200 likes | 307 Views
Planning Your Paper. Laying Out the Road Map. Chapter 8 of Dees Pages 171-192. Planning Your Paper: An Overview. Using Your Research Notes. Devising a Final Thesis Statement. Working with an Outline. A Review of Basic Patterns of Development. Creating a Title. .
E N D
Planning Your Paper Laying Out the Road Map Chapter 8 of Dees Pages 171-192
Planning Your Paper: An Overview • Using Your Research Notes. • Devising a Final Thesis Statement. • Working with an Outline. • A Review of Basic Patterns of Development. • Creating a Title.
Using Your Research Notes. • Do not be surprised that the direction of your research has taken you in a slightly different direction that you first assumed. • Discard topics which are not well developed. • Consider what research questions and answers the remaining material best provides for.
The Thesis Statement The main idea of an essay or report written as a single declarative sentence. Scribners Handbook for Writers
What a Thesis should not be or do. . . • It is not a rhetorical question. • Are there elements of Racism in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings? • It is not a statement of purpose. • This paper will show that the moral content of children’s cartoon is too ambiguous to present acceptable behaviormodels. • It should not summarize known facts. • AIDS is a usually fatal disease in which the body’s immune system fails to resist infection.. • It should not be too general. • The drug problem is something we need to solve.
Devising a Thesis Statement • Claim about facts, argue that something exists, causes something else, or is defined in a particular way. • Claims about value: make subjective statements about the worth of something. • Claims about policy: state an action which must be taken.
Working with an Outline Chapter 8 of Dees Pages 165-173
Definition: An outline is the skeletal layout of ideas in a work so that both its direction and organization are clear to the reader. • An outline is a tool to assist you in organizing and writing the paper. • An outline can also be invaluable in understanding a written work.
A Formal Outline I. Major heading (Roman Numeral) A. Minor heading (Capital Letter) 1. Detail heading (Arabian Number) a. Example heading (small letter) i. Sub-example Wherever there is a “I” there must be a “II.” Wherever there is an “A” there must be a “B” Wherever there is a “1” there must be a “2.”
A Review of Basic Patterns of Development. Finding the most effective pattern of presentation
Argumentative • Requires the Opposite position • Either Refute or Qualify
Comparison and Contrast • Examining two similar yet different items moving towards a conclusion. • Possible to examine each subject separately.
Possible to examine each quality within each subject separately
Classification • Similar to Comparison and Contrast • Describe how the items are different from other classifications.
Cause and Effect • Useful for showing how one cause or circumstance causes another event or circumstance. • Direct and indirect causes are covered. • Often leads to a suggested action.
Creating A Title It May Be the Last Thing You Do But It’s the First Thing I See
The Title Should Contain Two Major Elements • What is your paper about? • What is your approach to that subject?
Dos and Don’ts • A Critical View of Tax Shelters • Note no quote marks or underlining of your own title. • Use a subtitle added with a colon • Sleaze TV: Viewers are Saying No • Avoid High Sounding Titles • A Brief Examination of the Cause and effect Relationship of Lower Than Average Grades Among College Transfer Students • Avoid Cute Titles (Academic tone) • The “Purrrrect” Pet: Cats as Support Animals • Why is the Only Good Orc a Dead Orc? An Examination of Racism’s Dark Fact in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.