderstand how patterns of successand failure in ethnic communitiesdiffer from those in European

communities. (why it‟s important) The predicted influence seems to cut

across ethnic groups, particularlythose from Vietnam, though it partlydepends on how long a family hasbeen here and their economic levelbefore they came. (hypotheticalanswer)



Organizing the body of yourreport

Sketch necessary background,definitions and conditions

What must your readers know and

understand before they canunderstand the substance of yourargument.

Do not let this dominate your paper –

it‟s like summarizing a play or novelwhen writing an essay.

1-2 pages.




Find the best order for yourreasons and evidence

Reason First, then evidence tosupport it. Repeat thisthroughout your paper.




In what order do I write my reasons?

Try different combinations – think

„storyboard‟ – what do you think willbe most effective?

You can always cut, paste and revise ifyou see a better strategy. Don‟t get

hung up here.




Old to New – reader prefer tomove from what they know towhat they don‟t. Start with what

is familiar to your readers, thenmove to the unfamiliar




Some guidelines for organizing yourreasons (cont.)

Shorter and Simpler to Longer and

More Complex – start with what‟seasier to understand and move tothe more complex

Uncontested to More Contested –

start with the less controversialreasons. What will your readeraccept more readily.




Locate acknowledgments andresponses – Try to acknowledgeand respond to the most

important questions andobjections where you think yourreaders will raise them.




You may need to summarize the other,more accepted argument that opposesyour claim.

You may briefly acknowledge another

argument while making a point – but finishyour point first! Then, go back andrespond to the other argument.

If your paper offers a solution at the end,you may write about other solutions –

refuting each one of them until you offeryour solution at the very end

drafting your research paper outline

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