It is important to write about things that interest you. However, it is also important that it is presented in a way in which others will also care about all the research you have done. After developing a topic that you like, the best way to begin writing is to prepare questions relevant to your subject. Outlining is a helpful tool as it can direct your questions into being most useful toward your main claim. Asking these questions will help you to define the problem and in turn help you solve it for yourself and others. Once the problem has been defined, seeking sources becomes necessary in order to back up your claims. Sources may come from the stacks at the library, library databases, online, or from general or specialized references. When selecting sources, it is crucial to know of their relevance, understand their context, and to use and cite them properly.
2) Making a Claim and Supporting It
By making a claim, you are creating an argument. These arguments, order to be successful, need to engage the reader. they also need to be supported by reasons and evidence, which may come from sources or personal experience. As with everything else in writing, you must provide for why your reasoning is relevant - emphasizing the "how and why" questions of your writing. The thicker your argument, the more credible your claim will become. Remember that claims are audience specific and should be evaluated that way. It is also important to read your writing objectively and include the counter arguments to your writing because this will further establish your ethos. Warrants need to be handled carefully as they can be too hastily generalized, while others need little explaining at all. This tends to be related to the assumptions between the writer and reader.
3) Planning, Drafting, and Revising
For organizing, do not treat your research paper as a narrative, do not assemble it as a patchwork of your sources, and do not echo the language that was used to present the assignment to you in the first place. There are many ways to handle the body of a report, so choose one that makes sense with your subject and tone. Plan according to section and subsection, so as not to confuse your thoughts. Drafting should be done in the way that is most comfortable and flows best for you. Use key words or phrases, integrate quotations and paraphrasing to maintaining your ethos. Cite your sources! Do not plagiarize in any way. It's best to not procrastinate as writer's block does happen; provide yourself with plenty of time to avoid desperation that can lead to plagiarism or poor/forced writing. When revising, think like the reader. Do not be overly attached to your writing. Make sure that your flow is continuous and that each part of your paper (introduction, body, and conclusion) are differentiable. Use transitions to get you from one idea to the next. Finally, give yourself time to walk away from your draft; what reads well when you write it, may not the day after.
My weakest point in research papers is definitely finding sources. It is my tendency to settle on articles, and to give up prematurely on finding ones that will work well. I know it's lazy, but I dislike having to go through "the hunt"...and thusly I generally go with my first finds. Also, up until this semester, I did not know how to navigate the library databases, and therefore I was mostly reliant on google and interviews. I will for certain be using the databases from now on, it's so much easier, as well as faster than sorting through all of google's unrelated topics.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've never been much for outlines, but I've found that they help me narrow down my topic, keep me specific, and in sync with my thesis. It also helps me to develop reasons, evidence, warrants, backing...everything I need to maintain my credibility as the writer.