Pre-Research & Source Evaluation
The two purposes of the pre-research phase.
1. Gain a general understanding of the research paper subject.
2. Develop a thesis question.
How to 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.
A buried thesis and its use
What is one that is not presented until the end of the research paper. It is used when you don't want to give away or position or when your audience might be offended by your position.
When to use citations
What are to paraphrase information, directly quote someone else's words, or summarize a source
How the communication triangle is 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.
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.
A primary source definition and an example of a something considered a primary source.
What 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.
Two modes of arrangement to use sparingly and how they are used
What are the narration mode, which tells a story, and the description mode, which is imagery, appealing to the five senses
Two factors to consider when paraphrasing
What are the original syntax and vocabulary
Three instances when a direct quote should be used.
1. Provides greater authority.
2. Maintains precision in meaning.
3. Maintains vivid imagery.
Three things that should be determined before starting the research phase.
1. Understand the prompt's directive.
2. Determine the paper type that needs to be written.
3. Determine the paper length required.
A secondary source definition and an example of a something considered a secondary source.
What is a source that interprets and analyzes primary sources. Examples include textbooks, magazine or journal articles, critiques, commentaries, or encyclopedias.
Two ways the compare and contrast mode can be presented
What are point by point where you alternate back and forth between what you are comparing for each topic or subject by subject where you present all topics about the first subject then all topics about the second subject
A counterargument and caution for using one
What is an argument that goes against the position of your research paper. When including the counterargument, the writer must always include a rebuttal that clearly supports the paper's position on the subject and brings the reader back to that side of the issue.
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.
The three Boolean commands and their purpose.
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.
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)
Four different outline structures
What are standard/argumentative, pro/con, problem/solution, or cause/effect
Two types of paragraph hooks
1. Words that refer back to the thesis statement.
2. Words in a topic sentence that connect to a prior topic.
The structure for a body paragraph of an essay.
Topic sentence, evidence, commentary, and clincher sentence.
Five advanced Google search commands and their purposes.
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 or allintitle: for a word or phrase you would like a word or words to appear in the website title
Five things to consider when evaluating an online source.
What are currency, relevance, authority, accuracy, and purpose.
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
Two parts that work together in a research paper to provide credit for the sources used in the paper, and how do they accomplish this?
1. In-text citation (parenthetical citation)
2. Works cited or references page
The in-text citation directs the reader to the corresponding entry on the works cited page where all the source details can be found.
Three areas to consider when proofreading a research paper.
1. Context - Does the paper make sense?
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?