This document provides guidance for students drafting a research paper. It reviews the assignment requirements, discusses paragraph structure and organization, and offers tips for drafting, revising, and finalizing the paper. Key aspects covered include developing a thesis, creating an outline, incorporating evidence and citations, achieving coherence and flow, and structuring an effective introduction and conclusion. The document aims to help students understand the research paper process and produce a high-quality final draft.

1. WARM UP!
Improving Sentences:
Choose the best way to revise the underlined part of the sentence.
Your choice should make the most effective sentence and express the
meaning of the original sentence. If no revision is needed, choose (A).
Anna Mary Robertson Moses sold her first painting and she was
seventy-seven years old at the time.
(A)and she was seventy-seven years old at the time
(B) at the age of seventy-seven years
(C)at the time she was seventy-seven
(D)upon the time she reached seventy-seven years
(E) when she was seventy-seven

2. “GCA: Working to provide an exemplary individualized and engaging
educational experience for all students “
CRAFTING A RESEARCH
PAPER
ENG 403A
11/29/12

3. GCA VISION: GCA students will emerge as confident leaders in the 21 st century
global community through a holistic approach of rigorous academic standards, a
commitment to individualized learning paths, and attention to the growth of each
student as a civic minded contributor both within their local communities and
beyond.
GCA MISSION: Our mission is to provide an exemplary individualized and
engaging educational experience for all students by incorporating school and
community/family partnerships coupled with a rigorous curriculum within a data-
driven and student-centered instructional model. Student success will be measured
by valid & reliable assessment data, parent and student satisfaction, and continued
institutional growth within the academic community.

4. A LITTLE FUN BEFORE WE GET
STARTED!
Have you been to the library for your research? If
not, it might be fun to try it out!
http://viewpure.com/7_a7OTE2nLg

5. TODAY WE WILL:
• Review the assignment
• Look at the structure of our paragraphs
• Discuss how to draft and revise our paper
• CCGPS:
• ELACC9-10RI11, 12, 13, 16,17
• ELACC9-101, 2, 7, 8, 9
• ELACC9-104

6. REVIEWING THE ASSIGNMENT
• Select a topic on an aspect of British literature. You
have received a list of topics and a research
question. Each topic connects a work of literature
to the time and culture in which it was written. It is
located in Doc Sharing or the announcements
section.

7. PLANNING
1. Review the assignment instructions and grading criteria
thoroughly. Keep in mind that the research project is divided
into three major components spread across three units.
2. Choose a topic for your paper and submit 5.02.
3. Conduct research to help you narrow and develop your topic.
Use both print and online sources for your research.
4. Cite at least four sources, at least one of which is a print
source. Do not cite an encyclopedia, wikipedia, or ask.com.
5. Your final paper should be between 2-3 pages with an
additional page for the Works Cited. This is a difference from
the LMS!
6. Complete the first assignment, Research Paper Planning
Assignment, which includes writing a thesis statement and
developing a formal outline. You will submit the completed
plan for a grade (5.10)

8. DRAFTING
1. Begin drafting your paper. Use your research notes to
support your thesis.
2. Write in standard formal English, and use the third person
and the present tense. Your ideas should be expressed
objectively and be supported with your research. Avoid
sentences that begin with “I think” or “I feel.”
3. Review the Checklist and Rubric. Your first draft will be
graded against the checklist, so be sure that you have
included everything that the checklist requires. Keep the
rubric in mind as you draft because your final paper will be
graded against the rubric.
4. Continue to work on your draft, referring to your research
materials. Then submit the first draft of your Research Paper
after you have double-checked it against the checklist
that follows in this document. (File transfer checklist)

9. FINALIZING
1. • Revise your research paper. Use the feedback on the first
draft you received from your teacher. Also consider
feedback you may have received from your mentor or
other readers.
2. • The final paper will be graded against a rubric that
assesses the essay in the following five categories: purpose
and voice; ideas and content; structure and organization;
language, word choice, and tone; and sentences and
mechanics. The rubric appears at the end of this
document. Keep the criteria listed on the rubric in mind as
you revise your paper.
3. • Proofread your research paper. Use the proofreading
checklist as a guide. Be sure you review how to cite sources
correctly, both within your paper and on the Works Cited
page before you hand in your paper.
4. • Make a final, clean copy of your Research Paper and
submit it to your teacher.

10. WHAT IS DUE?
• You should have submitted your Topic (5.02), your
Planning (5.10), and your First Draft (7.01) already.
• The Final Draft (8.03) is due next Wednesday,
December 5th.

