A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS

8/11/2019 A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS

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A STEP BY STEP

GUIDE TO WRITINGRESEARCH PAPERS

BY Melissa WilliamsonClass of 2004

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts


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If it werent for my horse, I wouldnt have spent that year in college.

Every time I hear this quote by comedian Lewis Black I want to roll on the floor,laughing. Black goes on to say he overheard this and if you think about it for more thanthree minutes, blood will shoot out your nose. Or you could have an aneurysm. This is

very much like figuring out where to start when you get the dreaded assignment ofwriting a research paper. If you think about it too much, your head might explode. Trustme, Ive seen it happen or felt it myself (not literally of course). Rather than thinking ofwriting a research paper as an explosive experience, take it in steps.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to everyone who inspired or helped me to write and edit this book:

Mary Levitt, English department instructor and my mentor during this process

Linda Kaufmann, Sue Denault, and Dan Daniels in the library for directing me tovaluable information

Claire Smith in Learning Services for the final read through and publication

Emily Wheeler, a wonderful teaching assistant and classmate, for her databaseinformation

Christina Bird, my dear friend and fellow writer in Virginia who wrote some badexamples for me elated she knows that everything she wrote for me is wrong!

Meg McDowell for writing about this manuscript and my experience in the WritingCenter in the IEP newsletter and for being a helpful friend and co-worker in the Center

Sarah Stutzman, my best friend at this college who is willing to read anything I throwat her also shes a mecca of inspiration

And finally, my mom, Lauri Williamson, for accidentally taking my stuff andattempting to help me finish the final manuscript, and I thank her for her suggestions note to self, dont let Mom take my stuffjust kidding, Mom


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Chapter 1: Thinking of a Topic

Step 1: Understanding the AssignmentSo your professor gave you an assignment: write an argumentative research

paper. The topic is free. Dont panic. Instead, break it down step by step.

Step 2: What Do You Need to Do Now?Its an argumentative research paper. Most are. Usually when you write a paper,

youre arguing for or against a topic. The research should support YOUR ideas toexplain why you agree or disagree with the topic.

What is a topic?Basically, the topic is the subject youre writing about. This subject may benarrowed later (as outlined in Step 5).

Step 3: Finding a TopicSince you have a free topic, you can choose just about anything controversial. If

you cant think of any ideas, there are a few places to look:

Look on the front page of any newspaper. Major newspapers are wonderfulsources of world and national news. Free issues of The New York Times, BostonGlobe, and USA Today are all over campus. Check for these in your dorms if youlive on campus (by the front doors in the Towers and Hoosac and in theTownhouse Greenhouse) or by the front doors to the cafeteria. Usually you canfind a headline that sparks some sort of an argument.

Think about what youre interested in. If youre a sports nut, perhaps explorethe impending NHL lock out. Or if youre a music fan, think about why you willcontinue to download music from the Internet. If you put your mind to it, you canfind a topic just about anywhere. Just go on the Internet news sites or the major

newspapers and check out the headlines with your favorite subject. (My favoriteplace to go on the web is Yahoo! News .)

Go on the Internet and search for key words in a search engine. These keywords can be broad for now. If theres an issue you want to know more about,you can search for it. Maybe you can find an organization that deals with theissue youre interested in. Most organizations will have links to sites andinformation. For example, I was writing a paper on Gothic literature. I typed inGothic literature into the Yahoo! Search engine andfound the pages I used for the bulk of my project. I used the third link on the listcalled Literary Gothic Page. It is a directory of resources. I basically lookedaround and clicked on links I thought I might want to use. The links took me to

different parts of the site and to other sites as well. It was a nice resource to usesince I didnt have to do all the work. This was my main site to look forinformation regarding my project. Another great search engine is Google.

Check your textbook from the class youre enrolled in. I remember from mycollege writing classes I took, and was a teaching assistant for, that most textsused in class contain articles on controversial issues. Sometimes your professor


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might suggest you write about the article you read for that particular week. Ifyoure interested in a particular essay, explore it!

Step 4: Write Your Topic DownThis is very important! It sounds like a duh moment, but if you dont write your

idea down on paper, you might forget it. College students often have horrible

memoriesespecially when theyre busy. Also think about why your subject is worthwriting about. A good argument will come out of asking yourself why you want to writeabout it.

Step 5: Narrowing the TopicYou do not want to write on something broad. There are a trillion things you can

say about gay marriage, or the defense efforts against the Iraqis, or the theme ofSophocles play Oedipus Rex. You want to make a subject specific so you can focusyour argument.

I was interested in the media portrayal of outsider culture and how the mediahas influenced the way society looked at the underground culture after what happenedat Columbine. To make my topic specific I thought about:

The events of the shooting at Columbine. The history of other school shootings. Who or what the media blamed, i.e. Marilyn Mansons music and violentvideo games. How the media portrays punks and Goths. The aftermath of Columbine. I was a junior in high school at the time and Iknew a guy who wore a trench coat to school everyday. The schools new policywould not let him wear it anymore.

What this list generates may be a narrower topic you can pursue further. Welldiscuss this later when we get to writing the thesis sentence (Chapter 4, Step 15).

Step 6: Figuring Out If This Is the Right TopicIf you want a topic to work, see if you can answer these questions: Who? What?

Where? When? Why? How? These questions are called journalist questions.If you can answer at least one of those, most likely, youll have a topic that works.

