52 Chapter 34: Drafting Your Paper
Part 6: Chapter 34
How you draft your paper depends on the genre of research paper you were assigned. Your teacher might ask for an informative research paper, an analytical research paper, an argumentative research paper, or a hybrid of these genres. Your purpose–whether to inform, persuade, or analyze–will affect your tone in your paper. As a student writer, you need to be actively thinking about these concepts as you develop your research paper. Not using the proper voice (informative vs. persuasive) and not considering the appropriate purpose will not only result in you losing out on points but also losing out on the educational objective of the assignment.
As you write, you will also need to think about how your sources work together with your ideas and thesis so that you can synthesize your sources. The following section recommends that you take notes as you research, and as you research, you will also want to take notes of where your sources cover similar or opposing ideas. You can make sense of those ideas in your paper insofar as they relate to your thesis.
Starting Your Rough Draft
At last, you are ready to begin writing the rough draft of your research paper. The textbook Successful Writing points out that although putting your thinking and research into words is exciting, it can also be challenging. In this section, you will learn strategies for handling the more challenging aspects of writing a research paper, such as integrating material from your sources, citing information correctly, and avoiding any misuse of your sources.
The Structure of a Research Paper
Research papers generally follow the same basic structure: an introduction that presents the writer’s thesis, a body section that develops the thesis with supporting points and evidence, and a conclusion that revisits the thesis and provides additional insights or suggestions for further research.
Your writing voice will come across most strongly in your introduction and conclusion, as you work to attract your readers’ interest and establish your thesis. These sections usually do not cite sources at length, since they focus on the big picture, not specific details. In contrast, the body of your paper will cite sources extensively. As you present your ideas, you will support your points with details from your research.
Writing Your Introduction
There are several approaches to writing an introduction, each of which fulfills the same goals. The introduction should grab the readers’ attention, provide background information, and present the writer’s thesis. Many writers like to begin with one of the following catchy openers:
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A surprising fact
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A thought-provoking question
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An attention-getting quote
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A brief anecdote that illustrates a larger concept
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A connection between your topic and your readers experiences
The next few sentences place the opening in context by presenting background information. From there, the writer builds toward a the