Research Papers Drafting

1. Research Papers
Drafting

2. Writing a First Draft
⮚ Now that your research is done and you’ve
made a good plan in your outline, it’s time
to begin actually putting words to
paper.
⮚ Don’t worry about making everything
perfect this first time around—that’s why they
call it a draft.
⮚ Just get all of your ideas down in a way
that makes sense.

3. Keys to Effective Drafting

4. Write with your purpose, form and audience in mind.
Ask yourself these questions as you write:
a) What do I want my readers to learn from my report?
b) How will I organize my writing to make it easy to
understand?
2. Use your first paragraph to introduce your topic, get your
reader’s attention, and present your thesis statement.
3. In the next few paragraphs, tell about what is important for
your topic.
4. Remember to cite your sources in your paper and list those
sources alphabetically on a works cited page (more details
later)

5. Citing Sources Within the Paper
When you have all the information:
• The most common citation lists the author’s last name
and the page number in parentheses:
• “Marco Polo discovered that Tibetans used salt cakes
stamped with the imperial seal of the great Kublai
Khan as money” (Kemper 70).
• If you already named the author in your sentence, or if
you’re quoting from the same item for a second time
within the same paragraph, just include the page number
in parentheses.
• Steve Kemper explains that during the Civil War, the
North sent troops to attack the South’s salt producers in
order to make the South weaker (71).

6. 5-Paragraph Essay Form
Say what you’re going to say, say it, then say that you
said it.
1.Opening Paragraph
a) Remember the funnel!
b) End with your thesis statement.
2. First Body Paragraph (first point about topic)
3. Second Body Paragraph (second point about topic)
4. Third Body Paragraph (third point about topic)
5. Conclusion Paragraph
a) Reverse the funnel.
b) Start by restating your thesis.

7. Opening Paragraph Approaches
• Start with an interesting fact with broad appeal.
• Twelve hundred feet below the ground, an enormous
mine has been operating almost nonstop for more than a
century.
• Ask an interesting question.
• How many people know that there are cars and trucks
driving on roads more than 1,200 feet below the city of
Detroit?
• Start with a quotation.
• “The only dirty part of this job is getting to work,” says salt
miner Joel Payton.

8. Opening Paragraph Example
Twelve hundred feet below the ground, an enormous mine
has been operating almost nonstop for more than a century.
A hundred miles of tunnels connect its huge chambers. It
has underground roads for cars, trucks, and mining machines
This mine produces hundreds of tons of “rock” every day.
However, the rock from this mine is not gold, or iron ore, or
even coal; it is salt. This enormous, hundred-year-old salt
mine lies beneath the city of Detroit, Michigan.

9. Developing the Middle Part
• The middle part of your paper should start by
stating why your topic is important.
• Each paragraph should focus on one aspect of
your topic.
• Each paragraph should begin with a topic
sentence covering one main point about your
overall topic. This sentence is sort of a minithesis
sentence for just this paragraph.
• Use your outline to help you keep your focus.

10. Conclusion Paragraph
• Your final paragraph should sum up your
report and bring it to a thoughtful close.
• State any conclusions you have drawn and
the reasons for them.
• Other possible endings include:
• Remind the reader of the overall main idea
(your thesis sentence).
• Provide information about the future of your
topic.
• Make a final observation for the reader.