Keep in mind that it may not work. Always write down a back-up idea. Many writers starta topic but cannot finish because the topic may not have enough information behind it, orthe topic does not work for the writer. Keep your ideas flowing.

I tried to answer the journalist questions:Who: The media; Dylan Klebold and Eric HarrisWhat: Aftermath on television; School shootingWhere: On TV; Columbine High School, ColoradoWhen: 1999Why: The media seemed to have blamed this shooting on every societal influence,except the young men themselves.How: There are many articles and TV programs discussing how the outsider cultureinfluenced this shooting.


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The media placed blame on (many ideas of) the outsider culture after theshooting at Columbine High School.

This topic sentence says three things: Who: the media

What: blaming outsider culture Why: because of the school shooting at Columbine.

This is a good starting point to begin organizing my ideas.

Step 10: Organizing Your IdeasStarting to write something is a task. Freewriting is a nice way to get a first draft

started. But if you cant do that, try this:

Make a list. This is like writing a grocery list. Write down the main ideas ortools that youll need to expand on your topic.For example:

Blamed:Marilyn Mansons musicViolent video games like Doom and QuakeTrench coat mafiaNazi cultureViolent moviesInternetBlack clothingPunk cultureGoth culture

Not blamed:The shooters themselvesThe parentsPsychological effects, such as depression, ridicule, bullying, hatred

Questions to research:How many known school shootings have there been before and afterColumbine?How many shooters are there at a certain place? Is it just one or two?Where does it happen? Rural areas? Big cities?Who are the targets?Were they male or female? Does ethnicity and race matter? Age?

Step 11: Creating an OutlineNext thing you can do is create an outline. These can be simple or more

complicated. There are three different types of outlines: informal, formal, and sentence.

1. An informal outline takes its shape when you first write down your main ideaand then write down categories (or questions like I have done below) and think ofexamples for each category. This type is good when you dont know what youwant your essay to prove yet. (This takes the basics from the list above.)


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Main Idea: The media blamed (many ideas of) the outsider culture after theshooting at Columbine High School.

Who or what was blamed?Marilyn Mansons music

Violent video games like Doom and QuakeTrench coat mafiaNazi cultureViolent moviesInternetBlack clothingPunk cultureGoth culture

Who or what wasnt blamed?The shooters themselvesThe parents

Psychological effects, such as depression, ridicule, bullying, hatredBowling (from the documentary Bowling for Columbine)

2. Formal outlines can become more complicated. For a formal outline see DianaHacker (see my Works Cited Page, page 32, for documentation) pages 11-12.


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Chapter 3: Researching

Step 12: Researching Using MCLA ResourcesThere are several resources available at our college that you could use to begin

researching.

Freel Library

1. Reference section (Main floor in the back left hand corner)There are so many good resources in this section. You can start your

research here and find nearly anything within these stacks or bookshelves. Ofcourse, these cannot be taken out, but there is a copier right near thissection. Take advantage of the copier. Its 15 cents per copy.

(The following places and books most used in the reference sectionswere provided to me by one of the reference librarians. Other good librariansto talk to are Linda Kaufmann and Allen Morrill.)

The best place to start looking is in the dictionaries, encyclopedias,bibliographies and indexes on nearly every subject. The Z section and the

Index Area are where you can find most of this information.Theres the Readers Guide to Periodical Literaturein the Index section.

This is probably the most under-used reference. Its a good resource forfinding out the historical context of a piece of literary work.

The Contemporary Authors Index is a master index for a series of bookscontaining information about particular writers. You can use the index to lookan author up and it will tell you where you can find information about them.

Also, the Index Area is where you will find indexes for information on bookreviews, The New York Times, Boston Globe, Education, Humanities,Sciences, Social Sciences, and Business references.

Valuable sources exist within the sections.The G section contains anexcellent series titled Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nationsin which you

can find anything and everything you might want to know about a specificcountry.

For ethnic studies, check out the E section. These contain variousencyclopedias and handbooks on various cultures.

Just look around in the various sections. You can find handbooks,dictionaries, encyclopedias, and such to find bibliographic information to thengo look up in the computer card catalog.

2. Magazines (Main floor in the back right hand corner)If there is a subject youre interested in/writing about, Im sure there is a

magazine for it. The library has a pretty good collection of recent and oldmagazines. Many of these are on the shelves or on microfiche. (Printing off

microfiche costs too. It is 10 cents to print off an 8 x 11 copy. Thesepricesare posted on the microfiche machine. If you dont know how to useone, ask the periodical staff at the desk. They are extremely helpful and gaveme insight on the state of the periodical section.)

Most of the titles kept in the magazine section are popular newsmagazines like Time and U.S. News & World Report, and Rolling Stone, ordisciplines-based magazines like Scientific American andPsychology Today.Most of the others are research types. Since we have access to Ebscohost


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5a. To reach Ebscohost from off campus:

1) Open your Internet service.2) Go to http://www.ebscohost.com3) In the user name box type: greylock4) In the password box type: hoosac

5) If you have problems with this, call the library for more information at 413.662.5321.This is the Circulation Desk. They can help you.

*Tip: Be sure to check one of two boxes down below where it reads Limit your results.Definitely check FULL TEXT. The box for MCLA is good to check too. That way, you canfind the paper resource for this article in the Freel Library.

6. To access Infotrac from on campus:

1) Open Internet Explorer or your Internet service.2) Go to http://campus.mcla.edu3) Click on the OUR LIBRARY & THE INTERNET link.

