Persuasive Research & Proposal
Writing the Research Paper Lecture
At this point in the research process, you’ve submitted your research question, and you’ve been using that question to guide your research. If you followed the instructions, you chose a topic that you were interested in but had not made up your mind about yet. Not being sure of your stance as you begin the research process is best because it ensures that you’re willing to conduct extensive research about the issue and have an open mind to all sides of the argument.
SOURCES:
I’ve written this before, but I’ll write it again: Make sure that you find the best, most recent, and most reputable sources for your paper. Ideally, you should have recent sources—sources that are no more than 3-5 years old.
Make sure you’re conducting your research in the databases—EBSCO, ProQuest, CQ Researcher, Library Search, etc. Remember that each of these databases has different kinds of sources (EBSCO is journal articles, ProQuest is newspapers, Library Search will find books, etc.) So, you’ll need to conduct research in all of these databases. You might not find any actual books on your issue if it’s a contemporary but local issue, and that’s okay. Some of you will mostly have journal articles as sources. That’s fine too. Just make sure that you’ve looked in all of these databases and use some sources from the databases in your paper.
Can you use online sources? Yes, you may have a couple of sources from online sources found conducting a simple Google or Internet Explorer search, but you may not ONLY have sources found from conducting an internet search. Remember that anything you find in the databases has already been deemed to be a “good” source. The same cannot be said for Internet sources. There’s a lot of junk out there that you’ll have to sift through when you do a Google search.
How many sources? The minimum number is six, but most of you will need many more sources to fully understand your issue. It’s crucial that you address all of the major points on all sides of the issue. Keep your sources! I’d suggest printing them out and keeping them in a folder or 3-ring binder. You’ll need to do a Works Cited citation for each of your sources, so be sure that you keep careful track of what you’re reading and where it comes from.
Writing a Thesis Statement
Remember to read the Thesis Statement PowerPoint. You should not have a stance on the issue until you’ve read all of your sources, taken careful notes, and weighed the arguments others are making.
After you’ve done all of that, then you come to an informed decision about the issue and write your thesis statement. An informed, educated stance on an issue is much more persuasive than an uninformed, uneducated stance on an issue. The thesis statement is your informed, educated stance on the issue; it is your answer to your research question.
Your thesis may be one sentence or several sentences long, but it must take a stand to be a thesis.
Writing a Persuasive Paper
It’s critical that you write a persuasive rather than informative paper. Thus, as the PowerPoints about organizing a paper illustrate, there shouldn’t be a ton of “background” information. One or two paragraphs is the maximum you should provide about the “history” of the issue. Then, like you did for your literary analysis paper, each paragraph should focus on one “point” or argument about the issue. Each point gets its own paragraph, and within that paragraph, what you do will be similar to what you did for paragraphs for the literary analysis paper—present evidence from the sources and add your own analysis.
Each paragraph should have evidence from several sources (at least three) and should be a combination of the different types of evidence—examples/facts, testimony, and statistics. Be sure that you comment on and analyze each bit of evidence you provide as you insert it. Doing this will ensure that each of your paragraphs a) starts with the claim/point, and b) is followed by a 50/50 combination of evidence from sources and your own analysis.
Remember that any time you take an idea, any information, or exact words from a source, whether it be paraphrased, summarized, or directly quoted, you MUST follow the information with an in-text citation.
Directly quoted words—three or more in a row—must also be in quotation marks. An in-text citation is typically the author’s last name and the page number. The in-text citation tells the reader that you’ve done your research—that you didn’t “make up” the information you just presented, and it gives credit to the author that originally wrote the idea or words.
The in-text citation matches up with the Works Cited page. Think of it this way—the in-text citation gives credit to the author of the source and tells a reader where to find the information within the source by listing the page number like this (Anderson 15). The in-text citation (also called a parenthetical citation) also refers the reader to the Works Cited page where the sources are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. That way, the reader can scan down the list of sources on the Works Cited page to find the source with the name of “Anderson” (in this hypothetical example), and the Works Cited listing has all of the information necessary to find that source if the reader wanted to do so.
Look in the MLA tabbed section of your A Writer’s Reference book for many, many specifics about how to do in-text and Works Cited citations. At the end of that tabbed section there’s an example Works Cited page as well so you can see how the page should be formatted. Use your book.
