Pre-Research & Source Evaluation
What are the two purposes of the pre-research phase.
1. Gain a general understanding of the research paper subject.
2. Develop a thesis question.
How do you know when the research phase is done?
When you can adequately respond to the prompt, provide a minimum of 2 pieces of evidence for each topic, and can speak easily about the research paper subject in layman's terms.
What is a buried thesis, and why is it used?
It is one that is not presented until the end of the research paper. It is used when you don't want to give away your position or when your audience might be offended by your position.
When should a citation be used in a research paper?
They should be used for a direct quote or a paraphrase.
How is the communication triangle different for a research paper than an essay?
For a research paper, the subject received the most attention with the audience receiving minor consideration and the author receiving no attention. For an essay, each of the three receive equal attention.
What are the steps taken to better understand a research paper prompt.
1) Define major words or phrases found in the prompt.
2) Activate your personal schema regarding the subject.
What is a primary source? Provide an example of something considered a primary source.
It is a source written or created by people who lived at the time. They can include artifacts, art, documents, diaries, newspaper articles, autobiographies, recordings, or letters.
Explain two ways the compare and contrast mode can be presented in a research paper.
1)Point by point where you alternate back and forth between what you are comparing for each topic
2)subject by subject where you present all topics about the first subject then all topics about the second subject
What are two factors to consider when paraphrasing?
The syntax and vocabulary
List three instances when a direct quote should be used.
1. Provides greater authority.
2. Maintains precision in meaning.
3. Maintains vivid imagery.
What is the difference between a claim and a fact?
A claim is a statement that can be argued. A fact is information that cannot be argued.
What is a secondary source? Provide an example of something considered a secondary source.
It is a source that interprets and analyzes primary sources. Examples include textbooks, magazine or journal articles, critiques, commentaries, or encyclopedias.
List four different outline structures.
What are persuasive/argumentative, pro/con, problem/solution, or cause/effect
What is a counterargument, and what do you need to be careful about when using one?
It is an argument against the position you are supporting in your paper. You must be careful to not let readers mistake the counterargument for your argument, and you must provide a rebuttal.
List three things the process of annotating includes.
1. Highlighting relevant text.
2. Word definitions.
3. Personal thoughts and connections with other sources written in the margins.
List the three Boolean commands and how they work.
1. And - only includes results containing both terms; narrows the number of results.
2. Or - finds either or both terms; broad results; good starting point.
3. Not - excludes the term after the word "not;" narrows the number of results.
What are five types of things that should be included on a note page.
What are a topic title, source titles, direct quotes, key words for paraphrasing, and key words for commentary (personal thoughts)
List four things that should be included in the research paper outline for each body paragraph.
What are a full topic sentence, key words for a minimum of 2 pieces of evidence, citations, and key words for personal commentary
Describe when to use a block quotation and how to format it.
Quotations over four lines should be put in block form.
1)Every line of the quotation is indented one-half inch from the left; 2)No quotation marks are used; 3)Punctuation at the end of the quote appears before the citation; 4)The citation is in normal parenthetical citation form
List three aspects to consider when proofreading a research paper and explain each.
1. Context - Does the paper make sense? Does it flow logically?
2. Stylistic Techniques - Does the paper use precise vocabulary and a variety of sentence structures?
3. Mechanics - Does the paper use proper grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling?
List the eight Google search commands and explain how they work.
What are: 1) quotation marks for exact phrase; 2) - to omit words; 3) * for wildcard; 4) site: to restrict to a particular domain; 5) inurl: to restrict to a particular site; 6) filetype: for a particular type of file; 7) intitle: for a word you would like to appear in the website title; 8) allintitle: for a phrase you would like to appear in the website title
What are five things to consider when evaluating an online source.
What are currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.
List five of the nine modes or arrangement and explain how each is used.
1) narration - story to make a point; 2)description - details that create a picture; 3)definition - clarify meaning; 4)process - explain steps of how to do something; 5)cause/effect - leads from one thing to another; 6)compare/contrast - show similarities and differences; 7)exemplification - make the abstract real; 8)persuasion - offer a reasoned opinion; 9)classify/divide - put topics into categories
List the two parts used to cite information in a research paper and explain how each part works.
The parenthetical citation is placed within the body of the research paper. The works cited or references page is found at the end of the paper.
The in-text citation directs the reader to the corresponding entry on the works cited or references page where all the source details can be found.
List and describe three of the five different types of “hooks” that can be used to provide smooth transition within a research paper.
Word or phrase hook – selects words or phrases from the clincher sentence of one paragraph and repeats in topic sentence of next paragraph
Idea hook – repeat or reflect an idea from one paragraph in the topic sentence of the next paragraph
Thesis hook – shows relation of topic sentence to the thesis statement
Recap hook – summarize or refer to previous arguments in the topic sentence