4) On the left side of the page, click on the DATABASES link.5) Now click JOURNALS.6) You will find the link to EBSCOHOST and InfoTrac on this page. Click on the

InfoTrac link.7) Choose a database and click START SEARCHING.8) Type your subject into the search bar.

Step 13: Internet ResearchInternet research can be pretty tricky. You have to consult valid sources. These

include major magazine and newspaper websites like Time.com orWashingtonPost.com.

When going into a search site like Google or Yahoo!

, good resources are websites with a .edu, .org, and .gov pathways.Also, check some .com websites. Professors or directors of some big

organization maintain websites. Personal websites and student work usually isnt agood idea to use. Some student work may be okay. Students post work they havewritten as part of a dissertation for a Masters or Doctorate degree. Just check these.Usually your judgment is the best judgment.

Step 14: Note Taking TipsWhen looking at sources, make sure to take quotes and document them with a

page number. Youll need it later. Also, go ahead and write down as much informationthere is with the resource. For books, write down the author, title, publisher, publishingcity, and date of publication (or if its an MCLA library book, at least write down the full

call number).For newspapers and magazines, write down the author, title, name of newspaper

or magazine, date published and what page(s) the article appears on.For Ebscohost and Infotrac, I suggest printing out the articles if you can. All your

information will be at the top. All this information will be used later when you write aWorks Cited page (Chapter 6).


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Chapter 4: Beginning to Write

Step 15: The THESISIn a typical assignment, a thesis statement consists of four parts; you have a

main idea and three reasons, which you will use to develop and prove your main idea.You want to make sure youre using YOUR idea and not someone elses. So,

dont repeat someone elses main ideas. Besides, if you wrote a topic sentence, youalready have a main idea. So, make sure not to put many facts into your thesis. Instead,save them for evidence to back up your position.

You do not want to have a broad thesis, either. This is why I like to write in thethree reasons to back up a thesis.Doing this will focus your thesis sentence. Professorscant stand a vague thesis, so be specific. Thats the easiest advice I can give.

Heres an example:For a paper Im working on, I wanted to write about how the media placed blame

on the outsider culture for some school shootings. A large gap in this research was thatthe media does not look at the lives of the shooters. I wanted to question what the mediablames and what they ignore in order to shatter the stereotypes surrounding school

shooters. In chapter 2, I wrote the topic sentence:

The media placed blame on (many ideas of) the outsider culture after theshooting at Columbine High School.

In order to make my idea into a thesis sentence I start with a small list:1. I started with an introductory element. This will introduce the topic briefly before I get

to my main point. Since I am discussing the time period around the school shootingsat Columbine, I want to add some background material to start off my thesis.

2. Next, I wrote what my main topic is, which is the outsider culture was often blamedfor these shootings.

3. Then I thought of three reasons and the order of these reasons. A lot of the time, itsa good idea to put your best idea last for emphasis. In my case, I want to write aboutthe gap in the research last. So, perhaps I could write: The media blamed violent video games, dark music, and the trench coatculture. The media targeted the trench coat culture because of the ways they dressand act. The media did not look closely enough at the lives of the school shooters.

This is my list:Introductory element: The time period of the school shootings at Columbine

Main Topic: The outsider culture was wrongly blamed for these shootingsReason 1: The media focused on violent video games, music, and their culture.Reason 2: The media stereotyped the entire trench coat culture.Reason 3: The media did not look clearly at the personal lives of the school shooters.


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I can shorten the elements of my list and write a thesis:

After the school shooting at Columbine and others across the country, the mediawrongly placed blamed on the trench coat culture by highlighting the things thisalternative culture is into, by stereotyping the way these kids dress and act, and byignoring the personal lives of the shooters.

That works. I said everything I needed to say. Its specific enough to explain theelements in more detail in the following paragraphs.

Step 16: Sentence OutlineAbove, I basically wrote a sentence outline. I like sentence outlines because I

know what Im going to write about in the paragraphs and what I need to answer in mypaper.

A sentence outline works like this:THESIS: After the school shooting at Columbine and others across the country, themedia wrongly placed blamed on the trench coat culture by highlighting the things this

alternative culture is into, by stereotyping the way these kids dress and act, and byignoring the personal lives of the shooters.QUESTION GENERATED: (Your thesis will generate a question or two.) Why was theculture blamed for these things?REASON (or PARAGRAPH) 1: The media wrongly placed the blame on the trench coatculture because of the things this culture is into.REASON (or PARAGRAPH) 2: The media wrongly placed blame on the trench coatculture because of the stereotyping of the ways these kids dress and act.REASON (or PARAGRAPH) 3: The media wrongly placed blame on the trench coatculture because many did not look at the personal lives of these shooters.

*NOTE: This is a sentence outline, so make sure you write out sentences. This will help

when you write topic sentences for each paragraph later.

Step 17: Writing the IntroductionI love introductions. They are a great way to grab the attention of the reader.

There are four ways I like to begin introductions.

1. I developed a style of leading the reader on before I actually talk about what I want totalk about. Usually I do this with an anecdote. An anecdote is a mini story. For thispaper, I can write something about being in high school when this happened:

When I walked into my orchestra class that morning, Ben wasntwearing his trench coat. I wanted to ask him why, but I didnt speak to him

much. I was a junior in high school and one of the freaks. I had blue in myhair and a chain hanging from my wallet. But Ben was the one with thetrench coat. I loved that trench coat. Later that day, I heard someteachers talking about some shooting at a high school. That was a weekago. Theyre still talking about it. Two kids in Colorado shot up their highschool. They were my age. Apparently, these guys were associated withthe trench coat mafia and my countys public schools were banningtrench coats. Thats why Ben stopped wearing his. I kept wondering whywould they blame something like this on a coat?


