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Writing an essay can be one of the most stressful parts of any level of education. Hopefully this article can assist those who need help.
== Steps ==
# Finding a Topic: When writing a paper, it's very important to find a topic that is not only something you’re passionate about, but also one with enough resources that you can talk about it for at least 10 pages in writing with sources. On the final paper, you’ll need to have a total of 50 sources, though you’ll only actually use 20 for your paper, so make sure that your topic has enough information to get these sources.
# Getting Sources: Getting valid sources is the most important part of writing one of these papers. If your sources aren’t legitimate, or don’t have much authority on the topic, then it may be best to find something else. Each of your body paragraphs needs at least two sources, and all your main sources must be used at least twice, so finding strong sources is going to be critical to being able to write a fluid paper. When picking quotes to use from each source, try to limit them to a smaller size. Having a long source can take up too much space, and many professors will dock points on your paper if they exceed 2 full lines each. Each source also needs an authority for each main author. The authority is essentially the highest level of education that an author has. If you find an author with no authority, then you won’t be allowed to use that source. Every time you list an author in your paper for the first time, you need to put their name, followed by their authority immediately after, or else some teachers will dock you 3 points for each one you miss. These can add up quick if you forget, considering there are going to be 20 sources on your paper, so make sure to get these and include them so you don’t lose over half credit on the entire paper.one step here and then click "Add Step"
# Developing a Synthesis Chart: This is a very important step in the process, as it’s the largest graded assignment of the semester other than the papers. You’ll want to make sure you do this correctly. After getting the required 50 sources, you’ll need to compile them into one document. It’s best to do this in something where it’s easy to make charts, such as Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Google Sheets, or Microsoft Excel. All of these programs can easily make tables and charts that can fill the size of what is needed. The synthesis chart is going to have 5 columns within it: Author and Annotated Bibliography, Gist, Citations, Synthesis, and Overall Topic. The first column is just the full name of the author(s) as well as an annotated bibliography summarizing the source and how it relates to your paper. The second and fifth columns, gist and overall topic, are rather similar as they’re just how you would categorize your articles (I.e if you were reading an article for a topic about abortions and it mentioned abortion laws and ethical principles, then your gist would be “Law” and “Ethics”) and the overall topic is simply which of your gists you believe is the most important. The third column will be 3 full length citations from each of your sources. Finally, the fourth column is your synthesis, which is taking a citation from another one of your sources and relating it back to your current one, usually by matching their gists or overall topics to one another. Each source needs 3 total synthesis citations from the other sources.en click "Add Step"
# Formatting the Paper: Most all papers, and many throughout other English classes in high school and college, are written in MLA 8th format. There are three acceptable fonts for a paper: Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana, all at 12 point font size. Times New Roman is the smallest of the three fonts, so if you think you’ve written too much and might exceed the page limit, use this font. Alternatively, Verdana is the largest of the three, so use this if you believe you need to take up more space to reach the final page. The first thing you need to make is a title page. This is a page that you’ll put at the beginning of each paper, and it will consist of the title of your paper, your full name, the paper’s due date, and the title of your class. All of these must be perfectly centered in the middle of your paper, and each on a different line from one another. The next thing you need is to put your name, assignment title, and page number in the top right of your header. The formatting of it must be as such: [Your Last Name] - [Assignment Title] - [Page Number]. Note that the assignment title and the paper title are not the same, the assignment title is what is listed on Canvas, usually something along the lines of “Major research paper #1” and when filling these out, do not use the brackets like in the example. You can put this header on your title page in the top right, but if you decide not to, your first page after the title page must start with 2 in the top right instead of 1. Microsoft Word and Google Docs both have the ability to do this, but sometimes it’s easier to just leave the header on the title page instead. After that, everything else will follow standard MLA 8th formatting.