The folders for the paper peer group workshopping draft and final draft in Assignments are automatically linked to Turnitin.com. When you submit your paper in Assignments in D2L, it will automatically be sent to Turnitin.com for an originality report. You will be able to see the percentage of text that matches to other sources right in D2L. When you click on that percentage, you will be taken to the Turnitin.com report.
You will have matches in Turnitin.com. Any time you see the originality report highlighting a phrase, sentence, or several sentences, it means that Turnitin.com has found a match for what you have in your paper. As long as you have quotation marks around what is highlighted AND it’s followed with a proper in-text citation, you have cited it properly.
Remember that Turnitin.com might not find the exact source you used; rather, it will note whichever source it finds first. So, if another student paper has used the same sources as you and used the same excerpt from that source, yours might show up as a match to someone else’s paper. This isn’t a problem as long as you have cited the original source properly in your paper. Always check what’s highlighted to make sure that you have it used exactly like your source has it. If you put text in quotation marks, you’re essentially saying that what you have is exactly like the original.
You must not use only directly-quoted material in your paper. Your Turnitin.com report should show no more than 15-20% total match for the final draft of your paper. More than that means that you have too much material directly quoted. Most of what you use from sources should be paraphrased and summarized (which are also followed with an in-text citation).
I will set up a Turnitin.com folder so that you can repeatedly submit your paper prior to the final draft being due. Feel free to submit your paper more than once in the draft folder so you can check your originality report and make sure there are no problems with plagiarism before you turn in the final draft in the final draft folder.
Addressing All Sides of the Issue:
Writing a persuasive paper means that you are showing a reader that you’ve conducted thorough and careful research and that you’ve come to an informed decision. You must address all of the primary points on both sides of the issue.
For those points you agree with, this means you’ll put that claim/point first and then follow it with evidence from the sources and your analysis.
For those points you disagree with, you’ll make it clear that it’s a point you disagree with in the claim. For example, let’s say your topic is about whether schools should use tablets or textbooks. In one paragraph, you might write: “Some advocates of using tablets instead of textbooks argue that it’s cheaper, but when all expenses are taken into account, tablets are actually more expensive.”
Then you’d go on to present some of the opposition’s best evidence, like how expensive textbooks are to have in hard copy and the average textbook cost. However, you’d refute their evidence with what you’ve found: that there’s still a price for digital textbook materials, and the initial cost of tablets plus the cost of breakage exceeds the price of a hard copy of a textbook. Don’t ignore any important points.
What if you have a hard time refuting a point? This will happen. If it wasn’t hard to refute a side’s points, then the issue probably wouldn’t be controversial. Refute it as best you can. If you absolutely can’t refute a point, then see if it’s an issue you can address in your proposal.
For example, perhaps you are FOR tablets instead of textbooks in elementary schools, but you are having a hard time refuting the issue of breakage. Perhaps you have some ideas: padded cases for all tablets, specific storage methods in the classroom, and rules about when and where students can use the tablets. All of your ideas could go in your proposal as ways to DECREASE the breakage issue.
What Makes a Great Research Paper?
A great papers show a depth of research, clearly illustrate that the student comprehends the issue and has thought critically about it, has source material used and cited properly, is organized effectively, is interesting, has the student’s in-depth critical thinking in each paragraph, addresses all sides of the issue, is well-edited, and offers a compelling proposal. See the grading sheet for this assignment for a specific listing of all of the requirements.
How important is the Works Cited page?
The Works Cited page is a crucial component of the research paper. The Works Cited page lists all of your sources you used in the paper, whether you took material from the source and summarized it, paraphrased it, or directly quoted it. Essentially, the Works Cited page shows that you did your research and shows that you know how to give credit to your sources. Without it, your paper would be considered plagiarized. Your research paper MUST have a proper Works Cited page attached.
What happens if I turn in a paper without a Works Cited page?
You will receive no credit / 0% on the paper. This paper is worth so much of the course grade, that it means you would not be able to pass the class.
I know that you all can write thought-provoking, persuasive research papers with solid ideas in your proposal. I look forward to reading your draft!
Note: The images in this document were borrowed from Turnitin.com and www.marshallamps.com.