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2. Another way to start off is with a statistic, like:

When Columbine happened, adults alike began to wonder whythey would do it. The reasons the media gave for these acts were mainlycultural in nature. But what about the shooters personal lives? About

three-fourths either threatened to kill themselves, made suicidal gesturesor tried to kill themselves before the attack. Six killed themselves duringthe attack (Dedman 1).

3. I also like vivid examples. This is taken from an article titled The Outsiders. It offersmore of a view on male adolescence, but supports/brings up some of the points Imight like to address in my essay. I just like the way this is written. It is taken fromthe New York Times Magazine, written by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc. This opening tellsa story, but also creates a vivid impression.

The fight takes place in the bright light of adult view on aweekday afternoon, on a tree-lined residential street, within sight of the

police station and a block from the middle school. The smaller boy, about12, waits until there is a safe distance between himself and the otherboy, about 13. Then he sends a curse. It lands. He waits. No response.He follows with a homophobic slur. His opponent a chubby boynicknamed Sex Machine finally turns around (LeBlanc 36).

4. Another way to start an introduction is with a quote. When you use quotes, beginwith something compelling. The quote I use is something the Santee, Californiashooter said before he received his sentence of fifty years to life in prison.

Andy Williams said during his trial, It really hurts meImresponsible forfor all this stuff, (Santee 1).

Step 18: Supporting ParagraphsWhen you write the supporting paragraphs, devote one paragraph to each

reason. Sometimes, you may end up with multiple paragraphs for each reason. This isokay, as long as you connect the ideas and have topic sentences that relate to thereason.

I discussed topic sentences in Chapter 2. However, the supporting paragraphsare more refined. The topic sentences are now the sentences you first used as anintroduction to the paragraph.

Within the paragraph, you are using supporting evidence to develop the topicsentence. The evidence comes from your personal experience and from the researchyoure conducting. Ill discuss how to incorporate the research in Chapter 5, Step 20.

Last thing to remember with writing paragraphs is to write good transitions intothe next paragraph. Try to link the idea you were just writing about to the next idea in thenext paragraph. An easy way is to write First, Second, Third or First, Then,Finally. This way, your ideas will flow.

See how these topic sentences, from an essay on women weight-lifters, worktogether*. I italicized the transition words.


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Striving for strength can end in injury unless weight lifters learn the safeuse offree weights and weight machines.

Once a weight lifter understands how to lift safely, she needs a weight-liftingregimepersonalizedto her specific physical needs.

In addition to fitting a programto her physical capabilities, a weight lifter needs todesign an individual routine to fit her personal goals.

*Example from Quick Access p. 28-29.

I italicized the words that reflect the transitions.

Step 19: Writing the ConclusionWhen you write a conclusion, try to restate the main idea, but probably not a

word for word repetition of what you already wrote in your thesis. Summarize what yousaid. Its not too hard to do this, since you already wrote the paper.

By the end you can do a couple things to close up the essay. You can pose a

question for the reader to think about further in regards to what you discussed in theessay. You can offer advice, if there was a problem that you presented, or propose stepsof action to solve that problem.

Maybe you can bring the reader full circle, by using an image from yourintroduction. If you used a quote, end with a quote. If you began with a vivid description,try to end with a vivid description, and so on.

With some essays, you can end with a funny statement. Of course, this onlyworks if the essay was humorous. A lot of essays deal with serious subject matter, so tryone of the other ideas.

Whether you believe me or not, conclusions are easy to write. All you need to dois summarize and bring the ideas to a close. Just play with it and try one of the aboveideas.


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Chapter 5: Using Your Research

Plagiarism: What it is and why you shouldnt do it!If you plagiarize, you can get yourself into a world of trouble. This is can be

avoided. Ill get to that in the next step. First read what MCLA says about plagiarism:The academic departments of the College have varying

requirements for reporting the use of sources, but certain fundamentalprinciples for the acknowledgement of sources apply to all fields andlevels of work. The use of source materials of any kind and thepreparation of essays or laboratory reports must be fully and properlyacknowledged. In papers or laboratory reports, students are expected toacknowledge any expression or idea that is not their own. Studentssubmitting papers are implying that the form and content of the essays orreports, in whole and in part, represent their own work, except whereclear and specific reference is made to other sources. Even if there is noconscious intention to deceive, the failure to make appropriateacknowledgement may constitute plagiarism.

Any quotation even of a phrase must be placed in quotation

marks and the precise source stated in a note or in the text; any materialthat is paraphrased or summarized and any ideas that are borrowed mustbe specifically acknowledged. A thorough reordering or rearrangement ofan authors text does not release the student from these responsibilities.All sources that have been consulted in the preparation of the essay orreport should be listed in the bibliography (Academic Policies 1).