# Creating an Outline: Now that you have all your sources picked, and know the proper formatting for the paper, it’s best to make an outline of your paper before you start writing so you know what direction you need to go in and don’t ramble on needlessly. The Intro paragraph and Conclusion paragraphs must be from 7 to 10 sentences, while the Body paragraphs must be 5 to 9 sentences. The Intro paragraph will consist of only a couple things. The first thing is to relate your topic to current society. How has this topic affected the world. Along with this, you need to state and issue and tension. These two words must be explicitly stated in each of their sentences. The issue sentence should be what you believe to be the problem with your topic, and the tension sentence should be what you believe the arguments for your topic are. For example, the issue with gun control is that guns cause mass shootings and should be banned. The tension is that there is no correct answer to the argument of gun control because people have differing ethical and moral ideas. After your issue and tension, all you need after that is to write a strong thesis and transition into your next paragraph. The Conclusion paragraph is very similar to the Intro, where you spill your heart out and state your thoughts on the topic, then restate your thesis and relate the topic to society again. The Body paragraphs are going to be what you include all of your sources in. The first sentence should be your topic sentence, which tells the reader what this topic is about, and then your opinion on this paragraphs topic. After that, you input your claim, a source or evidence to back up your claim, and then your warrant further supporting your claim. Each paragraph should have at least 2 of these claim/evidence/warrants, though if you can get 3 in there then it’s best to do so. After that, just write a smooth transition sentence to your next body paragraph. Finally, you’ll need a Works Cited page. If you don’t have this, or it’s done incorrectly, you will most likely fail the paper. Because it’s a standard MLA 8th Works Cited page, there are many online tools that help you make accurate Works Cited entries for your sources. Each of these entries must be alphabetized by your authors last name. There should be a total of 20 Works Cited entries, one for each source you use in your paper. Don’t try and only put down 19 and see if you can slip it by him, because the first thing he’ll do when grading your paper is check your Works Cited page. If there aren’t 20 on there, you’ll be put on the spot and have to answer him where those last ones are, and that will greatly tank your grade on the paper.e step here and then click "Add Step"
# Creating a Rough Draft: After finishing and filling out your outline, you should have a decent rough draft written. When you bring in your rough draft the day it’s due, he’ll allow students about two days of peer grading to help fix any problems others might notice in your paper. When peer grading, try to avoid letting friends grade it. Friends may sugarcoat and inaccurately grade your paper because they don’t want to point out your flaws. It’s best to have a peer point out these flaws and tell you when you have time to fix them than not know of them and have your teacher mark you down on your final instead.nter one step here and then click "Add Step"
# Creating the Final Draft: You’ve made it this far, and written a paper entirely from scratch. Now all that’s left for you to do is fix up the errors, if there are any, found by peers during the peer review, and double check that you have everything required to turn in. Once you’ve done all that, turn in a digital copy to turnitin.com, print out your hard copy to take in with you, staple it all together, and turn it in the day it’s due. When he’s grading your paper, it’s nerve wracking for everyone. As long as you have a strong Works Cited page then there isn’t much he can dock you for on the actual paper, just small grammar or formatting issues.nter one step here and then click "Add Step"
== Tips ==
* It is a lot easier to organize your research and sources by using note cards or other tools.
== Steps ==
# Finding a Topic: When writing a paper, it's very important to find a topic that is not only something you’re passionate about, but also one with enough resources that you can talk about it for at least 10 pages in writing with sources. On the final paper, you’ll need to have a total of 50 sources, though you’ll only actually use 20 for your paper, so make sure that your topic has enough information to get these sources.
# Getting Sources: Getting valid sources is the most important part of writing one of these papers. If your sources aren’t legitimate, or don’t have much authority on the topic, then it may be best to find something else. Each of your body paragraphs needs at least two sources, and all your main sources must be used at least twice, so finding strong sources is going to be critical to being able to write a fluid paper. When picking quotes to use from each source, try to limit them to a smaller size. Having a long source can take up too much space, and many professors will dock points on your paper if they exceed 2 full lines each. Each source also needs an authority for each main author. The authority is essentially the highest level of education that an author has. If you find an author with no authority, then you won’t be allowed to use that source. Every time you list an author in your paper for the first time, you need to put their name, followed by their authority immediately after, or else some teachers will dock you 3 points for each one you miss. These can add up quick if you forget, considering there are going to be 20 sources on your paper, so make sure to get these and include them so you don’t lose over half credit on the entire paper.one step here and then click "Add Step"
# Developing a Synthesis Chart: This is a very important step in the process, as it’s the largest graded assignment of the semester other than the papers. You’ll want to make sure you do this correctly. After getting the required 50 sources, you’ll need to compile them into one document. It’s best to do this in something where it’s easy to make charts, such as Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Google Sheets, or Microsoft Excel. All of these programs can easily make tables and charts that can fill the size of what is needed. The synthesis chart is going to have 5 columns within it: Author and Annotated Bibliography, Gist, Citations, Synthesis, and Overall Topic. The first column is just the full name of the author(s) as well as an annotated bibliography summarizing the source and