Final Research Paper Draft

Assignment 8

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Assignment 8 Final Research Paper Draft

Purpose:

The purpose of this final draft is to finish the paper you have been working on throughout the course by adding a conclusion and an abstract.

Description:

In this assignment, you will assemble the final draft of your Research Paper you have been working on throughout the course. Your Research Paper Final Draft should include the elements listed below.

Elements:

The grade of your Research Paper Final Draft is largely based on your inclusion of these elements and the overall quality of your writing. Your paper must contain the following elements.

1. Cover page and APA formatting:

You should include an APA-style cover page for your Research Paper.

Your cover page should include the following: the title of your paper, your name, and the name of your university. The running head should include up to 50 characters from

the title of the paper, along with a sequential page number in the upper right-hand corner.

2. Abstract:

The abstract is a 150-250 word summary of your Research Paper, and it should be written only after you have finished writing the entire paper because how your abstract is worded largely depends on the development of your paper. Your abstract should be accurate, self-contained, concise and specific, non-evaluative, coherent, and readable. Your abstract may be modeled after the theoretical paper model or empirical study model.

Your work should be in APA style. The abstract should be the second page in the paper, after the cover page, and the abstract should be on its own page. The text of the paper itself should begin on page 3. Your abstract must meet the following standards:

• Be 150-250 words

• Be located on the second page of your final draft

• Have a heading of Abstract that is centered at the top of the page.

3. Introduction:

There are some pitfalls to writing an introductory paragraph, and you can avoid some of them by reading through the Checklist: “Avoid Certain Mistakes in the Introduction” on p. 495 of Strategies for Writing Successful Research Papers.

4. Review of literature:

The review of literature should be a smooth transition from the introduction of your paper and should present a controlled summary of the conversation surrounding your topic.

5. Body paragraphs:

Each paragraph of the body of your Research Paper should be a cohesive unit. It should be tight, but developed. It should serve a function, and its purpose should always be to bolster the thesis. Therefore, you should use the following order for each paragraph in the body.

a. Topic sentence: This sentence summarizes the entire paragraph in one strong, well-written sentence, and it directly supports the thesis statement.

b. Explanation of topic sentence (1-2 sentences): Often times there is more to be said about the topic sentence, more explanation that is necessary in order for it to be a clear idea, so there are usually a few sentences that follow the topic sentence that explicate the idea more for the reader. These sentences not only “unpack” the topic sentence, but they also anticipate the evidence that will be used to support the topic sentence, usually indirectly.

c. Introduction to evidence (1-2 sentences): No piece of evidence (quotation, example, paraphrase, etc.) should be dropped into a paragraph without first introducing it. An introduction might include the title of the source, the author, and/or a short description of the source/author’s credentials. In this way, no evidence is presented without a context because it is this context that makes the evidence meaningful.

d. Evidence: The evidence that you present backs up your topic sentence, and by extension, supports your thesis statement. The evidence that you supply can be a number of things: a quotation from a source; a reasonable, illustrative example; a statistic; commentary from an interview; etc.

e. Explanation of evidence: No piece of evidence stands on its own or is convincing on its own. Although it may seem to draw a direct line to your topic sentence to support it, often the reader needs you to make the connection between the two. Further, the general rule is that for each sentence of quoted material, your explanation should be just as long, so if you include a block quotation, the block quotation should be met with an equally long explanation.

f. Transition (1-2 sentences): Transitions are essential for research papers because body paragraphs, especially, are written as units, and it is the transitions that allow for these units to be linked together. Take a look at the list of transitional expressions on pp. 44-45 in The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises.

6. Conclusion:

Your conclusion should pull together your entire paper. Do not consider the conclusion a summary of your paper; your abstract is the summary of your paper. Instead, your conclusion is your opportunity to suggest what might be done with your findings. A good conclusion will restate the thesis, place a judgment on the issue discussed, discuss the implications of your findings, issue a directive or call to action to the reader, and close out the paper with a strong final thought. However, depending upon your topic and your treatment of that topic, the conclusion may take different forms. Your conclusion for this paper must be at least 150 words. If the conclusion is less than the word count, it is likely you have not fully developed your conclusion, and this lack of development can severely impact your grade for this assignment.

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