Step 20: How to Avoid PlagiarismWhen you quote, make sure youre quoting because you NEEDto. A lot of the

time, the knowledge you gain from doing research does not necessarily need to be in theessay at all. A lot of the research I use is stuff Ive been reading for years and itscommon knowledge. I only want to use quotes when there is a statistic I want to use, a

quote from a person, or the author tells what I need to say perfectly.Whenever you quote, you MUST use in-text documentation. If you look at what I

quoted above, read the last sentence.All sources that have been consulted in the preparation of the essay or report

should be listed in the bibliography (Academic Policies 1).I put their words in quotes and before the period, I put in the in-text

documentation. I found this source over the Internet from the MCLA website. Since thereis no author, I used two words to describe the article title. On my works cited page youllfind the bibliographic information for the Academic Policies article.

With most sources, you will have an author and a page number. So, I could write:I caution against communication because once language exists only to conveyinformation, it is dying (Hugo 11). When you look at my works cited page, you can find

the resource I used for this quote.If there is no page number, dont worry about it. Nearly all online articles, and

EBSCOhost and Infotrac articles, will not have page numbers. As long as there is anauthor you can refer to, or a couple words from the title, you can use that in your in-textdocumentation.


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Paraphrasing and summarizingPlagiarized:

In the summer of 1977, Timeand Newsweekinformed their readers of anew subculture, called punk, that had emerged at a few rock clubs in theUnited States and Britain. It was a new style of exuberant ugliness. Menand women alike wore short hair that had been cut seemingly at random,

and dyed unnatural colors. Flesh was pierced in sundry locations, attimes with safety pins. Punk bands had names like the Dead Boys or theClash. The music was very loud, very fast, and seldom involved morethan three chords. Dancing was spasmodic. Spitting was common.

Paraphrased:According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Educationby ScottMcLemee*, Timeand Newsweekreported (during the summer of 1977)about an underground culture called punk. Clubs in America andEngland bore these new punks. They wore extremely ugly clothes; hadrandomly cut, shortly cropped, and funky colored hair; and pierced anypart of their skin with safety pins and jewelry. They listened to the likes of

Dead Boys and the Clash, which played loud, fast, three-chord songs.When they danced, their bodies moved in convulsions and they spitwhenever they wanted to (16).

*The full citation information can be found on my Works Cited Page.

Even though this is a paraphrase, acknowledge the source! If you dont, yourestill not using your own ideas. Give credit to the source or I will come after you.

The entire article summarized:Scott McLemee writes in his article, Safety Pin as Signifier, about the scholarly

research on the punk movement. It presents a short history and discusses how Bernard

Gendron, philosophy professor at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, comparedthe beginnings of the movement and how it affected the culture of today (16).


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Chapter 6: Works Cited Page

I get a lot of questions about works cited pages. Whats MLA? Whats APA? What is thisfor? What is a works cited page? A student came into the Writing Center one day askingabout this, so in short, this is what you should know about MLA style work cited pages:

What is MLA style?

MLA is short for the Modern Language Association. MLA style is adocumentation style used in the humanities. There are a few other styles such asTurabian, Scientific, Chicago style, and the widely used APA style for the socialsciences. APA and the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) of documentation can be foundin Diana Hacker pages 381-443.

What is a works cited page?

Since youre documenting sources in your text, your reader needs to know where yougot the information. A works cited page gives the title, author, and where to find the

article. Basically, its a reference page for your reader. If they want to learn more aboutyour topic, they can look at the resources you used to write it.

Step 21: Where to Start When Writing a MLA Works Cited PageAt the end of your paper, you want a new page. In Microsoft Word, go to the

toolbar and click on the word Insert and click on Page Break. On the new page, centerthe words Works Cited.

Tips:1. Be sure to alphabetize the list by authors last name. If there is no author,

alphabetize by using the first word of the article or the book. (Except if eitherbegin with A or The. For this, alphabetize by the first word after A or The.)

2. If you are missing any bit of information, dont worry about it. Just write all theinformation you can.

3. If you have two or more works by the same author, write the name of the authorfor the first entry. For the next entries, use three hyphens, followed by a period.Like this:

Hacker, Diana. A Writers Reference. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins: 2003.

---. Exercises to Accompany A Writers Reference. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins:

2003.

4. When writing dates, we write it like the British do. Like Christmas this year wouldbe 25 Dec. 2004. When finding the dates for magazines, if it is a weeklymagazine use the full date (25 Dec. 2004) or if it is a monthly, just list month andyear (Dec. 2004).

5. For page numbers, if the pages are consecutive, that is if your article goes frompage 2 to 3 to 4 to 5, write the pages like this: 2-5. If the pages are not paginated,if your article starts on page 33 and continues on page 42, 44, and 57, write thepages like this: 33+.


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6. To get rid of hyperlinks, which underlines, bolds, and makes your web addressesblue, try this (courtesy of Emily Wheeler): right click on the hyperlink you wish toremove. Choose Remove Hyperlink from the menu that appears. Repeat foreach hyperlink listed.

7. If you have to write an ordinal like I did above with the 5th ed., go to Toolson thetoolbar and click on Auto Correct. This will open up a box. In this box, click on

the second tab over that reads: Auto Format As You Type. Under the heading,Ordinals (1st) with superscript.

8. For web addresses, when you come to the end of the line, you can break a longweb address after any slash. Like this (The full citation is listed here):

Journals. 26 June 2003. MCLA Freel Library. 1 Mar. 2003 .

*I found if you simply put a space in between the slash and the word you want to breakthe line at, the hanging margin will work. Just hitting the ENTER key will mess up thehanging margin.

