Writing A Research Essay

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Writing A Research Essay

• The products of carefully planned assignments
  (typically five to ten pages in length) are often
  called research essays. They frequently involve
  persuasive (and sometimes argumentative) writing,
  intended to convince your audience to accept your
  point of view).

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Stages in Writing a Research Essay
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Stage 1 Choosing and Limiting your Topic

• Think about what you are interested and what you
  would like to learn about. Try to do this early
  in the research stage to save you wasting time
  later.
• Dont bite off more than you can chew (a
  colloquialism ). Decide if your
  ambitions are do-able in the time alloted.
• Try to pick information that can make it
  interesting to your audience. If it is
  intersting, it is usually fairly convincing.

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Stage 1 Contd

• Consider and formulate some research questions
  you want to address in the essay. You should
  also answer the following questions
• What do I know about this topic?
• What else do I need to know?
• What do I want my audience to learn from my
  research?

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For example, you may make a thought web like this
Genre of the Novel
Fantasy Novels
Novels of J.R.R. Tolkien
Reasons for the success and popularity of The
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.
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Stage 2 Making a Tentative Thesis Statement

• An effective thesis should take a POSITION on
  your paper that you believe your research will
  prove.
• It is a single sentence that formulates both the
  central idea of your research and your point of
  view on the topic.
• In a sense, the thesis is your answer to the
  central question or problem you have raised.

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Sample Working Thesis

• It is the combined effect of the use of
  language, the presence of a wide variety of
  poetry and song, the elements of heroism, and
  even aspects of Tolkiens own character that
  contribute to the legendary status of The Lord of
  the Rings.

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Stage Three Retrieving Sources of Information

• It is important that the primary voice in your
  paper is your own, however you need to have
  resources that effectively substantiate your
  claims.
• As you conduct your research, take notes to
  reconstruct the information.

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Types of Resources

• Primary Sources
• First-hand Observations
• -discussion
• -observation
• -interviews
• -questionnaires

• Secondary Sources
• Library Catalogues and Computer Files
• Periodical Indexes
• Non-Print Resources
• Electronic Libraries

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Stage 4 Making a Tentative Outline

• Place the information you have found in order by
  creating an draft outline.
• As your research develops and grows, so will your
  outline. Do not be afraid to make changes to
  your work.
• A well-written outline gives your essay form and
  direction. It is essentially the hard part, and
  a substantial amount of time should be dedicated
  to this step and process.

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Ex/

• Introduction
• A. The success and popularity of the trilogy
  TLOTR
• B. Combined reasons for Tolkiens greatness
• Par. 1 Tolkiens effective use of descriptive
  language
• A. Vivid imager to set the storys scenes
• B. Vivid imagery to describe characters
• C. Vivid imagery to establish mood
• Par. 2 Tolkiens scheme of languages (speech)
• A. The Hobbits speech
• B. The Orcs speech
• C. The Elvish speech
• Par. 3 Tolkiens use of poetry and song
• A. Heightening atmosphere and mood
• B. Revealing aspects of characters personality
• C. Supplying background information
• Par. 4 Tolkiens heroic, courages characters
• A. The ranger, Aragorn
• B. Eomer, Marshall of the Mark
• C. Gil-galad

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Stage 5 Reading and Organizing Notes

• Evaluate your own research, as you progress, in
  terms of accuracy, currency, and usefulness.
• Ensure you are keeping jot-notes of your
  information to assist you in integrating that
  information into your paper.
• Organize your citations in advance so you are not
  looking for them at the end of your essay.

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Stage 6 Writing the First Draft

• As you write, make sure that you are
  incorporating parenthetical references or
  embedded citations.
• Use MLA format in your writing format and
  citations.
• If you find new material as you are writing, you
  need to be prepared to review your rough outline
  to incorporate that information in an organized
  and effective manner.

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Stage 7 Revising and Editing

• Things to consider
• Are my purpose and main idea clear?
• Is my thesis statement fully developed?
• Is the content of the report complete?
• Does it follow the order presented in my outline?
• Is each topic sentence supported by detailed
  facts?
• Do my language and content suit my audience?
• Are my title and introductory paragraph(s)
  interesting?
• Is there a strong ending?
• Have I defined all important terms?
• Have I adequately answered my research questions?
• Is my paper free of errors in punctuation,
  grammar, and usage?
• How can I improve in my next research project?

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Stage 8 Publishing or Presenting the Final Draft

• Type assignments whenever possible
• Double check the format
• Give it a once-over to check for any last-minute
  errors

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Stage 9 Preparing References

• On a separate sheet of paper
• MLA Format
• Works Cited
• Last page of essay
• Alphabetical Order