Writing the Rough Draft

1. Writing theRough Draft Bum, bum, bum (doom music here)

2. Outline • Your outline will be made up of the slugs off your note cards • It is a plan for your paper • It maps out for you (and me) what will happen and in what order it will happen • Your outline will be a topic outline and include your thesis statement

3. Thesis Statement • When you first selected your topic you were to phrase it as a question; the thesis statement is a one sentence answer to that question. • The thesis statement is a kind of summary or description of what your paper is about. • A thesis statement is a strong statement that you can prove with evidence. It is not a simple statement of fact. Your thesis statement will be the main idea of your entire project. It can also be thought of as the angle or point of view from which you present your material.  • It has the following characteristics: • Single declarative sentence, NOT a question • States the writer’s position or findings on the topic • States the specific focus the paper will have • Suggests what the conclusion will say • Presumably reflects what the writer’s notes provide • Does NOT begin with “The purpose of this paper is. . .” nor states the purpose in any other way • Does NOT state the topic • Does NOT include multiple main clauses

4. Examples of Thesis Statement • What happens to the environment when wetlands are destroyed? • When wetlands are destroyed, the reduction of the water table affects life of all kinds. • What is being done to solve homelessness? • Government, private organizations, and individuals are all working to solve what seems to be the insurmountable problem of homelessness. • What can subliminal perceptions do? • Subliminal perceptions can aid in the reduction of stress-related problems as simple as weight-loss or as complicated as surgery. • How are robotics helping industry? • Robotics have revolutionized industry by making it less dependent on but also safer for humans.

5. Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement • Determine what kind of paper you are writing: • An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience. • An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience. • An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided. • Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence. • The thesis statement must be on your outline page and usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper. • Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

6. Examples • Example of an analytical thesis statement: • An analysis of the college admission process reveals one challenge facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds. • The paper that follows should: • explain the analysis of the college admission process • explain the challenge facing admissions counselors • Example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement: • The life of the typical college student is characterized by time spent studying, attending class, and socializing with peers. • The paper that follows should: • explain how students spend their time studying, attending class, and socializing with peers

7. Sorting Notes • Sort the note cards according to their slugs • Check your note cards to make sure all have slugs and all slugs make sense • Slugs should be what forms your outline

8. Outline, Part II • Your outline must reveal a logical organizational pattern and reflect what the thesis statement summarizes. • The sum of the parts must equal the whole. • All main headings are the equivalent of the thesis: I + II + III + IV = Thesis • A heading with its subheadings is the equivalent of a paragraph with its supporting details: I = A + B or A = 1 + 2 • You must have an organizational pattern, usually: chronological, spatial, or order of importance

9. Structure • Roman Numerals: I, II, III, IV, V, etc. • Uppercase Letters: A, B, C, D, E, etc. • Arabic Numerals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. • (Example on another page, yes, this is a reminder to me) • The number of subheadings should be about equal • The headings are mutually exclusive (do not overlap one another of merely rename. Such as: • I. College Students • A. Male • B. Female • C. Older

10. The topics within a division are parallel (like grammatical structures) • The outline maps out the body of your paper • You may not have an A without a B, you may not have a 1 without a 2. You do not have to have A, B, 1, 2…but if you do…

11. Writing the Draft • Your notes should contain all the information you need and your rough outline should lay out the organization, all you have to do is write! The more quickly you get the rough draft on paper, the better. • As you write, write fast, don’t worry much now about spelling, grammar, punctuation, these are all things you will fix before turning your rough draft in, the key now is to WRITE!!!

12. If you want to do a preliminary draft by hand, that is fine, but remember you have to type the final paper so easier if you can type this also • Write only on one side of the paper, skip lines • Throw away nothing • Stay on track and follow your outline

13. Introduction • Sets the stage for your paper, prepares your reader for what he/she is about to read • Sets the tone for the topic, your purpose, your thesis • Some may include background information or definitions of very technical or abstract terms

14. Common kinds of introductions • Startle the reader with a fact or statistic • Decribe a compelling condition or situation • Use a story or conversation to introduce an event • Explain a conflict or inconsistency • Ask a question • Use a quotation, adage, or proverb

15. Documentation • As you write, you MUST keep track of where the information came from • Parenthetical documentation: Author’s last name and page number OR first three words of the article title if no author (“-” or _ like on Works Cited) and page number • Document quotes or partial quotes; others’ ideas, even if in your own words; others’ opinions, even if in your own words; little known facts, even if easily proven • Before you finish with a note card, check for quotation marks, if quote, place in quotation marks and reference

16. Referencing • Wetlands can remove sediments and pollutants like giant kidneys. (Smith 2). • Wetlands can remove sediments and pollutants like giant kidneys. (“The Wetlands of” 2). • “The giant kidneys of the earth are the wetlands which remove sediments and pollutants.” (Smith 2).

17. Two authors: (Smith and Jones 1-2) • Three authors: (Smith, Jones, and Toms 1) • Four or more: (Smith, et. al. 5, 7) • Two authors with same last name, Bob Smith, Tom Smith: (B. Smith 1) (T. Smith 2) • Two articles, no author, same title, “Wetlands Endangered” from National Geographic and “Wetlands Endangered” from Suite101: (“Wetlands Endangered,” National Geographic 1) or (“Wetlands Endangered,” Suite 101 1-2) • Two articles by the same author, Tom Smith wrote “Life of Wetlands in the Present Day” and “Wetlands Are a Friend to All”: (Smith, “Life of Wetlands” 1) or (Smith, “Wetlands Are a” 1)