Step 22: Most Commonly Used Citations (the ones I use the most)

Books with one author

Author(s). Title of Book. Publishing City: Publisher, Copyright date.

Wolfe, Linda. The Literary Gourmet: Menus from Masterpieces. New York: Harmony

Books, 1985.

Magazine and newspaper articles

Author(s). Title of Article. Title of Magazine Date: Page(s).

Glick, Daniel, Sherry Keene-Osbourn, et al. Anatomy of a Massacre. Newsweek 03

May 1999: 24+.

Author(s). Title of Article. Title of Newspaper. Date: Page(s).

Yardley, Jim. After a Murder Trial, Amarillo Asks, Is This a Tolerant Place? The New

York Times 26 Nov. 1999: A29.


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Journal articles with more than one author

Author(s). Title of Article. Title of Journal Volume #. Issue # (Year): Pages.

Leary, Mark R., Robin M. Kowalski, Laura Smith, and Stephen Phillips. Teasing,

Rejection, and Violence: Case Studies of the School Shootings. Aggressive

Behavior 29.3 (2003): 202-215.

Ebscohost and Infotrac (courtesy of Emily Wheeler)

Author(s). Title of Article. Title of Periodical Volume #. Issue # (year): Page(s).

Database. Name of Service. Name and location of library where you retrieved

article. Date of access .

Forbes, Steve. Soft Voice That Carries a Big Stick. Forbes 171.1 (2003): 30. Academic

Search Premier. EBSCOhost. MCLA Lib., North Adams. 25 Feb. 2003

.

Author(s). Title of Article. Title of Periodical Volume #. Issue #. (year): Page(s).

Database. Name of Service. Name and location of library where you retrieved

article. Date of access. .

Reiss, Matthew. Oh No You Dont!: The Other American Education. New

Internationalist (2003): 23. Expanded Academic Index. Infotrac. MCLA lib., North

Adams. 25 Feb. 2003 .

Websites

(quoted from the MLA.org FAQ page, found from the below address:)

How Do I Document Sources From the Web in My Works-Cited List? MLA.org. 4 Dec.

2003. 7 Mar. 2004 .


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Duke University Libraries Guide to Library Research Works Cited Gives examples of citations for APA,MLA, Chicago and Turabian formats.

EBSCOhost Home of the Freel Library periodicaldatabases. Click on Help(upper right corner of search result screen). Select Stylesof Citations from the Contents column and you will see how to cite EBSCO database

results in APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabianformats.

To see a sample, go to my Works Cited Page at the end of this book on page 32.


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Chapter 7: Formatting Your Document on the Computer

Step 23: The HeaderThe header is at the very top of your page. It is not part of the actual body of the

text. This is useful when writing papers, which are longer than one page. If you cannotstaple or clip your paper together, your reader can still find your work and the order ofyour work in a mess of papers.

1. Click on View2. Click on Header and Footer. A tool bar will pop up.3. In the header position, click on Align Rightbutton.4. Type your last name and hit the space bar.5. In the header and footer tool bar, click the # button (circled in the picture below). This

will insert the page number.6. Highlight your last name and the page number.7. Select the font and font size youre using for your text.

Below is what the screen and the header will look like when youre done.

Step 24: The Name BlockThe name block is useful so your professor can keep their papers straight for

whatever class theyre teaching. Most professors teach more than one class and manyhave more than one section. The heading helps so they know who you are, and whatclass you are in. A date is helpful too.

Your nameCourse and Section NumberProfessors Name*Date

*(I like using the date that the paper is due.)


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Heres an example of what it will look like:

Step 25: The TitleTitling a paper is something I find fun. Just make sure it works for your paper,

names your topic, and hints at your position. When you format the title, make sure you

center it on the page, underneath the name block. Personally, I like to make this standout, but that would violate MLA standards.

Step 26: Double SpacingDouble space everything. The easy way to do it on a PC is to highlight

everything, including the header and the Works Cited page. You can right click yourmouse and click on Select All. Now, press the control key on your keyboard and thenumber 2, keeping your finger on the control key. Tada! Double space!

Step 27: Works Cited Page FormatSince youve already double spaced your Works Cited page, now you can indent

the citations. Indenting (or hanging) the second line of each citation will make the

authors name stand out.

To hang the margin on the works cited page:

1. Highlight all the citations.2. Go to Formatand click on Paragraph. This will bring up an options box (see the

picture).3. Under Special, pull down the menu and click on Hanging.4. Click OK.

See the next page for an example.


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The indenting will be done for you. Nice, isnt it?


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Chapter 8: Revision, Editing, & Proofreading

Revision occurs when you go back and change your first draft. Your first draft isNEVER a finished product. Even the best writers will go through many drafts until it feelscomplete. I find myself writing stuff over and over again even after I feel its finished. Myproblem is more the editing stuff, which usually concerns grammar and typing. Im verypicky about that.

Over time I have learned that there are three types of editing: revision, editing,and proofreading. Revision is the process of fixing the big picture. This is where youlllook at the focus, organization, and development. Editing corrects punctuation, grammar,and style. When I spoke to a professional copy editor, she told me what the differencebetween proofreading and editing is. You edit first. Then the text will go through the firstpublishing and proofread. Proofreading is looking at the format and looking at the text forany typographical errors. This is also the final read-through in the editing process beforea text is ready for mass publication.

