How to Write a Research Paper

What rule is best when choosing your research topic?

• Choose something that everyone has written about that way you know there will be information

• Choose a topic that is broad so you won't run out of things to talk about

• Most of your ideas are bad ones so just go with the first one

• Choose a narrow topic that you can explore in detail and may be original to you

Why is the thesis statement important to a research paper?

• It isn't

• It will save you writing time and guide your research making your paper better

• It is the first thing people will read

• It explains everything

How long should your thesis statement be?

• A whole paragraph

• One sentence

• Two sentences

• One is generally best, but the important thing is to have a clear thesis, so it takes however many sentences that takes

What is the main goal of the thesis statement?

• Reveal what position you are taking and how you will evaluate the topic

• Help you remember what you are writing about and stay on topic

• Give you something to revise and edit as you write

• There is no goal. It's just something you have to do

A good thesis statement never needs revising or editing.

• True

• False

What is the goal of the introductory paragraph in a research paper?

• Identify the points the rest of the paper will cover

• Ask a question that the paper will answer

• Summarize everything the paper was about

• Tell what you knew before you did research

Why is outlining important for a research paper

• I have to turn it in for a grade

• Research papers are too long to do without one

• Gives you a guide to follow and exposes where you may need to do more research

• Outlines are just busy work

Why should you be researching and writing your rough draft simultaneously?

• Speeds things up to do two things at once

• Research guides your writing and writing shows what you may still need to research

• Multitasking is always a bad idea

• Cleaning up grammar mistakes as you go makes editing easier

Why are revising and editing two different things that must be done at two different time?

• Revising is fixing grammar and editing is making sure the paper makes sense

• Revising is checking for cohesion and editing is fixing grammar mistakes

• They are the same thing and can be done at the same time

• Nobody has time to do them at the same time

Your research paper should be about?

• Something that interests you

• Something that interests your teacher

• Whatever the teacher told you to write about

• Something everybody finds interesting