Introduction
-
Avoid using outside sources
in your introduction. This should be your own words.
-
Explain any patterns
relevant to this topic.
o
Patterns within the text
itself
o
The way this text fits into
a larger pattern
-
Then explain the meaning of
fitting into/breaking this pattern (this should be your thesis)
Thesis
-
Most of you don’t have
thesis statements. Or at least you do not have thesis statements in the
introductory paragraph (this is where they should be).
-
Many of you do have thesis
statements—or something similar—in your conclusions. If so, make sure you
include this in the introduction as well.
o
If you don’t have a thesis
statement in your conclusion, keep analyzing that data.
Analyze the Data (see the model draft)
-
Many of you are presenting
the data (sources) that you found.
-
A lot of this data is very
useful, but you need to analyze it before you present it to the reader.
o Look for patterns
o
Look for
deviations/outliers from patterns
o
Does your main text fit
these patterns?
o
Explain these patterns and
how things fit—or don’t—in detail.
-
So rather than present the
data to the reader and assume that the reader will make sense of it, you need
to make sense of your own data. And present your analysis to the reader.
o
Support this analysis with
your sources, but the sources themselves should not be entire paragraphs
Audience Response
-
Many of you reference
reader/audience reaction to a work. While appealing to an audience is certainly
important to the overall success of a film, this has very little to do with
your central topic. Stop referencing the audience (unless it is a
defined element of your research question.)
Sources:
-
Introduce quotes (tell us
who says this and why we should listen to them)
-
The quote should be
integrated into the sentence structure
-
Explain why this
quote is useful to your topic. Why have you included it in your paper?
Citation – Use MLA citation guide
-
In-text citation
-
Authorial reference (user
author’s last name only)
Sentence Structure
-
Use present tense
-
Passive voice L
o
Example: “X is [past tense
verb] by Y”
o
To fix, re-order the
subject and object of the sentence: “Y [present tense verb] X.”
-
Transitions
o
Don’t reduce information
§
“In other words”
§
“In a word”
§
“Bascially”
-
Even
o
Positive construction: “He even runs away.”
o
Negative Construction: “He
even does not run awayӈ
“He does not even run away”
