Unit VI: Writing Your First Draft

Introductory Remarks

Now you need to think about putting the paper together into English. The most important parts of your paper from the reader's point of view are the introduction and the conclusion. If you don't capture the reader's attention in the introduction, he won't continue reading. If you don't wind things up sufficiently, covering all the points you raised and all the promises you make in the introduction, the reader will leave feeling cheated.

Points for this Unit

• Introduction: Capture Their Attention!
• Body: all the best supporting points IN THE RIGHT ORDER
• Conclusion: Leave 'em asking for more

The First Draft

Thesis Statement Revision: the very last time

Take one final look at your thesis statement. Does it still really answer the research question? Can you still honestly support it with the evidence you have accumulated? If not, adjust it where necessary. Otherwise, you are ready to go on.

The Introduction

In an exam essay, the introduction is usually a paragraph or so long. It often begins with some variation of the thesis statement as the introductory sentence, sets the scope, and then catapults the reader into the "meat" of the work.

In a research paper, you have more information to depart to your reader, so you need to give him more help in anticipating and organizing that information. A good introduction sets up the framework on which you will hang each supporting point. Your reader will know what is coming, and be able to absorb and retain each point as he moves onto the next. To do this, your introduction should

• summarize your research question
• explain why the question is interesting or important
• describe the scope or what your discussion will cover
• describe the limits or what your discussion won't cover
• introduce any major terms that require definition
• hint at the conclusion, so the reader knows the direction you will take

A good introduction manages to do all this in an entertaining or exciting way. Since you aren't limited to a single sentence or a single paragraph, as you might be in a short essay, you have some room to be creative. You can start by setting the context, then pose the actual question, or you can start with the question, and show its importance second. You may use more extensive imagery, a list of example ideas or events that have no apparent connection (emphasizing contrast), then bring them altogether with the connecting thread of your question. If your question is about the importance or influence of a person or event, you may start by looking at one aspect of your subject some detail, then back away to show the larger context of which it is a part.

However you decide to start, you will need to spend some time on the rhetorical style of the introduction, so that you manage to convey some of your own excitement about your topic to the reader.

The Body of the Paper

It is time to flesh this out, but you've done all the hard work already. You should have all the data from your research for each point, and your points listed in the appropriate order. Write out this information in decent English.

The Conclusion

Like the introduction, this takes a bit more rhetorical work. Your final section or paragraphs need to summarize very briefly the main supporting points of the thesis, and unambiguously the conclusions you have reached as a result of your research. Obviously, these should reflect the thesis statement you are using to answer the question.

You should also set the context of the question again. In the introduction, you stated why you thought the question was important. Here you state the answer, but you need to go beyond that, and state some of the ramifications of that answer.

For example, if you were researching the rate of decline of the spotted owl habitat, your conclusion might be that the rate is not all that great, and decades remain before the owl will become extinct. In that case, it may be possible to continue to harvest timber in old growth areas. If you were researching the ideas of democracy held by a particular group of influential early Americans, you might want to point out some of the ways these ideas have affected later developments of American law, culture, or economy.

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Assignment for this Unit

Assignment

1. Write your introduction and conclusion.
2. Begin drafting the body of the report; try to complete as much as possible. Save writing the introduction and conclusion until you have completed the entire report.
3. Isolate one section of your draft to turn in, and indicate where you will use citations, either direct quotations or summaries. Include whatever key or code you used to identify the citation information, but don't worry about added the citation in proper form yet.

Enter your response directly into the Scholars Online Writing the Research Paper Moodle forum for this unit. Review the submissions from your fellow students and offer constructive criticism to help them revise their draft.

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