The Research Paper

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The Research Paper

• I  Process1.       Choosing a topic 2.      
  Collecting information3.       Analyzing the
  information, organizing ideas, and working out an
  outline 4.       Writing the first draft and
  5.       Revising the draft and finalizing it.
  (Ding 296-97) 

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1.Choosing a topic pp297-300

• Dont get married to a topic.
• If you dont like it.
• If it is not working out for any reason --Get
  rid of it, change topics.

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Requirements for final topic.

• 1) It should be a topic that is meaningful and
  serious.
• Important topic (It should have some value, i.e.
  sth. new, different, or original).
• Should have depth (Not shallow, not fluff/light
  or waste).
• 2)  It should be a topic within the range of your
  abilities.
• Within your ability to discuss.

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Requirements for final topic.

• 3)It should be a topic for which sufficient
  materials are available.
• You should have plenty of resources.
• 4) It should be a topic that can be treated
  objectively.
• You should have an objective treatment (to your
  thesis).(Though we cant be purely objective,
  well try to put our bias aside. If you dont
  know the other peoples views, you cant do it
  well. Anyway its not research.)

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Requirements for final topic.

• 5) It should be a subject that is not too topical
  to draw conclusions on.
• A conclusion should be possible (You should take
  firm stand).
• 6)  It should be a clear thesis statement.
• Narrow down focus (clear thesis statement)
• Neither too broad nor too narrow 

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2. Collecting information pp. 300 309

• Begin collecting information immediately

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A-Using the library,

• Using the library, internet everywhere in China.
  (with your ID card or work card)
• Visit universities libraries, looking for the
  information concerning your subject and author
• Look up in the card catalogue drawers. (You can
  find the books you need, if they are available,
• according to the last names of the authors
• or the first word of the titles of books, which
  are all arranged alphabetically.)

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Using the library,

• You can also go to the subject catalogue to find
  out what has been written on your topic, or at
  least find some titles which seem to be related
  to your topic. (Literature, Language, Education
  etc.)
• Read encyclopedia which may give you some help.
  (Read all the articles on or related to your
  subject in it).
• Look at the brief bibliographies and reference at
  the end of each article you will be able to
  collect a number of titles.

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Using the library,

• Copy all the titles, preferably on cards.--- For
  bibliography forms see pp.341-52-----Bibliography
  cards for books pp.342-345
  
  
  

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B-Reading

• First scan (a book)
• Table of contents
• Index
• Bibliography
• Skim the irrelevant pages rapidly until you find
  the information you need.
• Reliable information 

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C-Taking notes

• While reading take the information down as you
  go
• Take notesyour memory will fail you.
• Use professionally printed note cards
• Look for any fact, idea, or opinion not generally
  known but relevant to your topic

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Taking notes

• One note /one fact/ one thought /one idea per
  card (easy for you to shuffle or rearrange)
• Take more information first sort later
• Get a focus on the material soon so that you can
  become more selective in the notes you take.

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Taking notes

• Make sure that documentation is complete.
• The information,
• he authors last namethe page number
• Abbreviated form of the works title

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Three kinds of notes

• Quote (direct /exact/use ellipses)
• Paraphrase (words very similar to the original)
• Summary (general statement of authors idea)
• Put Quote, Paraphrase, Summary on the
  card. 

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Quotation of sources

• Copy the quotation exactly as it appears in the
  original. ( sic, the Latin word for thus)
• Underline sic when you type or write the word.
  In print, the word would be italicized.
  Non-English words are usually underlined.
• Place spaced dots all the way across the card to
  indicate the omission of a whole paragraph or two
  
• Place three spaced dots (an ellipsis) where the
  sentence or part of the sentence has been left
  out.

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Caution about using the ellipsis

• Never alter the meaning of the original by using
  an ellipsis
• e.g. This was not the most important cause of
  the war. If the original statement reads like
  this and it would be dishonest if we use an
  ellipsis to omit the word not.
• Do not omit from the sentence important elements
  such as the subject and the verb.

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Caution about using the ellipsis

• Make careful notes (make sure that pronoun is
  clear and context is clear) by putting the
  information in brackets not parentheses.
• e.g. He Marx suffered extreme hardship.
• In that year 1848, Karl Mark and Fredrich
  Engels published the Communist Manifesto.
• Be very careful about assuming that just because
  sth. is published, that it is then true. (Just
  because sth. has been published does not mean it
  is true.) 

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Arrangement of notes

• Put your notes in order
• When you feel you have collected enough material
  to start planning your paper, and when you find
  that additional references are merely repeating
  the information you already have, it is time to
  stop reading awhile and put your notes in order.

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Arrangement of notes

• Put your notes into groups under different
  headings
• Reread your notes to refresh your memory and at
  the same time put them into groups under
  different headings.
• e.g. For your notes on Ernest Hemingway, your
  heading might include
• Hemingway and the Lost Generation,
• Hemingways Life,
• Hemingways Works, and
• Hemingways Contributions to American
  Literature.
• You may want to subdivide some of these headings,
• e.g Hemingways Works,--Hemingways Themes,
  --Hemingways Style and Techniques,
  --Hemingway on Writing.

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Arrangement of notes

• Use pencil when making note headings
• Write a brief heading in ink in the upper right
  hand corner of each card (so that it can be seen
  quickly as you shuffle through your cards)
• Arrange note cards (logically before starting to
  write)
• Rearrange note cards if necessary 

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Here is a note card for your reference Page 309

• 
  Hemingways ThemesR.E. Spiller, p. 200In one
  sense Hemingway was more limited in scope than
  most of his contemporaries, for he had but a
  single themehow man may meet death in a world
  stripped of all values except that of
  intensity.