Step 28: How to ReviseSelf-editing is tough unless you know what youre doing. Below I wrote some of

the most common problems and two ways to fix your mistakes.I suggest reading the paper aloud to yourself. This will, hopefully, make you hear

the mistakes. You might read a sentence and think, Wait a minute, that doesnt makeany sense. Then you can circle it and go back to it. You might find words you misusedor see the small mistakes you may have made in typing.

Another way I like to edit is to put the draft aside for a day or two. When Imworking on a major text, I might finish a rough draft early and not look at it again until thenext day. This way, my mind is clear of all the thoughts I had when I was writing it. Ifyour mind if jumbled, it will be hard to revise a paper.

Onto the most common mistakes!In Revision

After you write your first draft, set it aside. Print it out a day or two later and pretendyoure the audience. Read the paper aloud.

Ask yourself a main idea question to find your focus:1. What is the focus of the paper?

If you cant answer this, go back and see if you can pick out the places wherethe focus is not clear. Try to make it clear.

2. Do you stick to it throughout the paragraphs?If you dont, find the unnecessary information and delete it.

3. Is your thesis clear enough so that you know what youre talking about?

If it isnt clear, make it clear!

Now, ask yourself about organization:4. Do you have topic sentences for each paragraph? They provide unity if your writing.

Topic sentences are your best friends. They help give the reader a focus onwhat the paragraph will discuss.


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5. Are your ideas following an effective order?See if your ideas need to be switched around to make more sense. Is yourmost important part last? Sometimes your original order of ideas may notturn out as strong as you think.

6. Do the paragraphs as a whole make sense in relation to the other paragraphs in thepaper?

Make sure your ideas flow from one paragraph to another. You have to besure the ideas do not go off topic. Use transitions to help relate yourparagraph (ideas).

7. Are any of the paragraphs too long or too short?There are ways to fix this:

If its too long, try the journalistic style to writing. Cut to a new paragraph if: You introduce a new subject or an idea. Theres a turning point in the story youre telling.

If its too short try these methods cited from Rules of Thumbpg.76:Combine Join two paragraphs on the same point. Include examples in the same paragraph as the point they illustrate. Regroup your major ideas and make a new paragraph plan.

Develop Give examples or reasons to support your point. Cite facts, statistics, or evidence to support your point. Relate an incident or even that supports your point. Explain any important general terms.

Quote authorities to back up what you say.

Omit If you have a short paragraph that cannot be expanded or combined withanother, chances are that paragraph should be dropped. Sometimes youhave to decide whether you really want to explain a particular point orwhether its not important in your paper.

Finally, for main ideas:8. Did you develop your main idea effectively?

Make sure your information is persuasive and appropriate to your position.

Its also a good idea to check the development of ideas. Some may needmore explanation; some may not.

In EditingWord Usage:

For spellingjust remember a few simple rules (because spell check on Wordisnt perfect at finding everything). I love this first one from elementary school:


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I before eExcept after c,Or when sounding like a,As in neighbor or weigh.

Drop the silent -e when you add a suffix that begins with a vowel. Keep

-e when the suffix begins with a consonant. Like with these words:combine, combination definite, definitelywake, waking argue, argument

For most nouns, add -s to form the plural; add -es to nouns that end in-s, -sh, -ch, and -x. Like this:

desk, desks dish, dishespen, pens watch, watches

All right and a lot are made up of two words. Its not alright to make these mistakesalot!

Other words I see used incorrectly: beginning, succeed, and whether. Just watch outfor them.

Homonymsare one of the most common problems. (Word does not check forhomonyms. You need to do it manually.) These are words that sound like otherwords but are spelled differently and mean differently. The most common are:

affect (verb meaning to influence)effect (think cause and effect effect as a noun means result)

its (this is the possessive form of it)its (this is the contraction for it is)

lay (verb meaning to place usually an object)lie (verb meaning to recline)*I always confused the two words. So, I think to myself: I laymy pencil onthe desk and liein bed for the rest of the night.

loose (adjective meaning not tightly)lose (verb meaning unable to find or defeated in a game)*I think for some people this may be a typo, but it is one to watch out for.

than (used as a conjunction when comparing something)then (has to do with time)

*Id rather write thanread. ThenIll get to my homework.

Grammar (All bad examples are courtesy of my friend, Christina Bird):The two most common grammar problems have to do with sentences:

A fragmentis a broken sentence. Usually it does not contain a verb. This isincorrect to write in formal essays.


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Bad Example:Better than killing.

After Fixing:Maiming is better than killing.(Maiming is the subject. Is is the verb.)

A run-onis a bunch of full sentences crammed together into one sentence.

Bad Example:Last weekend I was talking with this guy and he had brown hair, brown eyeshe has amazing taste in music he was talking with one of his friends when Ifirst saw him.

One way to fix it:When I first saw him, he was talking with one of his friends. Last weekend Italked with this guy. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and he has amazingtaste in music.

Punctuation:

Comma splicesare like run-on sentences. You write one complete thought.Then before you write another complete thought, you stick a comma in thererather than a period, coordinating conjunction, or (my favorite) a semicolon.

Bad Example:I went for a drive, my sister came with me.

A couple ways to fix this sentence:I went for a drive. My sister came with me. (Inserting a period.)

I went for a drive, and my sister came with me. (Inserting a conjunction.)I went for a drive; my sister came with me. (Inserting a semicolon because thetwo phrases connect.)

Style:In formal writing, be consistent in verb tense.

