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Organizing & Outlining Research Papers
WorkshopPEGS’ GWIE
Graduate Writing Institute for ExcellenceCopyright © 2015 PEGS’ GWIE
All workshops and workshop materials are the sole property of PEGS’ GWIE
and may not be published, copied, or disseminated without prior written approval from
PEGS’ GWIE; they are for student and faculty use only.
Disclaimer
Prewriting or
Invention
Drafting
Re-Writing or
Revising
Proofreading&
Editing
Publishing
IThesis Scaffolding
Thesis Scaffolding
Many thesis statements are comprised of two parts:
1) the claim & 2) the cause
Thesis Scaffolding
Claim:
In this essay, I argue that Voter IDs should be proscribed.
Thesis Scaffolding
Cause:
This is important becauseVoter IDs are undemocratic.
Thesis Scaffolding
Voter IDs should be proscribedbecause they are undemocratic.
IIReasons
& Examples
Reasons
Reasons are explanatory
Reasons support your thesis
Reasons are causes for your claim
Reasons
Reason #1
Voter IDs are undemocratic because…
…they place an undue burden on some voters, thereby disenfranchising them,
particularly women and non-whites.
Examples
Examples SHOW what Reasons TELL
Examples create clarity
Examples are evidence
Examples
Reason #1 (disenfranchisement)
EXAMPLES:
1) Some voters don’t possess a birth certificate2) Some voters don’t possess a valid driver’s license or state ID card3) Some voters aren’t able to get to the polls on election day
IIIOutlining
Outlining
“Once a topic has been chosen, ideas have been generated [via] brainstorming and free writing, and a working thesis has been created, the last step [...] is creating an outline”
ACC. (n.d.). Creating an outline. Retrieved from http://www.aims.edu/student/online-writing-lab/process/outline
• Aids in the process of writing
• Helps you organize your ideas
• Presents your material in a logical form
• Shows the relationships among ideas in your writing
• Constructs an ordered overview of your writing
• Defines boundaries and groups
— OWL Purdue, “Why and How to Create a Useful Outline” <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/02/>
Outlines: Why?
Outline of a PEGS’ GWIE Workshop on ORGANIZATION:
I. 1st Example of Good Organization
II. Outlinesa.Examples
i. This Workshopii. Others on Handout
b.Why? c.How? d.Flow of Ideas
III. Paragraph Sandwich (Flow of Ideas)
a.(Good) Examplesi. 1st Exampleii. Different Paragraph
Sandwichesiii.Short Paragraph
taken from OWLb.Less Strong Example
taken from OWL
IV. Transitionsa.Transition Words
(Transitions in Paragraphs)
b.Transitions Between Paragraphs (1st Example)
c.Vectors
V. Reorganizing Your Own Papera.Signs of Poor Organization
i. Anchors/List of Common Issues to Watch Out For
ii. An Example taken from OWL
b.Methods for Reorganizingi. Color Coding
1) Labelinga) Example
2) Cut & Pasteii. Self-Outlining
Paragraph Sandwich
Outlining Exercise
DIRECTIONS: Complete an OUTLINE for the following paragraph, beginning with its Thesis or Topic Sentence
Costa Rica is a great place to spend a vacation for two reasons. First of all, Costa Rica has an excellent system of national parks where visitors can observe nature. For example, in Tortuguero National Park, visitors can watch sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in the sand. Then they can come back several months later to see the new babies crawl down to the sea. In Santa Rosa National Park, visitors can see unusual birds such as toucans and quetzals and exotic animals such as spider monkeys. Second, Costa Rica has many beautiful beaches. For instance, the beaches at Manuel Antonio National Park are among the most beautiful in the world, and the beaches on Canoa and Cocos Islands offer perfect conditions for snorkeling and scuba diving. Indeed, Costa Rica is a wonderful place to go if you love the outdoors.
IVSynthesizing
A synthesis combines elements from multiple sources to form a whole; in this case, the “whole” is a theme or argument of your paper.
