RESEARCH PROJECT

To prepare you for your research paper in English 101 (and in many other future classes), we will be going through all of the process steps involved in writing a strong research paper.

Part I: topic selection

What overall topic will your essay address?

What part of the topic will you focus on?

What will your research question be?

Topic Paragraph

(hand-written, done in class)

Part II: research

What do you need to learn?

What evidence should you focus on (facts vs. Expert Opinions)?

How can you make sure your sources are reliable and scholarly?

Annotated Bibliography

(3 sources found out of class, annotations written by hand in-class)

Part III: drafting

What is your thesis?

How will you organize your evidence?

What do you want the reader’s experience to be like?

Research Map/Draft

(Hand-written, started out of class and finished in-class)

Part IV: revising and editing

How can you make sure your thesis is strong?

What is the best way to present your evidence?

How will you make sure all of your sentences are clear?

How will you make sure your MLA format is all correct?

Sample Paragraph and Checklist

(Started in class by hand and finished out of class, typed and printed)

All of these parts are due on Wednesday, December 6th

RESEARCH PROJECT