Formatted Contents Note: |
Introduction : Writing, argument, and research -- Part I. Your research project : Imagining your project : How researchers think about their projects ; Conversing with your readers ; How researchers think about their answers/arguments ; How you can best think about your project -- Defining a research question : Questions and topics ; How to choose a topic ; Twp kinds of research questions ; Question your topic ; How to find a topic and question in a source ; Evaluate your questions -- Working toward an answer : Propose some possible answers ; Build a storyboard to plan and guide your work -- Doing your research : Three kinds of sources and their uses ; Search for sources systematically ; Evaluate sources for relevance and reliability ; Record citation information fully and accurately ; Using people in research -- Engaging sources : Read critically ; Take notes systematically ; Take useful notes ; Write as you read ; Review your progress ; How and when to start over ; Manage moments of uncertainty -- Constructing your argument : What a research argument is and is not ; Build your argument around answers to readers' questions ; Assemble the core of your argument ; Acknowledge and respond to readers' questions and points of view ; Explain your reasoning if readers might question it ; An argument assembled -- Planning a first draft : Avoid unhelpful plans ; Consider a range of useful plans ; Create a plan that meets your readers' needs -- Drafting your paper : Draft in a way that feels comfortable ; Picture your readers asking friendly questions ; Be open to surprises ; Develop effective drafting habits ; Stay on track through headings and key terms ; Stay on track through topic sentences and transitions ; Work through procrastination and writer's block -- Incorporating your sources : When to quote, paraphrase, or summarize? ; Creating a fair summary ; Creating a fair paraphrase ; Adding quotations to your text ; Introducing quotations and paraphrases ; Mixing quotation with summary and paraphrase ; Interpreting complex quotations before you offer them -- Avoiding plagiarism : Guard against inadvertent plagiarism ; Take good notes ; Signal every quotation, even when you site its source ; Don't paraphrase too closely ; (Almost always) cite a source for ideas not your own ; Don't plead ignorance, misunderstanding, or innocent intentions ; Guard against inappropriate assistance -- Using tables and figures : Choose verbal or visual representations ; Choose the most effective graphic ; Design tables and figures ; Communicate data ethically -- Organizing your paper : Review your paper as a whole ; Let your draft cool, then paraphrase it -- Writing your introduction and conclusion : Draft your final introduction ; Draft your final conclusion ; Write your title last -- Revising your paper : Plan your time (no one-draft wonders) ; Revise globally, then locally ; Use a range of revising strategies to meet your readers' needs -- Revising sentences : Focus on the first seven or eight words of a sentence ; Understand two common prohibitions ; Analyze the sentences in what you read ; Choose the right word ; Polish your paper -- Learning from readers' comments : Two kinds of feedback: advice and data ; Find general principles in specific comments ; Talk with your reader -- Delivering your research as a presentation : Give a presentation as your draft ; Give a presentation of your completed paper -- On the spirit of research -- Part II. Citing sources : Citations : Why cite sources? ; When you must cite a source ; Three citation styles ; What to include in a citation ; Collect bibliographical data as you research and draft -- Chicago style : Notes ; Bibliography -- MLA style : When and how to cite sources in your text ; Works cited -- APA style : When and how to cite sources in your text ; Reference list -- Part III. Style : Spelling: plurals, possessives, and hyphenation : Spelling basics ; Plurals ; Possessives ; Hyphenated words -- Punctuation : Complete sentences ; Independent clauses ; Introductory elements ; Trailing elements ; Elements internal to clauses ; Series and lists ; Quotations ; Punctuation don'ts -- Titles, names, and numbers : Titles ; Proper names ; Numbers -- Appendix A. Formatting your paper ; Appendix B. Glossary ; Appendix C. Resources for research and writing. |