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Research Paper
The thesis template we encourage students to use in this class is as follows:
Research suggests that __central claim__ because __main supporting point 1__, __main supporting point 2__, and __main supporting point 3__
So the thesis must be argument driven rather than just pass along information to the reader. It’s also a good idea to make sure, at this early stage, that there is ample research available to comfortably give you the ten credible sources you need for the paper.
TASK 1
Once you have gathered your ten sources, Task 1 asks that you write a short 150-200 word long paragraph about EACH source. All ten of these paragraphs will make take the same four ?steps? as they assess the sources you have chosen. Note that you will not go into much detail with any of these steps. The most you will write for each step will probably be no more than four or five sentences. Again, the total word count for all five steps will 150-200 words.
The first step is to offer a brief summary of the source (probably about four or five sentences). What are they key points of the source?
Then students will discuss the ?credibility? of the source (three or four sentences should do). Folks will most often discuss the author, but they might also talk about the organization that released the information or the publication that presented it. What makes this source reliable?
Finally, students must address the relevance of the source (about two sentences). How will the source be used in your essay? It is important to specifically mention your paper. Many students demonstrate relevance, for example, by discussing which section/main supporting point in the paper will be helped by the source.
TASK 2
Task 2 for Composition II is writing the paper itself. The paper is between 10 and 15 pages long, but that includes the title page and references pages. For many, then, this will mean that they must write 7 pages of essay in order to meet the 10 page requirement. As long as the 10 pages are reached, there should hopefully be enough detail in the paper.
Although the course does not require you to make an outline for the paper, I strongly encourage that you do. You can make the outline as detailed or brief as you like, but it should set out the organization of your paper clearly. The evaluators have a very precise structure in mind for your essay, and it goes back to the exact wording of your thesis statement:
Research suggests that __central claim__ because __main supporting point 1__, __main supporting point 2__, and __main supporting point 3__
The structure the evaluators are looking to see, then, is as follows:
Introduction ending in thesis
Section 1 based on Main Supporting Point 1 from the thesis
Section 2 based on Main Supporting Point 2 from the thesis
Section 3 based on Main Supporting Point 3 from the thesis
Conclusion restating thesis
It is very important to stick closely to this structure. I would also advise organizing your outline in enough detail that you break the three sections down into 3 or more sub-points for each section. This will help guide you effectively as you write, and will greatly reduce the risk of writer’s block. You may even want to make a note in the outline of where sources will be used in the paper. Use your outline then like a set of directions on a journey, closely following the path you have set from introduction to conclusion.
Remember the common conventions of academic writing, too, such as not using ?I, me, we, or you, etc? and keeping personal information and anecdotes to an absolute minimum.