how it relates to your paper. The second and fifth columns, gist and overall topic, are rather similar as they’re just how you would categorize your articles (I.e if you were reading an article for a topic about abortions and it mentioned abortion laws and ethical principles, then your gist would be “Law” and “Ethics”) and the overall topic is simply which of your gists you believe is the most important. The third column will be 3 full length citations from each of your sources. Finally, the fourth column is your synthesis, which is taking a citation from another one of your sources and relating it back to your current one, usually by matching their gists or overall topics to one another. Each source needs 3 total synthesis citations from the other sources.en click "Add Step"
# Formatting the Paper: Most all papers, and many throughout other English classes in high school and college, are written in MLA 8th format. There are three acceptable fonts for a paper: Arial, Times New Roman, and Verdana, all at 12 point font size. Times New Roman is the smallest of the three fonts, so if you think you’ve written too much and might exceed the page limit, use this font. Alternatively, Verdana is the largest of the three, so use this if you believe you need to take up more space to reach the final page. The first thing you need to make is a title page. This is a page that you’ll put at the beginning of each paper, and it will consist of the title of your paper, your full name, the paper’s due date, and the title of your class. All of these must be perfectly centered in the middle of your paper, and each on a different line from one another. The next thing you need is to put your name, assignment title, and page number in the top right of your header. The formatting of it must be as such: [Your Last Name] - [Assignment Title] - [Page Number]. Note that the assignment title and the paper title are not the same, the assignment title is what is listed on Canvas, usually something along the lines of “Major research paper #1” and when filling these out, do not use the brackets like in the example. You can put this header on your title page in the top right, but if you decide not to, your first page after the title page must start with 2 in the top right instead of 1. Microsoft Word and Google Docs both have the ability to do this, but sometimes it’s easier to just leave the header on the title page instead. After that, everything else will follow standard MLA 8th formatting.
# Creating an Outline: Now that you have all your sources picked, and know the proper formatting for the paper, it’s best to make an outline of your paper before you start writing so you know what direction you need to go in and don’t ramble on needlessly. The Intro paragraph and Conclusion paragraphs must be from 7 to 10 sentences, while the Body paragraphs must be 5 to 9 sentences. The Intro paragraph will consist of only a couple things. The first thing is to relate your topic to current society. How has this topic affected the world. Along with this, you need to state and issue and tension. These two words must be explicitly stated in each of their sentences. The issue sentence should be what you believe to be the problem with your topic, and the tension sentence should be what you believe the arguments for your topic are. For example, the issue with gun control is that guns cause mass shootings and should be banned. The tension is that there is no correct answer to the argument of gun control because people have differing ethical and moral ideas. After your issue and tension, all you need after that is to write a strong thesis and transition into your next paragraph. The Conclusion paragraph is very similar to the Intro, where you spill your heart out and state your thoughts on the topic, then restate your thesis and relate the topic to society again. The Body paragraphs are going to be what you include all of your sources in. The first sentence should be your topic sentence, which tells the reader what this topic is about, and then your opinion on this paragraphs topic. After that, you input your claim, a source or evidence to back up your claim, and then your warrant further supporting your claim. Each paragraph should have at least 2 of these claim/evidence/warrants, though if you can get 3 in there then it’s best to do so. After that, just write a smooth transition sentence to your next body paragraph. Finally, you’ll need a Works Cited page. If you don’t have this, or it’s done incorrectly, you will most likely fail the paper. Because it’s a standard MLA 8th Works Cited page, there are many online tools that help you make accurate Works Cited entries for your sources. Each of these entries must be alphabetized by your authors last name. There should be a total of 20 Works Cited entries, one for each source you use in your paper. Don’t try and only put down 19 and see if you can slip it by him, because the first thing he’ll do when grading your paper is check your Works Cited page. If there aren’t 20 on there, you’ll be put on the spot and have to answer him where those last ones are, and that will greatly tank your grade on the paper.e step here and then click "Add Step"
# Creating a Rough Draft: After finishing and filling out your outline, you should have a decent rough draft written. When you bring in your rough draft the day it’s due, he’ll allow students about two days of peer grading to help fix any problems others might notice in your paper. When peer grading, try to avoid letting friends grade it. Friends may sugarcoat and inaccurately grade your paper because they don’t want to point out your flaws. It’s best to have a peer point out these flaws and tell you when you have time to fix them than not know of them and have your teacher mark you down on your final instead.nter one step here and then click "Add Step"
# Creating the Final Draft: You’ve made it this far, and written a paper entirely from scratch. Now all that’s left for you to do is fix up the errors, if there are any, found by peers during the peer review, and double check that you have everything required to turn in. Once you’ve done all that, turn in a digital copy to turnitin.com, print out your hard copy to take in with you, staple it all together, and turn it in the day it’s due. When he’s grading your paper, it’s nerve wracking for everyone. As long as you have a strong Works Cited page then there isn’t much he can dock you for on the actual paper, just small grammar or formatting issues.nter one step here and then click "Add Step"
== Tips ==
* It is a lot easier to organize your research and sources by using note cards or other tools.
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