Instructions: Develop your research paper this semester, it is important that you pay attention to the structure of your paper. Every paragraph in your paper should have a purpose. That purpose should be easily detectable from the topic sentences in each paragraph. Moving from one paragraph to another-or from one big idea to another-often causes writers problems. To correct that problem, you need to be very aware of the sorts of transitions you use and choose them wisely.
Assignment Goal: We want to help you analyze your sources critically so that you can build stronger research papers. Most successful writers are great readers and can take great notes. Your goal is to read and annotate one of your sources for your upcoming research paper.
Practice 7.3: Find a scholarly article in your field from a different publication than you have looked at previously. Working paragraph by paragraph (and sentence by sentence if necessary), write an outline of the article. *If you are uncertain how to do an outline, please refer to the example given on page 2 of this document.
Practice 7.4: Look again at the article you just outlined. Mark all the transitions in the article, and then try to decide which sort of transition each is.
Finally, explain how, if at all, this source will fit into your upcoming research paper. How does this source influence your overall thesis statement? How might you use this source as part of your own argument as you transition from idea to idea in your own upcoming research paper?
Overview: For this worksheet, create a single document of two or three pages. Include a reference page and a title page using the style you will use for your research paper. Include a section for your article outline (Practice 7.3), a section for your analysis of the article's transitions (Practice 7.4), and finally an explanation about how you will use this article in your upcoming research paper. Post your completed document on Bb.
BASIC OUTLINE FORM
Below is a synopsis of the outline form. The main ideas take roman numerals. Sub-points under each main idea take capital letters and are indented. Sub-points under the capital letters, if any, take italic numbers and are further indented.
I. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
B. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
1. Subsidiary idea to B
2. Subsidiary idea to B
a) Subsidiary idea to 2
b) Subsidiary idea to 2
II. MAIN IDEA
A. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
B. Subsidiary idea to II
C. Subsidiary idea to II
III. MAIN IDEA
It is up to the writer to decide on how many main ideas and supporting ideas adequately describe the subject. However, if there is a I in the outline, there has to be a II; if there is an A, there has to be a B; if there is a 1, there has to be a 2, and so forth.