Beginning the Research Analysis Paper

1. Beginning the Research Analysis Paper Is actually easier than you think! Angela Panayotopulos, Writing Fellow, Philosophy 421

2. The two extremes to balance between • It should all come easy—but it doesn’t • Clear ideas and sentences seldom come on their own. • You THINK that • you don’t have anything to say • It’s hard to start • The ideas are complex and contradictory • The paper writes itself—no problem? • This is the product of free-writing • A valuable stage, but not an acceptable draft! • The idea may be good, but scattered • Full screen, but ideas may be underdeveloped or disconnected • Looks very careless

3. First PLAN – then WRITE… …to save yourself the heartache (or confusion and sleeplessness) later  • Don’t stress about • complete sentences • grammar or punctuation • judging your ideas • Flirt (gradually focus) with the topic • *Do not start a paper by writing the paper* • No need to get stuck on a paper by trying to write the perfect first sentence • After you brainstorm, you can outline and add complete sentences.

4. Where to begin... • Think about what why you’re writing: • To offer an argument and DEFEND your claim by using REASON. • To prove that you understand the material and you’re able to THINK CRITICALLY about it— • And that you can form an OPINION or TAKE A STANCE about it yourself…

5. Brief Overview of the Writing Process • PLANNING • -assessing writing situation • -brainstorming • -outlining • DRAFTING • -intro and thesis • -body • -conclusion • REVISING • -higher-order & lower-order concerns • -proofreading

6. Getting Started ~ Planning • Make sure you UNDERSTAND the question and what exactly is being asked. • Write a short summary / sketch / GENERAL IDEA of what you want to say. • Be able to say what you want about this topic—what EXACTLY are you planning to address? • Decide what you will say FOR and AGAINST your idea (or claim, if you’ve already made one) • Brainstorm!!! • Any number of various activities used to generate many creative ideas that have no right or wrong answers and are accepted without criticism

7. Brainstorming. . . • Take advantage of your thoughts; gather your brain’s energies in a “storm” • Some techniques: • Free-writing • Breaking down the topic into levels • Bullets/lists • Cubing • Clustering/mapping/webbing • Relationship between the parts • Journalistic questions • Speaking and recording • Dictionaries / thesauruses / encyclopedias

8. Free-writing • Put pen on paper—and write. Don’t stop even if you believe you are saying nothing. • Why: it frees your internal critic. When you aren’t worrying about style, spelling, grammar, or punctuation, you can think about other things. • Pages later, there will be a lot of filter and fluff, but also a lot of potentially thought-provoking ideas

9. Breaking down the topic • Progressing from a general  specific idea (also helps pinpoint a potential argument or thesis statement) • General topic • i.e. Aristotle’s Metaphyisics, Book A, the account of wisdom • Specific sub-topic or required question • i.e. Wisdom as the science of first causes and principles • Single phrase or term that your statement revolves around • i.e. The search for “the good in the whole of nature”

10. Listing ~ Bulleting • Jot down lists of words or phrases that pertain to your topic. • Again you can base your lists by brainstorming on the general, more specific, or most specific ideas/terms • Note comparisons and contrasts, or analogies (part-to-whole, etc).

11. Cubing • Like a cube, this approach is 6-sided. • Consider the topic and respond to these: • Describe it • Compare it • Associate it • Analyze it • Apply it • Argue for and against it • Do you spot any correlations between your answers, or patterns, or new ideas?

12. Clustering/ Mapping/ Webbing • Jot down as many phrases or terms jump into mind when considering a topic. • When you’re done, link similar ideas together, forming a web/map amidst the chaos. Look for some logical relationships between these clusters, and keep going until you’ve found some sort of pattern or flow of ideas.

13. Relationship between the parts • Whole • Part • Part • Part • Parts • Parts of parts • Parts of parts • Parts of parts

14. Journalistic Questions • Who? • What? • When? • Where? • Why? • How?

15. Speaking and recording • Turn to your friend, your roommate, or your mirror, and say what you’re trying to write. • Don’t even pick up the pen—don’t even worry about writing. Many people freeze up at the mere idea of a waiting, blinking cursor. • Just turn on the cassette, and record your voice! • Oral free-writing; there will be plenty of filler and fluff, but also some precious ideas you won’t have to remember all by yourself

16. Dictionaries, Thesauruses, and Encyclopedias • When all else fails • Visit the library, writing center, or browse online to look up your terms. • Obscure, archaic definition may address a term’s ambiguity or dynamic meaning, possibly giving you new ideas • An encyclopedia is may help to clarify facts, get quick background, or discover a thorough context

17. Now what? • So your desk is overflowing with sheets of diagrams, definitions, lists, and cassette tapes (sort of) • Sort it out with an OUTLINE • Now focus on assembling your thoughts. • Decide what is most important • Identify information gaps • Or write a SKETCH • Write out larger chunks (clusters of sentences or paragraphs) to expand upon your smaller clusters and phrases. • This is the foundation for your draft, blocks you can later thread together with further ideas and transitions

18. Outline • = A general plan of the material to be presented in your paper. • Why write one? • Organization (order, importance, relationship/relativity) • Less work later • Ideas, like a puzzle, best arranged on table, not floor • Example of a simple outline • I. Intro • II. State Socrates’ argument • III. Offer my objection • IV. Consider a possible reply by Socrates. • V. Offer a counter-reply. Etc……

19. Steps in writing an outline • Do your research • Gather the brainstormed ideas • Come up with a tentative thesis statement • Determine the paper’s audience and purpose • Intelligent but not as knowledgeable in this field • To inform and persuade • Choose the outline structure • Write the main categories • And subcategories • And tertiary categories (etc, as needed)

20. Order of the outline • There are many ways to arrange the different parts of a subject. • chronological arrangement • spatial arrangement • i.e. ranking of arguments • from the general to the specific. • This means you begin with a general idea and then support it with specific examples. • the most common ordering type

21. Types of outlines • The two main types of outlines are the topic outline and the sentence outline. • In the topic outline, the headings are given in single words or brief phrases. • In the sentence outline, all the headings are expressed in complete sentences. • Generally easier to read and more comprehensive

22. Formatting the outline (example) The basic format uses an alternating series of numbers and letters, indented accordingly, to indicate levels of importance Example: I.     A.     B.         1.         2.             a.             b. II.     A.     B.

23. This outline should specifically identify: • What issues and questions do you plan to cover in each part of your paper? • What works and parts of works do you intend to discuss in each part of the paper (not set in stone, but at least initial plan) • What some of the arguments may be, or what will need to be discussed/argued • A tentative bibliography of primary and secondary sources • Primary: the original text • Secondary: materials that provide interpretations, analyses, explanations, critiques, restatements and descriptions of primary sources

24. Final tips ~ • Remember, the planning process is the most versatile • you can always change your ideas, arguments, or even thesis along the way, as long as you can SUPPORT them with relevant arguments and sources • Your paper depends on it! A good outline enhances the organization and coherence of your paper. • The outline can help you organize your material, stay focused, be clear, discover connections between pieces of information that you weren't aware of, make you aware of material that is not really relevant to the purposes of your paper, help you fill in gaps, etc. • A bit of planning now will save you a lot of stress and cramming later!

25. Helpful Resources • http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/brainstorming.html • http://trc.ucdavis.edu/bajaffee/NEM150/Course%20Content/brainstorming.htm • http://www.albany.edu/eas/170/outline.htm • http://www.wikihow.com/Write-an-Outline

26. That’s all ~ Thanks! 