Bad Example:I went to the movies last Friday night with a friend of mine. We wanted to seeVan Helsingbut it is sold out so were seeing Hellboy instead.

To keep the verb tense consistent, I keep it in past tense:

I went to the movies last Friday night with a friend of mine. We wanted to seeVan Helsingbut it was sold out. So we saw Hellboyinstead.

Wordinessuses excessive words when you dont need to. I found the easiestway to delete wordiness is to read through your work and ask yourself a couplequestions:1. Can you not use the word is? I believe in using a verb without is in front of

it. It makes the verb stronger.


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2. Are there any unneeded words? According to the book, Quick Access, theauthor calls unneeded words deadwood and lists examples (Troyka 105-106):

as a matter of fact because of the fact that in light of the fact thatdue to the fact that by means of for the purpose of

have a tendency to in the case of in the event thatin the process of it seems that type of

Deadwood can usually be completely taken out or shortened to one word.Play with it and see what you come up with.

3. Try to avoid redundancy in sentences.

Bad example:I saw this incredibly boring movie last weekend that almost put me to sleep.

Incredibly boring shows redundancy. Id just use boring:

I saw this boring movie last weekend that almost put me to sleep.

4. See if you can improve the paper by combining sentences and shorteningphrases.

Bad example:I was suspended from school for fighting. I was suspended out of school forthree days and had in-school suspension for one.

A way to fix this:For fighting, I was suspended from school for three days and had in-schoolsuspension for one day.

Parallelismuses the same grammatical forms to express the same ideas. Itshould match the corresponding words or group of words to each other.

Bad Example:Entering a mosh pit can result in bleeding, bruises, and sweating.

To make it parallel, one word should change:Entering a mosh pit can result in bleeding, bruising, and sweating.

I hate passive voice. Its evil. You should be direct in your writing. When yourewriting to make a point, using directness will make your reader believe what you

write.

Bad Example:The email was sent by me last Thursday.

Emails dont send themselves:I sent the email last Thursday.


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For numbersthe main rule is to be consistent. I like to spell out all numbersunder 100. Numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine are hyphenated. Moststudents Ive spoken to about this will only spell out numbers under ten. Over ten,its 11, 42, 78. If you barely mention numbers in your paper, just spell them out.Consistency is the key.

In Proofreading: My Biggest Pet PeeveTypos

When I was copyeditor for our schools newspaper, I went into a meeting withone thing to say to the writers: Proofread your stories before you turn them in! Iactually spent more time proofreading than doing anything else. A simple spellcheck and reading the paper aloud will help clear this error.


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Chapter 9: The Final Product

Step 29: Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Can say, My Paper Is Complete.

I ask myself these questions before I turn in my final draft:(If you answer yes to any of these questions, go on to the next. If you answer no to anyof these questions, then revise again. If you answer yes to all the questions,congratulations, youre finished!)

The main question:Do I fulfill the assignment?

Checking for the focus and argument:Is my topic specific enough?Does my thesis state what I discuss in the essay?Do I discuss the topic thoroughly?Do I say what I wanted to say?Is the argument convincing?

Checking for organization and essay flow:Are the paragraphs following my thesis?Does my essay follow an effective outline?Do my paragraphs transition smoothly from one to another?Can a reader easily follow the argument?

Checking for how well I developed the essay points:Is each point developed the way I wanted to develop it?Do I supply enough evidence to convince the reader of my position?Do I go off topic at all?

Checking the introduction and conclusion:Does the introduction make sense with my essay as a whole?Does the conclusion broaden the implications of my argument?Do I leave the reader with something to contemplate?

Checking for quotation and documentation:Are the quotes effective when I use them?Are the quotes documented properly?Are there any citations I forgot?Is all the documentation correct in the essay and on the Works Cited page?

Checking for style and editing errors:

Is my tense consistent throughout the essay?Are there any sentence errors such as run-ons, comma splices, or sentence fragments?Did I spell check the essay in Word?Did I proofread the essay?Is the grammar correct?


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The last minute questions:Is the essay double spaced?Are all the pages numbered?

Now, read it aloud one last time just to make sure you dont catch any moreerrors. If you dont, youre good to turn in your essay.

Staple or paper clip the essay pages together. Hand in a polished paper.That wasnt so hard to do. Right?


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Works Cited

Academic Policies. MCLA.edu. 5 Apr. 2004. .

Dedman, Bill. School Shooters: Secret Service Findings. Chicago Sun-Times.com. 15

Oct. 2000. 26 Nov. 2001. .

Hacker, Diana. A Writers Reference. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins: 2003.

How Do I Document Sources From the Web in My Works-Cited List? MLA.org. 4 Dec.

2003. 7 Mar. 2004 .

Hugo, Richard. The Triggering Town. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1979.

LeBlanc, Adrian Nicole. The Outsiders. New York Times Magazine 22 Aug. 1999: 36-

41.

McLemee, Scott. Safety Pin as Signifier. Chronicle of Higher Education 48:47 (2002):

A16. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. MCLA Lib., North Adams. 20 Nov.

2002. .

Santee School Shooter Imposes Minimum Sentence. ABCNEWS.com. 16 Aug. 2002. 1

May 2004. .

Silverman, Jay, Elaine Hughes, and Diana Roberts Wienbroer. Rules of Thumb: A Guide

to Writers. 4thed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2000.

Troyka, Lynn Quitman. Quick Access: Reference for Writers. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.

Documents

A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS