Drafting Your Outline

What to do in the next week!

How long will my research paper be?

Approximately 10 pages, double-spaced, does not include cover 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 it in.

How do I organize a research paper?

You will need to make some decisions about how to best organize your information. The following are some guidelines for you to follow.

Decide Where to State Your Main Point

Introduction or Conclusion? Whats best for your paper? Introduction readers feel no suspense about your claim. You make a contract with you reader as to what they will learn from your paper and you dont let her down! You hand over control to your reader

Decide Where to State Your Main Point

In the conclusion You keep control of the paper. You say to your reader: Follow me through this report and consider every item that I offer. In the end, I will reveal my conclusion. You force your readers to figure out where your evidence is leading them, as they would in a murder mystery.

Introduction

Write a brief context Succinctly state your research question State why its important Write the answer that you discovered (if you know it! You may not have or discover an answer until youve written the paper! Oryour outline)

Sample Introduction

First-born middle-class Caucasian males are said to earn more, stay employed longer and report more job satisfaction. (context) But no studies have looked at recent immigrants from Southeast Asia to find out whether they repeat that pattern. If it doesnt hold, we have to understand whether another does, why it is different, and what its effects are (question)

Sample Introduction (cont.)

Because only then can we understand how patterns of success and failure in ethnic communities differ from those in European communities. (why its important) The predicted influence seems to cut across ethnic groups, particularly those from Vietnam, though it partly depends on how long a family has been here and their economic level before they came. (hypothetical answer)

Organizing the body of your report

Sketch necessary background, definitions and conditions What must your readers know and understand before they can understand the substance of your argument. Do not let this dominate your paper its like summarizing a play or novel when writing an essay. 1-2 pages.

Organizing the body of your report

Find the best order for your reasons and evidence Reason First, then evidence to support it. Repeat this throughout your paper.

Organizing the body of your report

In what order do I write my reasons? Try different combinations think storyboard what do you think will be most effective? You can always cut, paste and revise if you see a better strategy. Dont get hung up here.

Organizing the body of your report

Old to New reader prefer to move from what they know to what they dont. Start with what is familiar to your readers, then move to the unfamiliar

Organizing the body of your report

Some guidelines for organizing your reasons (cont.) Shorter and Simpler to Longer and More Complex start with whats easier to understand and move to the more complex Uncontested to More Contested start with the less controversial reasons. What will your reader accept more readily.

Organizing the body of your report

Locate acknowledgments and responses Try to acknowledge and respond to the most important questions and objections where you think your readers will raise them.

Organizing the body of your report

You may need to summarize the other, more accepted argument that opposes your claim. You may briefly acknowledge another argument while making a point but finish your point first! Then, go back and respond 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 offer your solution at the very end