Environment Research paper.
Horaceyim
THEFIRST3PAGESOFYOURPAPER.docxDue: first three pages of research paper.
Within the first three pages, your reader should have a clear idea of both your specific subject matter AND the big question your are investigating--the "big idea" of your intellectual work. The first three pages establish tone and voice in the writing.
Credibility is tantamount to professionalism, and that's something that readers actually look for, consciously or unconsciously: does the paper have a precise, informative title, proper margins, aesthetic layout, correct punctuation and spelling?
It is critical that your paper show or explain in the first paragraphs why your topic is important, relevant, or otherwise compelling. Your reader needs a reason to invest time into reading the paper. What new or emotionally engaging piece of knowledge can you promise them? Yangzi Zhang began her paper with a first-person narrative to show her readers the lives of actual autistic children in China (attached). After reading that narrative, readers fully understand why this topic is worth learning about: these are children who need care and attention. Her paper then substantiates her claim that China's education and healthcare system for its autistic citizens is inadequate.
Other papers may open with surprising or extraordinary numbers and statistics. The power of numerical truth triggers a reader's interest. Some papers open up with a very recent news account or development that demonstrates the timeliness of the topic; readers realize that the subject impacts their lives now. However you begin your paper, you must show your reader that your topic is compelling, or that it is new, or that you are proposing some idea no one else has proposed. Whatever you do, you have to convince readers that your paper is worth their time.
You should incorporate proper MLA or APA documentation in these pages; there should be citations appearing in these first pages. That means constructing accurate in-text citations and works cited formats. At the end of your three pages, include a brief Works Cited page (you will probably have only a few sources cited in the first three pages).
You may, of course, revise your first pages for your final draft. In fact you should count on revising, the first draft of your first three pages, as the project continues. Often I the first few pages we write end up being cut from the final draft. In other cases, the beginning we thought we had must be moved elsewhere in the paper.
Remember: you are a guide to your reader. Teach them about your topic in the most effective way possible. Tell an engaging story about your ideas and the subject behind them.
Good luck and good writing.