Synthesizing Sources
• Synthesizing involves
– identifying patterns and similarities/differences among sources
– critically analyzing strengths, weaknesses, methods, and findings of sources
– identifying and exploring gaps in knowledge to determine what you can contribute to future research on the topic
SYNTHESIZING SOURCES
• Peruse sources carefully/Read sources Critically (once or twice ONLY)
• Review sources repeatedly
– make connections between sources make annotations for emerging themes
• Makes lists
– summary of central information from all sources
– summary of peripheral information from some sources
– summary of information specific to source
• Synthesize Sources via a Synthesis Matrix (or Grid of Common Points)
– at-a-glance reference
Organizing Information
• The synthesis matrix is by far one of the most useful tools that you can use to create an “at-a-glance” reference for synthesizing sources.
The Synthesis Matrix
The Introductory Synthesis
Synthesis Paragraph including Background
Topic SentenceExample 1
Analysis
Transition Sentence
Example 1.5
In this example, the author has used one piece of evidence (example 1.5) to support and clarify another (example 1), and then synthesized the two (with the phrase “narcissistic motivation”).
Synthesis Paragraph including Analysis
- Source of example: OWL Purdue
Transitions: Vectors
2. Remind the reader where they have been and let them know where they are headed by using transitions.
- This is referred to as using vectors (the idea that each paragraph points backwards & forwards).
- Introductions, by providing background information, and conclusions, by recommending future areas of study, also follow this rule.
1. It helps to have a visual model of your paper’s organizational structure: what does your paragraph structure look like?
3. Papers build from one topic to the next with one exception: the introduction and conclusion must refer to each other.- FMI: check out
our “Introductions & Conclusions” Workshop
Reorganizing
In graduate writing, every word in your paper should serve the main point (i.e. thesis/hypothesis).
There is no room for wasted space.
• length – too long/too short? – an intro/conclusion over 11/2 pages (based on 20p.
Paper) – paragraphs that are less than three sentences– one or more paragraphs that are significantly longer than others– sentences that run for more than 3 lines
• generalizations/non-statements– “there are many different types of…” – “______ is interesting”
• repetition– of ideas– of words and phrases
Reorganizing: Poor Organization
this
¶ is
much
lo
nger
than
the
oth
ers
• Scan your paper for signs of poor organization. – Length, Generalization, Repetition, Tangent, Confusion
*Writers will often use one or two stylistic errors (crutches really) more frequently than others. If you can identify the errors you typically make, it will be easier to spot organizational issues later in the paper.
• Determine the extent of your organizational issues.
– Mark areas with symptoms of poor organization. – Is one section less organized than the rest? – Do paragraphs read clearly, while the paper does not
(or vise-versa)?
Reorganizing: MethodsAre you disorganized?
• If you find you have many problems at the paragraph level, label sentences or groups of sentences based on their content.
– Create a list of general concepts you (want to) touch on.
You can create a list based on the section you are working on, or based on the entire paper. Keep the list short: rather than use your full outline, be general.
– Assign a number or color to each concept. Colors can give you a strong sense of how frequently you switch from one idea to another.
– Read through your paper sentence by sentence (this also works for paragraphs) and label them with your color code.
This method requires good use of note-taking and active reading skills. Summarize sentences with 1 – 2 words by asking ‘what is this sentence referring to;’ ‘what purpose does this sentence serve;’ or ‘what is the most important aspect of this sentence’.
Methods: #1 Color Coding
• Take your paper apart and put it back together by grouping colors/numbers.
– Cut & paste on or off the computer.
→
– Double check the flow of your ideas, just because you’ve grouped the ideas does not mean one flows to the next.
– Be on the lookout for missing and extra information.
• Smooth out newly grouped concepts.
– You may find some sentences that are almost exact repetitions: keep the one that works best for its new location.
– You will mostly likely need new transitions throughout the section you are editing after this process.
Methods: #1 Color Coding contn’d
• Did you follow an outline?
– Using active reading, see if your ideas follow the outline.
Can you use the paper to recreate your outline?
If not, assess the quality of additional/missing content. *If your paper doesn’t follow the outline, it doesn’t always mean that the paper is disorganized. Sometimes it’s the outline that needs to be revised.
• …didn’t make an outline?
– Use active reading to create an outline.
Make a short note next to each paragraph which summarizes its main point.
List each note you’ve made on a separate paper in order. – Check new ‘outline’ for flow.
Have you grouped together similar concepts?
Do your ideas follow a conceptual model (i.e. past → present → future; general → specific)?
Methods: #2 Self-Outlining