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3) Analysing the information, organising ideas
and working out an outline

• After you get sufficient information, you can
  start to write.
• Brainstorming / speed writing is for breaking
  writers block.
• Writers block (when you dont know what to
  write) Whatever comes in your mind, you just
  write down. Any idea.
• Write thesis statement.
• Complete affirmative declaration.Consider
  brainstorm thoughtsEliminate irrelevant Retain
  relevantLogical order

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Write an outline / contents

• topic outline
• sentence outline (Dont mix them. )

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e.g. Food

• I.    FruitA. Apples B. OrangesC. Green
  beansII.  VegetablesA. B.C.III. MeatA.B.
  C. 

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e.g. Transportation

• CarsTrucksAutomobilesTrainsPlanesBicycles
• The items should have equal importance. 

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4) Writing the first draft

• Once you have your thesis statement and outline,
  you are ready to begin writing your first draft.
  You may have to write more than one draft before
  you have your final paper done. 
• All the rules of good writing you have learned
  apply to the writing of your paper. Here are a
  few points that deserve special attention

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Effective paragraphs

• three major concerns / areas
• Unity--content--theme (thesis) (beginning,
  middle and endEvery sentence should be related
  back to the theme (thesis.)

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three major concerns / areas

• Coherence / cohesion --form / organization
  --logical progression

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three major concerns / areas

• Transition --Parallel structures /
  Parallelism --Repeated words / groups of words
  --Pronoun /Antecedents --Consistency in
  person, number of nouns / pronouns and verb
  tense --Perspective, the 3rd person in academic
  writing always. --transitional expressions
  P85-p87

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Notes

• Using your own words (Page 313)--Dont string
  together a branch of quotations--Do remember not
  to quote more than 10 percent of your paper.
• To use your own words in writing your paper is
  not always easy. You may be tempted to quote a
  great deal. Lets look at the example pp.313-314
  in which the writer merely strings note or
  borrowed material together.

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Notes

• Using the proper tenses
• When you are dealing with an event or a concept
  of the past, the past tense should be your basic
  tense.
• Biographical details of a persons life should
  normally be reported in the past tense.

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Notes

• If you mention events in a story in chronological
  order, use the simple present for all of them.
• But the simple past or the present perfect
  should be used for an event that happened before
  one that has been mentioned.

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Notes

• The present tense should also be used for your
  comments on the content of a book or the language
  and style of an author.
• When you quote from an authority, the reporting
  verb can also be in the present tense. So instead
  of Richard Chase said, Professor Cowley
  wrote, or T.S. Eliot stipulated, you can write
  Richard Chase says, Professor Cowley writes,
  and T.S. Eliot stipulates.

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Notes

• Uniting facts and views
• A paper is weak if it is crowded with facts which
  do not prove or disprove a point of view. The
  reader will certainly wonder what all those facts
  are there for. He will not be enlightened on the
  subject even if many of the facts are
  interesting.
• A paper is just as weak, however, if it expresses
  a lot of views, even original ones, without
  supporting facts. The reader may be struck by
  those views at first, but very soon he will begin
  to doubt if they are really sound. He will even
  think that the writer is not serious or honest in
  producing such a paper.

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Notes

• A research paper must combine both facts and the
  assessment of facts, both authentic, verified
  factual information and views firmly founded on
  it.
• Good papers are invariably marked by the unity of
  facts and ideas.

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Notes

• Paying attention to logic and the organization
• Composition/ Paper should be unified--Unity,
  coherence and transitions are important.--Remove
  irrelevant--The whole composition is composed of
  several / many paragraphs.--Each paragraph
  should have a central idea.--Arrange your work
  logically.--Hook together your sentences and
  paragraphs.--Everything should be separate but
  related.--Proportion (art)

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If the introduction is too big, and the body is
too small, its out of proportion.
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Proportion

• Introduction 5-10 of the whole paper
• Introduction includes your thesis and some of
  background of your material. (AC attention
  catcherbackground thesis)
• Body 75-80
• The main parts of your paper, the body
  (Presentation of facts/ ideas/ proposals)
• Conclusion 5-15
• Tell us what you told us.
• Conclusion should be short and powerful.
• Have some backbone. State it clearly and
  powerfully. Not maybe. It should be strong.

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Notes

• Spaces necessary for correction (Page setup,
  spacing)
• Double space allows you to do some editing.
• Make your tone objective rather than
  personal--objective facts--relevant data--no I
  or we, no personal experience
• Choosing the right style--use formal written
  style--do not use contractions --need not be
  pompous and difficult to understand

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5) Revising the draft and finalizing the paper

• Dont turn in first draft
• Allow time for objective reflection
• first draft means expression of ideas in words.
  Writing is art. (Our words should paint the
  pictures in our minds. They should give images.)
• Check grammar / spelling and punctuation
• Microsoft word contains a lot of tools. Green
  line means grammar problems.

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Editing is necessary for all good writing.

• All good writing is the result of much revision.
  
• Some thoughts you need to think about Page
  151-page152-page153QuestionsIs the thesis
  clear? --Is the content related?
  --Does the content support? So after
  the draft is finished, you revise it and see that
  your essay reaches sth.Check words, structures,
  spelling, and grammar. For a fair tone, wed
  better avoid sex discrimination, using he/she,
  chairperson etc.