Chapter 43: Drafting Your Research Paper
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 should actively think about these concepts as you develop your research paper.
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 transferring your ideas 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 These sections usually do not cite sources at length, since they focus on the big picture, not specific details.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 to support your analysis.
Writing Your Introduction
There are several approaches to writing an introduction. 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:
-
A surprising fact
-
A thought-provoking question
-
An attention-getting quote
-
A brief anecdote that illustrates a larger concept
-
A connection between your topic and your readers experiences
The sentences following the introduction place the writer’s stance in context by presenting background information. From there, the writer builds toward a thesis, which is traditionally placed at the end of the introduction. Think of your thesis as a signpost that lets readers know what direction the paper is headed.
Writing Your Conclusion
Your introduction tells readers where they are headed, and your conclusion recaps where they have been. For this reason, some writers prefer to write their conclusions soon after they have written their introduction. However, this method may not work for all writers. Other writers prefer to write their conclusion at the end of the paper, after writing the body paragraphs. No process is right or wrong; find the one that best suits you.
No matter when you compose the conclusion, it should sum up your main ideas and revisit your thesis. The conclusi