11. TIPS FOR EARNING A GOOD GRADE
• There are a few important things to remember
when working through a writing project:
• ALWAYS read and work through all lessons in the LMS!
• Check the rubric – and then follow it.
• Check Doc Sharing for additional information.
• Do NOT procrastinate!
• Turn your work in on time.
• Ask questions.

12. OVERALL RESEARCH PAPER
• Your paper should contain all of these:
• Purpose
• Introduction, body, and conclusion
• Thesis statement
• Body paragraphs: facts and quotations
• In-text citations and Works Cited page
• Easy to follow organization
• Appropriate, clear language
• Consistent, serious tone
• Varied sentence structures and beginnings
• Length 2-3 pages, plus Works Cited

13. PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
• The Introduction
• Think of the introduction as an inverted triangle.
• The top is the hook. It might be a historical event or a scene
from the author's life. It may tell a story or provide background
information. This is the largest part.
• The connecting idea, the middle section of your triangle, helps
explain the hook and connects the hook to the thesis. It may
bring in a second piece of information that links to the first. This
takes up a little less room in the paragraph.
• The thesis is the smallest section because it is narrowed down
to one statement.

14. LOOK IN THE LMS FOR A MODEL
RESEARCH PAPER:
• In the Model Research Paper, the hook is a description of how
England changed during the Industrial Revolution.
• The middle of the introduction narrows from the broad
statement about the Industrial Revolution to a more limited
focus: the Romantics' response to the Industrial Revolution.
• The end of the introduction further restricts the boundaries of
the paper to focus on
• one Romantic: William Blake
• one idea: the thesis statement based on Blake's poetic
response to the Industrial Revolution

15. OUTLINED
• Paragraph 1: Introduction (Use HABMAT)
• Hook
• Author
• Background
• A short summary
• Thesis

16. If a British citizen had fallen asleep in 1750 and awakened in 1800, he or she
would have found upon arising a vastly different nation from the one in which the
slumber began. Britain began the eighteenth century as a mainly agricultural society
with a small urban population. However, the Industrial Revolution, a period of economic
growth in which the agrarian economy shifted to a machinepowered economy,
created a fundamental change in the way people lived and worked. Inventions such as
the fly shuttle (1733), the water frame (1769), the steam engine (1769), the spinning jenny
(1770), and the power loom (1783), along with an innovative method of refining iron by
using coal, transformed the textile and mining industries. New jobs and inventions
brought people out of the English countryside and into the cities, such as London, in
search of work in textile mills and factories. The Industrial Revolution had many positive
effects; for example, there were more jobs in industry than there were on farms, and
communications and transportation became faster as new roads and canals were built
(King 46). But industrialization also had negative consequences, and some of the artists,
writers, and thinkers of the age commented on the less desirable outcomes, including
poverty, disease, and child labor in their work.

17. CONTINUING THE PARAGRAPHS
• Unity
• A research paper should be unified and coherent.
• A unified paper has the following characteristics.
• Every paragraph supports the thesis of the paper.
• Every sentence supports the main idea of the paragraph to
which it belongs.
• The paper does not contain unnecessary details.

18. CONTINUING THE PARAGRAPHS
• Coherence
• In a coherent paper, every sentence and paragraph flows
naturally from what came before and into what comes
afterward.
• What does "flows naturally" mean? It means that the reader can
see how each paragraph belongs in the place it occupies. The
reader doesn't wonder, "Why is that here?"
• To help achieve coherence, use transitions to link sentences,
paragraphs, and ideas. When the connections between ideas are
clear, the reader has an easier time understanding the content.

19. TRANSITIONS BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS
• Transitions can
• show chronological or spatial order
• show cause and effect
• signal comparisons and contrasts
• join ideas or examples
• File transfer handout on transition words…

20. USING YOUR OUTLINE AND NOTES
• Think of your outline as a compressed version of
your paper.
• Turn every outline heading into approximately a paragraph.
The most important headings may require more than one
paragraph; the smallest headings may only require a
sentence or two.
• Arrange your subtopics in the same order in your paper as
they are in the outline.
• Use your notes to flesh out what you say about each
subtopic.

21. IS YOUR DRAFT TURNING INTO A LONGER
VERSION OF YOUR OUTLINE?
IF SO, YOU'RE DOING IT RIGHT!
• If you look back at your outline and don't recognize
your paper in it, that means your draft is going off
track. Regroup and get back on course.
• Using the outline as your guide, see which passages
in your paper are out of position and which
passages do not come from the outline. Remove
passages not from the outline that should be cut,
unless they're great new relevant ideas that you're
adding.

