The Research Paper: An Explanation
The research paper is the one assignment mentioned in detail in the syllabus. This should tell you something: THE RESEARCH PAPER IS IMPORTANT! Among other things, the syllabus tells you the paper must be a minimum of 2500 words; that alone sounds like too big a hill to climb. But while it seems too big and too complicated, the basic structure and purpose of a research paper is quite simple: you assemble information about a topic, going as deeply into the subject as you can. Your purpose is to become an expert on a very narrow subject, gathering enough information that you can answer all questions about it and present as complete a picture of the subject as possible. Your paper presents that information, with full documentation of your sources, of where the information came from.
“Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em”
The structure of the paper is simple, and it is really the structure of any paper, from a 20 sentence Thesis Plan paper to a 2000+ words research paper. The paper should have a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction tells the reader the topic of the paper, and even indicates the conclusion. (“Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em”).
Your paper is guided by your thesis. What is the subject you researched, and what did you learn from that research? You can even use those questions and your research experience to guide you in drafting the paper. Just as you started from a basis of relative ignorance and learned the topic from your research efforts, you can take the reader from that relative ignorance to your understanding, by re-tracing your steps in the research paper.
“Tell ‘em.”
The body of the paper should proceed from basically a position of ignorance (your reader knows nothing about the topic; you, the expert, have to explain everything, and you have to assume the reader knows nothing). You have to explain as the paper proceeds why Z follows Y, and Y follows X, and X follows W…. Basically, you start with A and explain why B is the next step, and then C, and so on to the end. The more detailed you are, the better.
It is in the body of the paper that you may find yourself using causation (to establish a causal chain; why A leads to B, and B leads to C, etc.); example (how one thing can represent many similar things); narration (telling someone a story is the best way to communicate new ideas and information); description (make the abstract concrete and real); comparison (sometimes the best way to explain a new idea is to connect it to an “old” idea); process (how something gets done); and so on. We will discuss these strategies, among others, in class over the semester. Which of these you use, and how much you use them, depends on your topic and how you develop it.
By the time you have fully explained your thesis, and presented all the information necessary to explain your thesis, your audience should be ready for your conclusion.
“Tell ‘em what you told ‘em
The conclusion is basically the introduction, restated. It should summarize the main points of the paper, gently reminding the reader of what she has just read. In this way the reader knows there is no new information forthcoming, and that the thesis has been handed to them in a nicely-wrapped package, as a take-home gift. And that they now know as much as you do about the subject, which makes them experts by virtue of your expertise.
The post The Research Paper: An Explanation appeared first on My Assignment Online.
