Before you write a paper, it is very important to outline your paper beforehand and also to have an effective thesis statement for your paper. Both are key to a good paper, and both are interrelated. Outlining generally comes first, and is a process where the writer carefully reads and then rereads (reading each source twice is generally recommended) each source for his or her paper. In reading each source, the writer should look for strong commonalities between the primary and secondary sources (that is, ways to link them together). One should also look for key quotes from both types of sources to use in the paper, as the effective use of quotes is a very strong way to make an argument. In finding these quotes and looking for these commonalities, the writer will be able to identify the thesis (or unifying, subjective argument) for his or her paper.
Please follow this link for a list of the types of outlines: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/03/ .
A thesis statement is a subjective and unifying argument that ties the body of the paper together. Although a thesis statement cannot be definitively proven, the purpose of a research paper is to convince the reader of the merit of the thesis statement. The point of each paragraph (discussed in my post on how to write an effective paragraph) should reflect, resemble, and reinforce the point made in the opening paragraph's thesis statement. The thesis statement should be in the opening paragraph of the paper, and is generally at the end of that paragraph.
Please follow this link for a description of the different types of thesis statements and for examples of thesis statements: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/545/01/ .
No comments:
Post a Comment