22. BODY PARAGRAPHS
III. Paragraph 2: First Body Paragraph
A. Topic sentence (what this paragraph will discuss,
how it will prove your thesis)
B. Context for the quote
1. Who says it?
2. What’s happening in the text when they say it?
C. Quote from the text (cited appropriately)
D. Analysis of the quote: How does it prove your
thesis?
E.Closing sentence (wrap up the paragraph to effectively
transition to the next paragraph)

23. topic sentence: Blake’s concern for people who are unable to
experience nature is also evident in his poem “The Chimney-Sweeper.”
example from text In fact, Blake wrote two poems by this same name—one
in Songs of Innocence and the other in Songs of Experience. Analysis
Perhaps the chimney sweepers were much on the poet’s mind because
they were prevalent in his London. In Blake’s era, homes and other buildings
were heated by fireplaces with chimneys, and the chimneys became filthy
from smoke and soot. Context set-up for quote: Chimney sweepers climbed
up chimneys to clean them. This dirty, dangerous job was an example of the
child labor practices that were common in England’s cities at the time. Very
small boys, often between four and seven years of age, were the preferred
chimney sweepers because they were agile enough to climb to the top.
The boys’ impoverished parents sold them as apprentices for periods of
seven years, so they had no other choice of livelihood. Ackroyd paints a
stark picture of the chimney sweepers’ working conditions: quote
The average size of these vents was something like seven inches
square, and the small child was prodded or pushed…or scorched
with fire to make them climb with more enthusiasm. Of course
many died of suffocation, while others grew deformed; many
others suffered from what were known as ‘sooty warts,’ or
cancer…. Concluding sentence
Chimney sweepers worked from before dawn till noon. At that hour, “they
were turned upon thestreets—all of them in rags…all of them unwashed,
poor, hungry” (124).

24. FOCUS ON THE CONCLUSION
• The conclusion is your chance to make a final
impression. It's important to wrap up your ideas in a way
that leaves the reader with something to remember and
think about.
• In your conclusion, be sure to restate your thesis in a
new, fresh way. As you know from reading the Model
Research Paper, the conclusion repeats the main idea
that was present in the paper's introduction, but it
doesn't repeat the same words. By restating the thesis,
you prompt your readers to think about your ideas after
they have finished reading the paper.

25. APPROACHING THE CONCLUSION
• To get started on your conclusion, reread your
introduction and focus on your thesis statement.
• Then skim your supporting paragraphs for the material
that you think is most important in conveying your thesis.
• Finally, reread the part of your formal outline that deals
with the conclusion of the paper.
• All of these aspects of your work can help give you ideas
for your conclusion.

26. ELEMENTS OF A CONCLUSION
• In addition to restating your thesis, consider using
one or more of these strategies for concluding a
research paper:
• Elaborate on how the author's work fits into its historical
context.
• Make a generalization about the literary work having to do
with the thesis.
• Name specific works that you have discussed in your paper
and link them to the thesis.

27. OUTLINED
I. Conclusion (You do not necessarily have to follow this order,
but include the following):
A. Restate your thesis
B. Summarize your argument.
C. Extend the argument.
D. Show why the text is important.

28. CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH
restate thesis: Blake’s vision of a struggle
between industrialization and nature presents a
realistic conflict in his society. Summarize argument His
protest against the Industrial Revolution results in
poems that are sometimes angry and sometimes filled
with pastoral beauty. Why it is important/extend
argument The contrast between industrialization and
nature provides him with material for some of the most
memorable poems in British literature, such as
“London,” the two poems titled “The Chimney-
Sweeper,” and the “Jerusalem” hymn.

29. COMPLETING A DRAFT
• Review the Research Paper Checklist and Rubric in the
Research Paper Overview. Your first draft will be
evaluated against the checklist. The rubric will be used
to evaluate the final draft.
• To receive full credit, include each item on the checklist
in your draft.
• Reread your outline. Have you included all the points
from your outline in your draft? Did you adhere to your
organizational structure?
• Reread the feedback your teacher gave you for the
Planning a Research Paper Assignment. Did you follow
the advice you received?
• Have you supported all of your assertions with evidence?
If not, review your notes for evidence you can add.

30. YOUR PAPER'S ORGANIZATION
• Make sure your research paper includes an introduction,
a body of supporting paragraphs, and a strong
conclusion.
• Double-check to see that your introduction includes a
hook as well as a thesis statement.
• Review your supporting paragraphs. Do they follow a
logical organizational pattern?
• Does your conclusion make a general statement that
echoes your thesis? In your conclusion, reiterate your
thesis in different language.
• Notice your use of transitions. Although you haven't
begun revising yet, consider adding some transitions
now.

