Steps in the Process
Pick a topic that's interesting to you within the scope of our project. If your topic genuinely interests you, it won't be nearly as difficult to do. Take time to think about what you'd like to learn more about.
What subject(s) are you interested in?
What interests you most about a particular subject?
Is there anything you wonder about about that subject?
Once you have a topic, narrow it down; focus on a specific aspect of the subject.
Too general: Focused:Tightly Focused:
Whaling Whaling ShipsWhale ship Essex
Whales Right Whales, or Commercially viable whales
Brainstorm; free-write; check out what we did in the Library 8/23.
Sit down with a pencil and paper, or at your computer, and write whatever comes into your head about your topic. Write for five minutes. Don't stop to change what you've written or to correct spelling or grammar errors. After a few minutes, read through what you've written. You will probably throw out most of it, but some of what you've written may give you an idea that can be developed. Do some more brainstorming and see what else you can come up with.
In the library, use the catalog or browse the shelves to look for books on your topic. If you find a book that is useful, check the bibliography (list of sources) in the back of that book for other books or articles on that topic. Also check indexes of magazines and newspapers. Ask Mrs. Selznick or Mrs. Miller for help if you need help finding sources. Try to use as many different types of sources as you can, including books, magazine articles, and internet articles. Don't rely on just one source for all your information.
Keep a list of all the sources you use. Include the title of the source, the author, publisher, and place and date of publication. This is your draft list of Works Cited.
After you've gathered your sources, begin reading and taking notes.
Use 3 x 5 index cards, one fact or idea per card. This way related ideas from different sources can be easily grouped together or rearranged.
On each index card, be sure to note the source, including the volume number (if there is one) and the page number. If you wind up using that idea in your paper, you will have the information about the source ready to put in your footnote or endnote.
If you copy something directly from a book without putting it in your own words, put quotation marks around it so that you know it is an exact quotation. This will help you to avoid plagiarism.
Before you sit down to write your rough draft, organize your note cards by subtopic (you can write headings on the cards) and make an outline.
Check out the differences between these two note cards for a research paper on baseball:
Using the information collected on the note cards, develop an outline to organize your ideas. An outline shows your main ideas and the order in which you are going to write about them. It's the bare bones of what will later become a fleshed-out written report.
Write down all the main ideas.
List the subordinate ideas below the main ideas.
Avoid any repetition of ideas.
Every essay or research paper is made up of three parts:
introduction
body
conclusion
The introduction is the first paragraph of the paper. It often begins with a general statement about the topic and ends with a more specific statement of the main idea of your paper. The purpose of the introduction is to
(a) let the reader know what the topic is
(b) inform the reader about your point of view
(c) arouse the reader's curiosity so that he or she will want to read about your topic
The body of the paper follows the introduction. It consists of a number of paragraphs in which you develop your ideas in detail.
Limit each paragraph to one main idea. (Don't discuss more than one idea per paragraph.)
Prove your points continually by using specific examples and quotations from your note cards.
Use transition words (then, second, next) to move your ideas from paragraph to paragraph.
The conclusion is the last paragraph of the paper. Its purpose is to
(a) summarize your points, leaving out specific examples
(b) restate the main idea of the paper
While you write your first draft, including the introduction, body, and conclusion, add the information or quotations on your note cards to support your ideas.
Use “parendocs” to identify the sources of this information. Parendocs go at the end of the sentence where you make a direct reference to your source.
A Works Cited Page is the list of sources you used to get information for your report. It is included at the end of your report, on the last page (or last few pages).
You will find it easier to prepare your Works Cited Page if you keep track of each book, encyclopedia, or article you use as you are reading and taking notes. Start draft WCP by listing in a separate Word document all your sources.
*****Use NoodleTools to generate your citation for each source.*****
Every time a fact gets recorded on a note card, its source should be noted in the top right corner. When you are finished writing your paper, you can use the information on your note cards to double-check your WCP. Alphabetize your WCP when you are ready to write your drafts.
Set your draft aside for a day or two before revising. Taking time separation makes it easier to view your work objectively and see any gaps or problems.
Revising involves rethinking your ideas, refining your arguments, reorganizing paragraphs, and rewording sentences. You may need to develop your ideas in more detail, give more evidence to support your claims, or delete material that is unnecessary.
Read your paper out loud. This often makes it easier to identify writing that is awkward or unclear.
Have your mom or dad or almost anyone else read the paper and tell you if there's anything that's unclear or confusing. (If it doesn’t sound like you are speaking, it’s unclear.)
Look for careless errors such as misspelled words and incorrect punctuation and capitalization.
Errors are harder to spot on a computer screen than on paper. If you type your paper on a computer, print out a copy to proofread. Remember, spellcheckers and grammarcheckers don't always catch errors; don’t assume the spellchecker is right.
----------------------- Friday 9/01
-------------------- Friday 9/08
-------------------- 9/15
Steal the First ParagraphAssignment
Find four articles from (four different) magazines you read.
If your magazine is online, copy and paste it. Include the URL so you can find it
again.
If your magazine is paper and ink, pay for the magazine, then clip it out with
scissors (take your time; don’t run with scissors), and tape or paste it to the paper.
Substitute the topic of your paper for the topic from the magazine, and print your
new paragraph below the one you’re using as a model.
Color code (different text colors, highlighter, etc) what the original topic was and
what you replaced it with.
One paragraph is due tomorrow (Wednesday, 9/7.
Three more are due Friday, 9/9)
Exempla gratia: (free example)
My baccalaureate degree is architecture; I enjoy reading about all manner of architecture. Therefore, I picked this article online.
The Saga of House #14(title of article)Extra Credit:
by Jim Heuer (author) 1. What is the word origin of "bungalow?"
2. Find information about Chickering grand pianos.
"It started with a square grand piano. We were determined to find a house with a living room big enough for the 1871 Chickering grand that was languishing under a pile of books in a spare bedroom. "Just take a look at this house to get an idea of what's on the market in your area," our agent said on the drab day in March 1999 when we agreed to meet for a walk-through."
My substitution:
It started with my wife’s wanting to plant a garden. We were determined to find vegetables that my great-grandmother might have planted the between the Civil War and World War-I. “Just take a look at the internet to get an idea of what was planted then,” my English teacher said on that sweltering day in September he made this assignment.
I used the structure of the original paragraph for my original words. This is not plagarism. This is modelling. I like the way it turned out; so much so, that I may do this again.
