Kolbe English Final Exam 2024

Informative Research paper vs evaluative research paper

An informative research paper is factual. Presents information from different

sources. Focuses on topic, no analysis. Produces organized, coherent paper.

For instance, an informative topic would be “The development of the different

styles of guitar playing throughout history.”

 Evaluative = analytical. Presents information from different sources. STATES

OPINION OR COME TO CONCLUSION. Make claim, support claim. For

instance: “Contemporary issue or problem” or “Compare/contrast 2 writers;

make claim.” Subjective: offer argumentative thesis.

Narrowed research topics:

Not too broad; not too narrow. Has to be just right.

 Signs of being too broad: if you can find tons of books on your topics,

probably too broad, 32 million google results? Not narrow enough.

 Signs of too narrow: difficulty finding research? Too narrow. Cover all

research in a couple paragraphs? Too narrow for a 5-7 research paper.

 Cluster diagrams narrow topics well.

• Argumentative Research thesis statements

• Should not be a question, announcement of paper topic, stated conclusion, nor wordy / tentative. 

• A strong thesis articulates your main idea and keeps you focused on your paper’s goal. Everything you add to the paper should support the thesis. 

• Detailed, focused, and argumentative; able to be defended.

• Just one sentence

Preventing plagiarism

• Defined as the act of presenting another’s work as your own.

• Offenders:
  buying, selling, or borrowing someone’s paper

hiring someone to write paper
using sibling’s old paper
asking sibling, parent, or friend to write part / all of paper
copying large sections of text without citing
paraphrase without citing—can be avoided by using the look and cover method; organize and assimilate in your own mind before writing it down. 

• Academic integrity: taking notes carefully prevents literary theft. Breaches trust, makes you look incompetent and incapable. 

• Give credit where credit is due. 

• No using tech to help you write your paper. Spell checkers and grammar checkers are OK. 

• Primary vs Secondary sources:

• Primary: original text, document, or source. 

• Secondary: someone else’s comments on or analysis of primary source. 

• Autobiography: Primary. Biography: Secondary. Interviews are always primary. 

• TIRES format for body paragraphs

• To be used for body paragraphs. Develop thesis; each major subtopic of outline is a main section of the paper. Four main subtopics in your outline? At least four body paragraphs in paper. Each body paragraph is another column of support to back up the thesis.

• Tires:
  Topic sentence: State main idea. Controls paragraph. Remaining sentences support the topic sentence.
  Idea: present your own original idea.
  Research: the research you found from sources to support ideas.
  Explain: clearly state relevance to idea and topic sentence—how does it connect to original idea and topic sentence. 

Significance: state significance for your thesis / topic in a tying together statement to close out the paragraph

Revising and proofreading steps

• Read 4-5 times often. Check for something different each time.
  You should do it (reading aloud) and peer editors. 

• Check MLA

• Round one: thesis and title

• Round two: MLA format and citations

• Round three: Entire paper; proofread it
  Check for unity in the paper: no wandering; everything should support thesis
  Check for Coherence: is everything orderly? Does it make sense? Can you defend your arrangement? Parallel structure, repetition of key words, clear pronoun usage, and transitional phrases are important.
  Polish the paper through revising (look at big picture; clear thesis and strong support; fulfills assignment?), editing (take a closer look to do with word choice, repetitive / awkward phrases?), and proofreading (sharp focus at the “word level” with spelling errors, grammar punctuation errors?)

• Look for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar and usage last. Revision, edit, proofread. 

• Difficult things in a research paper:

• Numbers like 9—should be written out mostly—“nine.” 

• Comma splices

• Capitalization errors

• Formatting of in-text citations

• Not interpreting research enough for audience—are paragraphs information only or do you offer a claim and back up the thesis with your original ideas? 

• Formatting of titles in MLA works cited list

• Page break from the actual essay paragraphs and the Works Cited page

• Page simply has “Works Cited” centered at the top

• Titles are in alphabetical order
  “The” in a title does not count in your alphabetically ordered works cited list-- look at the next word to know where to place that works cited entry

• Hanging indentation

• MLA citation

• 

• Example: Write a MLA citation for the following. 

  

Drake, Robert. “The Bleeding Stinking mad Shadow of Jesus in the Fiction of Flannery O’Connor.” Comparative Literature Studies, vol 3, no. 2, Penn State University Press, 1966, pp. 183-196. 

• Cite Books: italics. Cite articles: quotation marks. And no publication city. 

• Catechism of the Catholic Church is cited a little differently. 

Online:

Print:

Other notes:

• Make sure all sources are credible. The author should be an expert; has he or she published other works? Check the date on the source as well. 

• Internet sources must be examined especially carefully. Who? Accurate? Up to date? Biased?? .gov—government agency, usually reliable. .edu—educational source, almost always reliable. .org—nonprofit organization, should be reliable but watch out for bias. .com—be wary. .net—try to stay away. 

•   To formulate research questions, take notes, freewrite, and KWL chart (What I know, what I want to know, what I have learned. 

• The format of a working outline is as follows. 

• 

Notes continued

• Types of notes are:
  Direct quotes: use “.” In text citation necessary. Use sparingly in academic writing, no block quotations in the semester 1 research paper.
  Paraphrasing: Use your own words. In text citation necessary.
  Summaries: Put information from your sources in your own words in a shorter way. Restate main ideas. In text citation. 

• Title: Communicates topic and focus. Keeps you on track as you write your paper like your thesis. Straightforward. Colon is helpful—example—“Topic: Focus” 🡪 “The Diet Industry in America: Big Money.” Not a complete sentence. 

• Writing the first draft:
  One sitting
  Follow outline
  No Personal pronouns
  Write clearly and directly
  Document sources
  Save everything and use a “scrap document.” 

• Writing your intro:

Hook reader (quote, question, surprising statement / fact, imaginary situation, anecdote, or new twist on familiar phrase) without saying “In this paper I will discuss….”. 1-3 sentences
Also set the tone; word choice and sentence structure are critical to this. Serious / formal or humerous / satirical, etc.
Then preview the paper. 3-5 sentences
Thesis is usually the last sentence. 1 sentence

• Writing your conclusion: 

Restate your thesis using different words

Offer new understanding and significance

Provide a sense of closure
Arouse reader’s emotions 

Six conclusion strategies to end the essay with a “bang”:

• Quotation 

• Question

• Prediction / forecast for a person, place, or thing related to the thesis

• Solution or recommendation

• Call to action

• In text citations are inserted within the paper to point to your works cited entries. Website? (Author “Article Name”). Two Authors for book? (Name and Name ##). Multiple authors for book? (Name et al. ##). More than one author with same last name? For example, (N. Baron 194). More than one source by same author? Example, (Baron, “Redefining” 194). Sources say the same thing? (In-text citation ; In text citation). Catechism? Example (CCC 1847).
  Use same style of numerals as in the source. 

• Ellipses ( . . .) are used when omitting words, phrases, or sentences from an original source. Not … because spaces must be inserted between the periods.