31. CITATIONS
• We use MLA formatting in English papers.
• The citation rules are very exact, and must be done
properly.
• Depending on the type of resource you are citing,
the rules change. In other words, you will cite
differently for a web based article than you will for a
print source.
• The easiest way to look up the proper way to cite
your sources is to use an MLA handbook. You can
find an electronic one at The Purdue University
Online Writing Lab (OWL)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

32. CITATIONS: WHAT AND HOW TO CITE
1. Use citations frequently. If you are unsure about whether
a fact or idea requires a citation, cite it.
2. Do not cite widely available facts such as the birth and
death dates of an author or the date and place of a
historical event.
3. You will need to refer to Writing Resource: Citations as
you draft. Remember that the key to in-text citations is
clarity and conciseness.
4. Note: If you mention the name of your source's author in
the sentence containing the in-text citation, you don't
have to repeat the name in that citation.
5. Create a Works Cited page. The Works Cited listings
contain more specific and detailed information than in-
text citations.

33. INTERNAL CITATIONS
• Internal or in-text citations appear within the main text of
a research paper. When you read the Model Research
Paper, you may have noticed notations in parentheses,
such as (Kazin 179). These are internal citations. They
appear immediately after items of information in the
paper, and they tell the reader the source for the
information.
• Citations are crucial for avoiding plagiarism. If you place
a citation after a piece of information, you're giving the
author credit. If you don't use a citation there, you're
taking credit or claiming that you are the source for the
information. That's plagiarism.

34. IN-TEXT CITATIONS: THE BASICS
• The basic format is the author's last name and page number or
numbers of the source inside parentheses. Do not write p. before
the page number.
• Example: (Smith 87)
• If the source doesn't include an author's name--as may be the
case for some magazine articles--use the title.
• Example: ("New Blake Manuscript Found" 153)
• Include the same information for both Internet and
print sources. Include the author's name if available
and the title if not, and the page number
if available.

35. IN-TEXT CITATIONS: VARIATIONS
• If you use two consecutive citations from the same source, the second
citation includes the page number only.
• First citation: (Jones 22)
• Second citation: (23)
• If the information in your passage came from two different places in the
same source, list both page numbers, separated by a comma.
• Same source, different pages: (Williams 17, 29)
• If you gathered the information in your passage from two different
sources, cite both sources within the same parentheses, separated by a
comma.
• Example: (Smith 96, Jones 105)

36. IN-TEXT CITATION-MODEL PAPER

37. WORKS CITED PAGE
• The Works Cited page is a list of all the sources that
you cited in your paper. It only includes the sources
you cited. If you read a source but did not cite it in
the paper, do not list that source on the Works
Cited page.
• Works Cited entries include more facts than in-text citations.
They give
• the reader complete publication information for each
source.

38. WHAT NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED?
• Include all the necessary information for readers to
be able to track down the source on their own.
• Don't include extra information. For example, a Works Cited
entry for a book doesn't include page numbers.
• If a piece of information, such as an author's name or a
publication city, is not available, just do without it and use
the rest of the format.
• Always state the medium: Print or Web.
• Follow the required punctuation.

39. BUILDING THE WORKS CITED PAGE
• 1. Begin a new page for the Works Cited list.
• 2. Write the title "Works Cited," centered at the top of the
page.
• 3. Use "hanging indent" for the entries on the Works Cited
page. That means that the first line of an entry begins at the
left margin, and if the entry contains additional lines, they're
indented half an inch.

40. ALPHABETIZE THE LIST OF WORKS
CITED
• Use one and the same alphabetical sequence for all the sources
on your list. In other words, don't make separate lists for print
sources, Internet sources, books, articles, or other categories.
• Alphabetize items that start with the author's name and items
that start with the title on the same list.
• Examples:
Ackroyd, Peter. Blake. New York: Knopf, 1996. Print.
Blake, William. "London." Songs of Experience. The English
Romantics: Major Poetry and Critical Theory. Ed. John L.
Mahoney. Lexington: Heath, 1978. 40. Print.
Strange, Hannah. "Blake's Jerusalem Banned by Leading British
Church." Times Online. 10 Apr 2008. Web. 7 May 2009.

42. SEQUENCE OF INFORMATION
• The sequence of information in a Works Cited entry
varies for different types of sources, but the rules are
logical.
• For printed books, include the author's name, title of the
work, city of publication, name of publication, and date of
publication. Name the medium—Print--at the end.
• Other forms of entries are variations on that.
• Use the exact punctuation shown on your Citation
Guidelines page.

