Building the Research Essay

Taking Notes and Processing Information

Revising (and Re-Revising) the Thesis

Working Thesis

Research/Evidence

Your Knowledge and Experience

Revised Working Thesis

Taking Notes

• Two approaches:– Print out the source and write all over it. – Take notes on a separate sheet of paper or

document. • Include citation information for each source. • Label notes with page numbers.

• Both approaches should be conversational.

WarzauWynn. Conversation with a White Russian. 2008. Flickr. 28 Feb. 2012.

Taking Notes (cont’d)

• With either approach . . .– Underline, highlight, or write/type important

passages.– Respond to those passages

• Responses can be emotional and automatic – e.g. “That’s so weird!,” “I don’t really believe this,” “Really horrible,” “A very cool fact,” etc.

• You can translate emotion into analysis in your essay.

– Jot down any questions or ideas that you think of as you read.

– Write down ideas about things to look up later

What do you do with the notes?

• Move them around. Experiment.– Find relationships between your notes• Use labels to group the notes • Use different colors to mark certain topics or sources• Print out notes and cut them up, rearrange them on

the floor

– Start thinking about the order of the essay• See next slide for suggestions.

Finding a Useful Order

• Beginning of the Essay– Background/context that the reader needs to

know.– Dramatic, convincing, or strong evidence.• You want to make your reader believe that you are an

authority.

• Middle of Essay– Evidence that complicates or deepens the thesis.

Writing the Annotated Bibliography

• Bibliography = 8 sources– At least 4 from a library database– At least 1 peer reviewed source– One multimedia source (See Easy Writer 216 for

Examples)– Interview (recommended, but not required)

Writing the Annotated Bibliography

• Citation: Find the correct citation in Easy Writer (Directory on 214-216)

• Summary:– What is the author’s project or goal? – Include paraphrases or quotations that you might use in the

essay.• Cite them!

• Evaluation– What kind of source is this?– Use the ABCD evaluation as a guideline– How useful will it be for your essay? Why?