43. REVISING
Revising the Introduction
• Recall that the introduction contains two parts: the hook
and the thesis statement. The introduction must also
connect those two parts.
• Here are some tips for revising your introduction.
• Reread the hook. Does it interest you? If not, consider using a
different hook.
• Reread the thesis statement. Is its meaning clear? If not, delete
any unnecessary phrases and add phrases or details that
clarify the idea.
• Reread what's between the hook and the thesis statement.
Make sure it explains how the two parts are related.

44. REVISING
Revising the Conclusion
• The conclusion reminds the reader what he or she has learned.
The way to do this is to restate the paper's thesis.
• If your conclusion doesn't restate your thesis, the solution is simple: Reread
your introduction and make the same point in your conclusion.
• The trick is to not let the conclusion's restatement seem to simply repeat the
introduction's thesis statement.
• If you have this problem, read the statement and the restatement
together. Wherever they use identical or nearly identical phrases, change
the wording in the conclusion.
• Use a thesaurus or dictionary to find different words. And change the
sentence structure by combining short sentences, breaking long ones in
two, or changing the beginnings of sentences.

45. COMMON ORGANIZATIONAL
PROBLEMS
Organizational problems in research papers may include
the following:
• The paper lacks an introduction.
• Some material in the introduction belongs in the
supporting paragraphs.
• Supporting paragraphs are arranged in an order that
seems random or illogical.
• Supporting paragraphs contain chunks of unnecessary
or irrelevant material.
• The paper lacks a conclusion.
• Some material in the conclusion belongs in the
supporting paragraphs.

46. HOW TO USE THE RUBRIC TO REVISE
1. Work with one category at a time, such as Purpose and
Voice or Ideas and Content.
2. Read the highest-score box for that category.
3. Reread the parts of your paper that relate to the
category.
4. Ask yourself whether your paper meets the highest-score
standard.
5. If your paper doesn't meet the highest-score standard,
continue reading the scoring boxes to the right until you
find the box that best describes your paper.
6. Compare the description in that box to the description
in the highest-score box. Now you know what
improvement your paper needs.

47. SMALL REVISION PROBLEMS TO LOOK
FOR
• Your language is not formal.
• Your tone is not serious.
• Your voice is not objective and impersonal.
• Your word choices are vague or imprecise.
• You express personal opinions.
• Your sentences are not varied in structure and beginnings.
• Transitions are needed between sentences, paragraphs, or
ideas.
• Details need to be added or deleted.
• When you discover such problems, take time to think of
better alternatives. Use the dictionary and thesaurus for
word choices. Return to your notes when you need to
add details.

48. PROOFREADING
Checking Citations
• Proofreading citations may be the most demanding
kind of proofreading you will ever do as a student.
As you know, each type of source has its own
formatting requirements for citations. Whenever you
proofread a citation, you must make sure of two
things:
• The information in the citation must be accurate.
• The formatting of the citation must be accurate.

49. PROOFREADING
Checking Citation Content
• For every citation, include each of the following elements, as
applicable:
• Titles
• Spelling of authors' names
• Publication dates and other publishing information
• Page numbers
• Website information, including site and page titles; names of authors,
editors, and sponsors; access information; and URL, if applicable
• Designation of Print or Web
• Check the accuracy of the information first. Then check the
accuracy of your formatting.

50. PROOFREADING
Checking Citation Format
• Check each of your citations against the Writing Resource: Citations
page. All of the following must be correct each time:
• Punctuation, such as when to use a period or comma
• Use of italics or quotation marks for titles
• Order of information, such as the author's name before the title
• Completeness of information, such as when to include or not include
page numbers
• Spelling of all information
• Parentheses for in-text citations
• Alphabetization of the Works Cited page
• The secret to writing perfect citations is this: Be extremely
careful. Double-check everything.

51. MAKING A FINAL COPY OF YOUR
PAPER
• Now proofread your research paper. The task
consists of (1) proofreading the text and (2)
proofreading the citations. This is the last stage in
the writing process!
• You may prefer to proofread the entire text first and
then go back to proofread the citations, or
proofread both text and citations as you go along.
It's up to you.

52. PEER MENTORING SESSION
• Peer Mentor sessions are designed by students
for students!
• Often having another student explain a
concept is just what you need to help
understand it.
• Each Peer Mentor Session has an advisor
present to supervise and assist.
• British Literature Sessions take place Monday
and Thursday, 4:30-5 and they are already in
your daily/weekly plan.
• Attend the session and have the peer mentor
help you with your thesis statement and
outline. She is great!!!

53. QUESTIONS
• If you have questions, please make
sure you are reaching out to your
teachers…. Do not wait until the end
or stay frustrated 
• We are here to help you.